Order of Victory

2025-10-12T02:16:33Z

2600:1700:3080:2C20:DCCD:6F7E:9408:7AEB:

{{Short description|Soviet military award}}
{{expand Russian|date=May 2022|Орден «Победа»}}
{{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| lastawarded = February 20, 1978 (was revoked)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 = [[File:OrderVictoryRibbon.svg|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]]."<ref name="order of victory">{{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 }}</ref> 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 [[Michael I of Romania|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.<ref>Dmitry Markov, [http://www.russian-medals.net/chkord3.htm Order of Victory - 1943] (Russian-medals.net)</ref>

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 [[Allies of World War II|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)<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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 [[Michael I of Romania|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|thumb|The soviet Order of Victory]]

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Орден "ПОБЕДА" |url=https://mondvor.narod.ru/OPobeda.html |access-date=2024-10-12 |website=mondvor.narod.ru}}</ref> 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 of Lippe-Biesterfeld|Bernhard, Prince Consort of the Netherlands]] (who, having been [[Chief of Defence (Netherlands)|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".<ref>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</ref>

==Ribbon==
[[File:OrderVictoryRibbon.svg|thumb|The Order Ribbon.]]
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.<ref>{{in lang|ru}} Awards and medals of the Soviet Union [http://www.mondvor.narod.ru/OPobeda.html Орден "Победа"]</ref> 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 (Soviet Union)|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
|-
|1
|1944-04-10April 10, 1944
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Georgy Zhukov]]
|[[File:Zhukov-LIFE-1944-1945_cropped.jpg|100px]]
|1974-06-18June 18, 1974
|
|-
|2
|1944-04-10April 10, 1944
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Aleksandr Vasilevsky]]
|[[File:Aleksandr Vasilevsky 4.jpg|100px]]
|1977-12-05December 5, 1977
|
|-
|3
|1944-04-10April 10, 1944
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Joseph Stalin]]
|[[File:Joseph Stalin in 1932 (4) (cropped)(2).jpg|100px]]
|1953-03-05March 5, 1953
|
|-
|4
|1945-03-30March 30, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} {{flagicon|Poland|1928}} [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]]
|[[File:Konstanty Rokossowski, 1945.jpg|100px]]

|1968-08-03August 3, 1968
|
|-
|5
|1945-03-30March 30, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Ivan Konev]]
|[[File:Конев_Иван_Степанович_1946.jpg|100px]]
|1973-05-21May 21, 1973
|
|-
|6
|1945-04-19April 19, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Aleksandr Vasilevsky]]
|[[File:Aleksandr Vasilevsky 4.jpg|100px]]
|1977-12-05December 5, 1977
|''(2nd time)''
|-
|7
|1945-04-26April 26, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Rodion Malinovsky]]
|[[File:Rodion Malinovsky 1.jpg|100px]]
|1967-03-31March 31, 1967
|
|-
|8
|1945-04-26April 26, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Fyodor Tolbukhin]]
|[[File:Маршал_Советского_Союза_Фёдор_Иванович_Толбухин.jpg|100px]]
|1949-10-17October 17, 1949
|
|-
|9
|1945-05-31May 31, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Leonid Govorov]]
|[[File:Leonid_Govorov_1.jpg|100px]]
|1955-03-19March 19, 1955
|
|-
|10
|1945-05-31May 31, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Georgy Zhukov]]
|[[File:GK Zukov2.jpg|100px]]
|1974-06-18June 18, 1974
|''(2nd time)''
|-
|11
|1945-06-04June 4, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Semyon Timoshenko]]
|[[File:Semyon Timoshenko.jpg|100px]]
|1970-03-31March 31, 1970
|
|-
|12
|1945-06-04June 4, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Aleksei Antonov]]
|[[File:Aleksei_Antonov_3.jpg|100px]]
|1962-06-18June 18, 1962
|
|-
|13
|1945-06-05June 5, 1945
|{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Bernard Montgomery]]
|[[File:General Sir Bernard Montgomery in England, 1943.jpg|100px]]
|1976-03-24March 24, 1976
|
|-
|14
|1945-06-10June 10, 1945
|{{flagicon|United States|1912}} [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]
|[[File:General_of_the_Army_Dwight_D._Eisenhower_1947.jpg|100px]]
|1969-03-28March 28, 1969
|
|-
|15
|1945-06-26June 26, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Joseph Stalin]]
|[[File:Joseph Stalin in 1932 (4) (cropped)(2).jpg|100px]]
|1953-03-05March 5, 1953
|''(2nd time)''
|-
|16
|1945-07-06July 6, 1945
|{{flagicon|Kingdom of Romania}} [[Michael I of Romania]]
|[[File:Mihai.jpg|100px]]
|2017-12-05December 5, 2017
|
|-
|17
|1945-08-09August 9, 1945
|{{flagicon|Poland|1928}} [[Michał Rola-Żymierski]]
|[[File:Rola-Żymierski_Michał.jpg|100px]]
|1989-10-15October 15, 1989
|
|-
|18
|1945-09-08September 8, 1945
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1936}} [[Kirill Meretskov]]
|[[File:Kirill_Afanasievich_Meretskov_1.jpg|100px]]
|1968-12-30December 30, 1968
|
|-
|19
|1945-09-09September 9, 1945
|{{flagicon|SFR Yugoslavia}} [[Josip Broz Tito]]
|
|1980-05-04May 4, 1980
|
|-
|20
|1978-02-20February 20, 1978
|{{flagicon|Soviet Union|1955}} [[Leonid Brezhnev|<s>Leonid Brezhnev</s>]]
|[[File:Leonid Brezhnev Portrait (1).jpg|100px]]
|1982-11-10November 10, 1982
|Revoked posthumously in 1989{{efn|Brezhnev's receipt of the Order of Victory was controversial. Brezhnev was a young [[political commissar]] during the war who did reach the rank of [[lieutenant general]] (two-star rank), but did not command responsibility close to the other recipients of the Order. He only received the decoration after he was [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary of the Communist Party]] and thus able to essentially award the medal to himself. As a result of general hostility to Brezhnev after his death and belief that this award had been done out of [[vanity]] rather than earned from merit, the Order of Victory was posthumously revoked in 1989.<ref>{{cite news |last=Dobbs |first=Michael
|date=September 30, 1989 |title=Presidium Takes Back Brezhnev's Medal |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1989/09/30/presidium-takes-back-brezhnevs-medal/ab6d2d3f-17c7-4158-978a-bc334f28fe8f/ |newspaper= The Washington Post| access-date=May 31, 2021}}</ref>}}

|-
|}
{{notelist}}

==Fate of the Orders==
[[File:Kremlin plate.JPG|350px|thumb|Plaque (2000) at the [[Grand Kremlin Palace]] in [[Moscow]], listing the recipients of the Order of Victory. [[Brezhnev]]'s name is not on the plaque, as his award was revoked in 1989.]]
After the death of the recipient of the Order of Victory, it was to be given back to the state.

*All orders awarded to Soviet commanders are in Russia.
**The [[Central Armed Forces Museum]] in Moscow has five orders: two of Vasilevsky, two of Zhukov and one of Malinovsky.
**The State Precious Metals and Gems Repository ([[Gokhran]]) in Russia has two orders: Rokossovski, and Rola-Żymierski.
**All other orders that are in Russia are stored in the [[Moscow Kremlin]], preserved by the [[Diamond Fund]].
* King Michael I of Romania (d. 2017) was for 28 years the only living holder, following the death in 1989 of M. Rola-Żymierski; his order is held in the Royal Collection of the Romanian Royal Family.<ref>[https://www.romaniaregala.ro/jurnal/96-de-fapte-in-96-de-ani/ 96 de fapte în 96 de ani] (romaniaregala.ro, December 5, 2019, {{in lang|ro}})</ref>
* Tito's order is at the [[Museum of Yugoslavia]], [[Belgrade]] (former the May 25th Museum)
*Dwight D. Eisenhower's Order is on display at the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum]] in Abilene, [[Kansas]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/museum/featured_artifact.html |title=Featured Museum Artifact |access-date=2017-11-13 |archive-date=2019-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215141429/https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/museum/featured_artifact.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*Bernard Montgomery's Order is in the [[Imperial War Museum]] in [[London]].

==See also==
*[[Orders, decorations, and medals of the Soviet Union]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Order of Victory}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041216181637/http://marshals.narod.ru/STAR/pobedaen.html Decorated with the Supreme Military Victory Order]
*[http://www.russian-medals.net/chkord3.htm Order of Victory - 1943]
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.mondvor.narod.ru/OPobeda.html Orders and Medals of the USSR - Order of Victory]
*{{in lang|ru}} [http://www.libussr.ru Legal Library of the USSR]

{{Soviet awards}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Order Of Victory}}
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Awards established in 1943]]
[[Category:1943 establishments in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of World War II]]

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Order of Victory