Order of Victory

{{Infobox military award

| name = Order of Victory

| image = Orden-Pobeda-Marshal Vasilevsky.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = The Order of Victory

| presenter = {{flag|Soviet Union}}

| type = Single-grade order

| eligibility = Military Generals and Marshals only

| awarded_for = Conducting combat operations involving one or more army groups and resulting in a "successful operation within the framework of one or several fronts resulting in a radical change of the situation in favor of the Red Army"

| campaign =

| status = No longer awarded

| description =

| clasps =

| established = November 8, 1943

| firstawarded = April 10, 1944

| lastawarded = February 20, 1978 (was revoked)

| total_awarded = 20

| total_awarded_posthumously =

| total_recipients =

| individual =

| higher =

| same =

| lower =

| related =

| image2 = 80px

| caption2 = Ribbon of the Order of Victory

}}

The Order of Victory ({{langx|ru|Орден «Победа»|translit=Orden "Pobeda"}}) was the highest military decoration awarded for World War II service in the Soviet Union, and one of the rarest orders in the world. The order was awarded only to Generals and Marshals for successfully conducting combat operations involving one or more army groups and resulting in a "successful operation within the framework of one or several fronts resulting in a radical change of the situation in favor of the Red Army."{{cite web | title = Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of November 8, 1943 | publisher = Legal Library of the USSR | date= 1943-11-08 | url = http://www.libussr.ru/doc_ussr/ussr_4465.htm | language = ru | access-date =2012-02-25 }} The Order of Victory is a standalone decoration awarded specially for service in World War II; unlike other awards such as the Hero of the Soviet Union, it does not belong to any order of ranking. In the history of the Soviet Union, the award had been awarded twenty times to twelve Soviet leaders and five foreign leaders, with one revocation. The last living recipient was King Michael I of Romania, who died on 5 December 2017.

History

The order was proposed by Colonel N. S. Neyelov, who was serving at the Soviet Army Rear headquarters around June 1943. The original name that Colonel Neyelov suggested was Order for Faithfulness to the Homeland; however, it was given its present name around October of that year.Dmitry Markov, [http://www.russian-medals.net/chkord3.htm Order of Victory - 1943] (Russian-medals.net)

On October 25, 1943, artist A. I. Kuznetsov, who was already the designer of many Soviet orders, presented his first sketch to Stalin. The sketch of a round medallion with portraits of Lenin and Stalin was not approved by the Supreme Commander. Instead, Stalin wanted a design with the Spasskaya Tower in the centre. Kuznetsov returned four days later with several new sketches, of which Stalin chose one entitled "Victory". He asked Kuznetsov to slightly alter the design, and on the 5th of November a prototype was finally approved. The order was officially adopted on November 8, 1943, and was first awarded to Georgy Zhukov, Aleksandr Vasilevsky, and Joseph Stalin. All three were awarded a second order a year or more later.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

The order was also bestowed to top commanders of the Allied forces. Every order was presented during or immediately after World War II, except for the controversial 1978 award to Leonid Brezhnev, who was not given a personal award, but an older one, originally awarded to Leonid Govorov, Marshal of the Soviet Union. (Govorov was already deceased, with his award returned to the state){{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-43117580|title = Орден для генсека: как Брежнева наградили за победу, которой не было|newspaper = BBC News Русская Служба}} Brezhnev's award was revoked posthumously in 1989 for not meeting the requirements for the award.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

Like other orders awarded by Communist nations, the Order of Victory could be awarded more than once to the same individual. In total, the order was presented twenty times to seventeen people (including Brezhnev).{{fact|date=July 2023}}

Unlike all other Soviet orders, the Order of Victory had no serial number on it, the number was only mentioned in the award certificate. After a holder of the Order of Victory died, the award was to be given back to the state. Most of awards are now preserved by the Diamond Fund in the Moscow Kremlin. Notable exceptions are King Michael I of Romania's Order of Victory, which is held in the collection of the Romanian Royal Family, Dwight D. Eisenhower's Order of Victory, which is on display at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kansas, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Order of Victory, which is on display at the Imperial War Museum in London, and Josip Broz Tito's Order of Victory, which is kept in the Museum of Yugoslav History in Belgrade.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

Construction details

File:Order of Victory.jpg

Against the sky, the letters "СССР" (USSR) appear in gold centered on the top of the medallion, while the word "Победа" (Victory) in white, is displayed on the red banner at the bottom, made with enamel. The total mass of the order is 78g, which consists of 47g of platinum, 2g of gold, 19g of silver, and 16 carats of diamond. The rubies in the Order are artificial, as natural rubies would differ too much in color.{{Cite web |title=Орден "ПОБЕДА" |url=https://mondvor.narod.ru/OPobeda.html |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=mondvor.narod.ru}} The medal is estimated to be worth $10 million.

Instead of being made at a mint, each Order was made in a jeweler's workshop.{{fact|date=July 2023}}

Dwight D. Eisenhower had his star valued by an American jeweler; according to Bernhard, Prince Consort of the Netherlands (who, having been Commander of the Dutch Armed Forces during the war, was interested in receiving such a prestigious award himself but never got it), Eisenhower told him that his stones were "fakes".Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands in an interview with H.G. Meijer, published in "Het Vliegerkruis", Amsterdam 1997, {{ISBN|90-6707-347-4}} . page 92

Ribbon

File:OrderVictoryRibbon.svg

The ribbons of various Soviet orders have been combined to create the Order Ribbon. The total length of the ribbon is 44 mm and it is mostly worn on the field uniform.{{in lang|ru}} Awards and medals of the Soviet Union [http://www.mondvor.narod.ru/OPobeda.html Орден "Победа"] The following featured orders are depicted on the ribbon (read from outside towards the center):

Order of Glory (Орден Славы/Orden Slavy). Orange with black center stripe
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Орден Богдана Хмельницкого/Orden Bogdana Khmelnitskogo). Light blue stripe
Order of Alexander Nevsky (Орден Александра Невского/Orden Aleksandra Nevskogo). Dark red stripe
Order of Kutuzov (Орден Кутузова/Orden Kutuzova). Dark blue stripe
Order of Suvorov (Орден Суворова/Orden Suvorova). Green stripe
Order of Lenin (Орден Ленина/Orden Lenina). Large Red stripe (center section)

List of recipients

class="wikitable sortable"

! # !! Date !! Name !! Image !! Died !! Note

|1944-04-10April 10, 1944

|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} Georgy Zhukov

Order of Victory

History

Construction details

Ribbon

List of recipients

Fate of the Orders

See also

References

External links