History of the medal

Spanish Cross (Spanienkreuz) is the ward of 3 Reich during the Second World War, established on April 14, 1939. Hitler signed a decree on the establishment of the Spanish Cross «… As a sign of my appreciation and gratitude for the contribution of German volunteers in the destruction of Bolshevism in the fight for freedom in Spain … «. This II World War German medal was intended to honor soldiers who served in Spain during the Civil War from July 1936 to March 1939 on the side of Gen. Francisco Franco (Francisco Franco Bahamonde, 1892-1975).
By the special resolution of the Kriegsmarine this award was given to the staff of the subsidiary, trade and supply of ships involved in the territorial waters of Spain during this period. After the returning of the Legion «Condor» to Germany, there was established a special commission for awarding and organizing celebrations. The eight-day «Festival of Victory» began with the presentation of special award to the legionnaires — German Spanish Cross in Gold (Deutsche Spanien-Kreuz in Gold).

Statute of the medal. Spanish Cross was established in four categories:

• Cross in bronze (Spanienkreuz in Bronze);
• Cross in silver (Spanienkreuz in Silber);
• Cross in gold (Spanienkreuz in Gold);
• Cross in gold with diamonds (Spanienkreuz in Gold mit Brillanten).

Bronze and Silver categories crosses were divided into two levels:

• with swords (mit Schwertern) — for military personnel who took part in hostilities;
• without swords (ohne Schwerter) — for service in support units, medical personnel and civilians. Crosses of gold and gold with diamonds were only produced with swords. They were awarded solely to the persons who participated in battle actions.

The awardee of the Spanish Cross was issued a commendation list, and the information on decorating with the cross was recorded in all personal documents.

Description of the medal

Avers of this II World War German medal is made in the form of eight-pointed Maltese cross with a circular superimposed medallion in the middle with a swastika in the center. Between the beams with a fine-grained texture in the polished frame there are four eagles — the emblem of the Luftwaffe (70% of the staff of the Legion «Condor» were pilots) with a swastika in claws, and crossed Teutonic swords. The reverse of the award is smooth with a wide pin and a brand of the manufacturer.
This award of 3 Reich consists of three parts: cross with swords with or without swards; superimposed central medallion with four swastikas and eagles. The eagles were made separately and then soldered to the rays of the cross and, if so, to swords.
Spanish Cross was permanently worn on the right breast pocket of uniform. If, subsequently, the awardee received the German Cross, the Spanish reward was placed underneath.

History of the medal

The reign of the last Russian Emperor Nicholai II is characterized by a wide variety of award medals. Imperial Russian awards of this period comprise about 40 types. Most mass awarding was carried to praise the achievements in the «sovereign» service, both in the civilian and military.
Medals were established by decrees and «highest» orders of the Emperor and regulations of the Provisional Government. Some of them have not been published and were not included in the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire (CCL) and the Assembly of legalizations and orders of government. They can only be found in archival documents. Medals were given during this period by: the Chapter of Russian Imperial and Royal Orders, the Office of the Military camp, Military Ministry and Naval Department (for participation in the wars, campaigns and battles). After the death of the awarded people the medals were kept by the relatives and not returned to the government.
In the reign of Nicholai II there continued awarding with medals established by other emperors — «For diligence», «For the salvation of perishing,» «For the irreproachable service in the police,» «For the irreproachable service in the prison,» as well as the newly established — «For the works on the first general census of the population «,» In memory of the 25th anniversary of church schools «and others.
There was also established Medal «For diligent service» in 1801. The awardees were merchants, burghers and peasants of the various services provided to the Government, mainly for serving in elective office.

Statute of the medal

This Russian imperial ward was given to merchants, peasants and townspeople, as well as residents of the national borderlands of the Russian Empire («Asiatics») for services to the Government. From 1854 the medals were issued to non — commissioned officers who entered the service for the second time or rejected the resignation.

Description of the medal

The obverse of the coin depicts the earliest, shoulder-high picture of a young Alexander I, turned to the right, without any imperial attributes and clothes. There is an inscription on the rim: «B.M. Alexander I. Imperator and Absolute Sovereign of All-Russia», and a small signature of Carl Leberecht at the bottom.
On the reverse side of the coin inside the ornament of concentric circles there is a large horizontal inscription in three lines: «For diligent service.» The medal was made of gold, with a diameter of 50 mm.
There were four types of the medal: gold and silver to be worn around the neck, and gold and silver to be worn on the chest. Gold medals, by special order of the emperor, sometimes were decorated with diamonds. They were worn around the neck and chest on ribbons of St. Andrew, St. Vladimir, St. Alexander Nevsky, St. Anna and St. Stanislaus.

History of the medal

The main Soviet military decoration is the star of the «Hero of the Soviet Union.»
The title of the Hero of the USSR was established by the Decree of the CEC of the USSR on April 16, 1934. The resolution states that «The Heroes of the Soviet Union were issued a distinctive diploma.» There were introduced no other attributes and insignia of the Heroes of the Soviet Union. The Regulation on the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union was adopted on July 29, 1936. It introduced a procedure for awarding the Heroes of the Soviet Union, in addition to the ratification of the CEC, also with the Order of Lenin — the highest award of the Soviet Union. Those who have been awarded the title of Hero before the adoption of this Regulation received it with, they were 11 people. From this moment all the heroes of the Soviet Union were awarded with the Order of Lenin till almost to the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
On August 1, 1939 there was established the medal of «The Hero of the Soviet Union,» which is awarded simultaneously with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin.

Statute of the medal

The highest degree of battle honors of the USSR. The honorary title was given for the feat or distinguished service during the fighting, as well as, by way of exception, in peacetime.
The gold soviet medal was given for special achievements and committed deeds. The heroes were named those who shot down the aircraft (not less than 15 planes), saved people. Air arrow-bombers could get a «Gold Star» for shooting down 8 aircrafts of the enemy in the air.

Description of the medal

Medal «Gold Star» is a five-pointed star with smooth dihedral beams on the obverse. The distance from the center of the star to the top of the beam is 15 mm. The distance between the opposite ends of the star is 30 mm.
The reverse of the medal has a smooth surface and is bounded with protruding thin rim on the contour. On the reverse side in the center of the coin there is an inscription in capital letters «Hero of the Soviet Union.» The size of the letters is 4 by 2 mm. in the top beam there is number of medal with the height of 1 mm.
The medal is connected to the block with the tab and the metal ring. There are cuts along the base of the block; its inner part is covered with silk moire ribbon of red with 20 mm wide. There is a rifled pin to attach the medal to clothing.
The medal is made of gold 950. The block of the medal is made of silver. There are two type of the medal: and early and late ones.

History of the medal

Every important event did not pass without a trace, proof of this are the awards, which are confined to a certain date, event or incident that took place in the country or in the world. Chernobyl rewards are products that are very important for each participant of the elimination of the Chernobyl accident. This terrible accident occurred on April 26, 1986 and it influenced the life not only in Ukraine and the Soviet Union but the whole world.

Statute of the medal

The Chernobyl liquidator medal was established in Ukraine to praise those heroes who participated in the post-accident-clean-up in Chernobyl, risked their health and lives for the welfare and sound future of the nation.

Description of the medal

The memorial medal «Liquidators of the Chernobyl accident» has the shape of two-sided coin and is made of copper alloy, consists of one piece and has the form of a circle with a rim with the superimposed over it in the right bottom intertwining of laurel and snowball branches with burgundy ribbon.
At the edge of the circle, on the background of burgundy enamel there is the inscription «For Liquidators of the Accident at Chernobyl NPP».
In the middle, on the background of the stylized beams there are shown: on the right side — the 4th reactor of Chernobyl NPP, on left side — black and yellow stripes, in the middle in two-lines — «1986 1990»; at the bottom there is an image of the international sign of radiation hazards.
On the reverse side of this Chernobyl medal engraved serial number and inscription along the rim — «To the dead, the living, and the unborn …». In the center there is an image of the memorial complex «Monument to victims of the Chernobyl accident.»
Covering of the medal – galvanic gold and nickel.
All images are embossed.
The size of the award is 36x40x5 mm.
With the help of the ring with an eye the medal is connected to the rectangular block. Size of the block: length — 19 mm, width — 27 mm.
The block is covered with silk moire ribbon width 24 mm with longitudinal symmetrical stripes of blue and yellow.
In the center of the block there is Trident — the small State Emblem of Ukraine, size 12x7mm.
On the reverse side of the block there is clasper for attaching to clothing.

History of the medal

Original Soviet Chernobyl Liquidator Medal was established to award people, whose number is reducing with each passing day — the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident. April 26, 1986 there was an explosion, the underestimated extent of which led to mass casualties and sick people. Volunteers suppressed the fire without any means of defense, received huge doses of radiation. Most of the first who faced the radiation horror died within a week.

This medal was the first one of Chernobyl awards to award the liquidators of that horrible Chernobyl catastrophe that happened in April, 1986. About 800 thousand people took part in the recovery from the accident that occurred on April 26. The medal was established on May 14, 1990 by the State Committee of USSR on Labour and Social Issues. Together with the medal there was issued an authorization document to each of the awardees.

Statute of the medal

.In accordance with the Regulations on the medal it was awarded to:

• Participants of liquidation of consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe;
• Persons who provide medical, rehabilitation, social and other assistance to the liquidators of the Chernobyl accident, as well as public organizations and associations of veterans of special risk.

Description of the medal

Chernobyl Liquidator Medal is made of yellow metal. It is made in the shape of a cross of red. Between the shoulders of the cross there are rays of golden color diverging in different directions. In the central part of the medal, in the circle, there is placed the image of the invisible process of poisoning of blood with radiation: a drop of blood, through which there pass the alpha, beta and gamma rays. Along the cutting edges of the Chernobyl award there are words «Chernobyl accident liquidator». The medal is attached to the suspension device decorated with moire ribbon.There device is to fix the medal on clothes with the help of a pin. Below the pin there is a mint mark to distinguish where the meal was produced.

History of the medal.

Medal «For Military Merit», same as a medal «For Courage», was the most popular Soviet medal. Total there were produced 5210078 awards (before the war — 21252, in the years of the Great Patriotic War — 3,381,978; and from 1946 to 1992 — 1,806,848). During the Great Patriotic War, many were awarded with the medal several times.
The medal was established by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on October 17, 1938. During this period, there was fighting in the area of Lake Khasan in the Far East. Participants in these fights became the first holders of this award.
Statute of the medal. Soviet medal «For Military Merit» was created to honor the soldiers of the Red Army, the Navy, the internal troops as well as civilians for courageous actions during combat, while protecting the borders of the Soviet Union and other services while serving in the army.

Description of the medal.

Russian award «For Military Merit» takes the form of a perfectly round shape diameter of 31 — 32.5 mm (depending on the year of production).
The obverse side of the medal in the upper part of the circle has the inscription «USSR» with embossed letters, covered with ruby red enamel. The width of the inscription «USSR» is 6 mm, height of the letters is 2.5 mm. In the middle part there is an embossed inscription made in three lines «For Military Merit». The height of the letters is 3 mm. Under the inscription there is a relief image of a rifle with fixed bayonet and tempered belt, crossed with a sword. The length of a rifle with a bayonet is 23 mm, sward — 20 mm.
The front side of the medal is bordered by the rim with width of 1 mm and a height 0.25 mm.
The reverse side of the medal is smooth.
The medal is made of 925 silver. The total weight of silver medal (September 18, 1975) is 18.22 gr. The total weight of the medal without pad is 19,725 ± 1,3 gr.
By means of ear and a ring this Russian award is connected to the pentagonal pad, covered with silk moire ribbon of gray with two longitudinal golden stripes on the edges. The width of the ribbon is 24 mm, the width of the strips is 2 mm.

History of the badge.

Nicholas Cavalry School was founded in St. Petersburg in 1823 as the School of the Guard sergeants. In 1826, at the school was formed squadron of Junker Guards of guard cavalry, it was called the School of Guard sergeants and Junker Cavalry. From 1859, due to the abolition of the rank of sergeants, the school was named a Nicholas School of Junker Guards. In 1864 it was transformed into Nicholas Cavalry School with a contingent of Junkers of 200 people and, in memory of its founder, Emperor Nicholas I, it received the Emperor’s monogram on the shoulder straps.

Building Nicholas Cavalry School was located in Lermontov Avenue in St. Petersburg.

Secondary school classes of Guard cadets were turned into houses for young people arriving at the same school. Creation of the Nicholas Cavalry School provided addition of cavalry units, whereas before the officers, arriving to the cavalry school, were recruited from graduates of infantry school and those who did not have any formal education.

Training at School was similar to infantry school course, but it also included special items: hippology and horse and combat engineer technique.

Statute of the badge

This Imperial Russian award was issued to the graduates of the Nicholas Cavalry School, primarily to those who had honors for studies.

Description of the badge

This Imperial Russian award was approved on 10.15.1913.

It is a silver oxidized Nicholas eagle under a crown of gold, there is Andrew Silver Star on its chest. This part of the badge resembles the connection of the corps with Nicholas Cavalry School. Under the eagle there is a shield of red enamel with a gold monogram of Emperor Nicholas I. Above the shield there is a Waistband of Cadet Corps (stripes: red-black-red). On the circle in the center of the eagle there is an inscription: «For Faith and Loyalty». The badge was attached on clothing with the help of the bolt on the reverse side. Approximate length of this Imperial Russian award is 4 cm.

History of the medal

.On December 28, 1988 by the Resolution of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR № 9965-XI were approved the certificates and sample description of the medal «For Soldier-internationalist».

The medal was designed to reward members of the Armed Forces of the USSR for participation in the performance of the international duty in Afghanistan.

Even before the release of the official Afghanistan medals for soldiers-internationalists in the USSR there appeared several informal badges for participation in the performance of international duty, but rewarding with these medals had differentiated character, there was no centralized system in the USSR for awarding persons performing international duty. Therefore, soon there arose an issue on the establishment of the official awards of the Union for this category of persons.

Development of such Afghanistan medal of honor was entrusted to the artist of the Central Experimental base of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, A.B. Zhuk.

Statute of the medal

.At first, this was supposed to become an Afghanistan medal to award the Soviet soldiers executing their international duty in the Republic of Afghanistan, but later the list was expanded, and to the ones served in Afghanistan there were added participants of conflicts in Angola, Algeria, Korea, Egypt, Vietnam, Syria, Yemen, Ethiopia, and other countries.

Description of the medal

The medal is a circular laurel wreath, which is superimposed with a red five-pointed star with white cutting. On its beams there are arranged three radially directed golden stripes. In the center, against a blue globe with a grid of meridians and parallels there depicted a handshake. Around the globe there is a red belt with the inscription: «For Soldier-Internationalist».  Below there is a small convex shield with the inscription: «USSR».

With ear and ring the badge is attached to a rectangular block which has a whole for red moire ribbon.

An order for production was entrusted to the Leningrad Mint, where the molding of face of the medal and editing of master punch performed engraver I.S. Kamshilov.

March 3, 1989 they started its replication. Total there were released 505,083 copies.

History of the badge.

This expression originated from one of party rally, when Joseph Goebbels said «Zieg Heil». All the present members supported the phrase (although, it was claimed to be invented by a young employee of Hitler’s, Ernst Hanfstaengl).

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History of the medal.

The war with the people of the mountains during the Russian Empire was long and bloody. Caucasians are often raided Russian territory, which undermined the trustworthiness of the empire and helped strengthen separatist sentiment.

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