The Order of St. George was awarded for what. Military awards of the Russian Federation
History of the Order of St. George
The Order of St. George was established by Empress Catherine II in 1969 with the purpose of awarding exclusively for military feats, as well as for the service of officers of at least 25 years.
During the Soviet period, this order was abolished. Restoring it in Russian Federation was difficult. At first it was going to be restored for subsequent presentation to the defenders of the White House in the ninety-first year, then its restoration was ordered to be carried out special commission already in the ninety-second year, and only by the millennium the order was again restored and the final approved statute was adopted.
This order is Russia's highest award for military merit. It is received exclusively by officers of senior and highest ranks who have distinguished themselves during combat operations with any external enemy, and after additions to the statute of the order in the eighth year of the 2000s - and for special distinctions during Russia’s “peacekeeping operations” outside its borders.
Description of the order
The reward can be of four degrees, which occurs sequentially, starting with the fourth degree and ending with the first highest degree.
The ribbon of the order (popularly “St. George’s”) is moiré, silk, which has three stripes of a dark color and two of yellowish-orange.
1. Order 1st class
Star of the Order
Four limbs - strala (gilded silver). The orientation of the star is up-down, right-left. In the very center, attention is given to a medallion in the shape of a bordered gilded circle. In the very center is the cursive inscription “SG”, along the outer edge is engraved “FOR SERVICE AND BRAVERY”. On top of the medallion, between the words “BRAVE” and “FOR” is a crown.
The star is attached to clothing with a gold-plated pin.
On the bar there is a small display of a star in gold.
2. Order of the 2nd degree
Material - gilded silver. The dimensions of the sign and star are fully consistent with the first degree.
3. Order of the III degree
The badge of the order is made of silver. The difference is its smaller size.
On the bar there is a display of the star of the order in white.
4. Order IV degree
The badge of the order is even smaller.
There is no tape.
The badge is worn attached to a block with five corners, wrapped with a St. George ribbon.
The materials from which the order is made are gold and silver.
The shape of the sign is a rectangular cross.
For the sign: I degree – 60 millimeters;
II – 50 millimeters;
III – 50 millimeters;
IV – 40 millimeters
The size of the star is 82 millimeters.
Width – 100 millimeters (I class), 45 millimeters (II class), 24 millimeters (III class)
Plank: vertical dimension – 12 millimeters, horizontal dimension – 32 millimeters.
The Order of St. George should not be confused with the “St. George Cross”, which is awarded only to junior officer ranks and can even be awarded to ordinary soldiers and sailors.
In the last half century, the St. George ribbon has become a symbol of the victory of the Russian people over the fascist invaders. The public event “St. George’s Ribbon” has been held annually since 2005 in almost all countries of the former USSR.
The Order of St. George has been the highest since August 8, 2000 military award RF. This order is the successor to the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George, established by Empress Catherine II in 1769. The first ideas about restoring this state award appeared on March 2, 1992, they were put forward by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, but after the events of 1993, the restoration of this order in the Russian award system was frozen. The statute of this state award was developed and approved only on August 8, 2000. In total, the order has 4 degrees (the lowest degree is IV, the highest is I).
According to the original statute of the order, it could be awarded to military personnel from among senior and senior officers for successfully carried out military operations to defend the Fatherland during an attack by an external enemy, ending in the complete defeat of the attackers, who became an example of true military art, whose exploits serve as an example of courage and valor for all generations of defenders Fatherland and who were awarded state awards of the Russian Federation for differences shown in combat operations. This statute of the award led to the fact that until 2008 it was simply not awarded, there was no reason.
In 2008, changes were made to the award's statute. The Order began to be awarded to senior and senior officers also for conducting combat and other operations on the territory of other countries while restoring or maintaining international peace and security (peacekeeping operations). Commenting on these changes, then-president Dmitry Medvedev noted that the award was restored in 2000 for those who distinguished themselves in battles against external aggression against our country. However, in order to revive the glorious traditions of the Knights of St. George, it was decided to present these awards for maintaining international peace and security on the territory of another state. In 2010, another change was made to the statute of the order: it became possible to award the 4th degree of the order to junior officers; previously, only senior and senior officers could receive the award.
Order of St. George, 1st class
The Order of St. George has four degrees. At the same time, the Order of St. George of the 1st and 2nd degrees has a sign and a star, the 3rd and 4th degrees have only a sign. The highest degree of award is first degree. The order is awarded sequentially from junior to senior degrees. The Order provides for the possibility of posthumous awarding. To perpetuate, all the names of those awarded this order are entered on a marble plaque, which is located in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace in the capital of Russia.
The badge of the Order of St. George, 1st class, is worn on a special shoulder ribbon, which must pass over the right shoulder. The badges of the Order of the II and III degrees are worn on a special neck ribbon, and the badge of the Order of the IV degree is worn traditionally - on a block located on the left side of the chest, located in front of other orders and medals. Those awarded this order wear badges of all degrees. At the same time, persons who have been awarded the Order of St. George, I degree, no longer wear the star of the Order of St. George, II degree. Also, when wearing the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, the sign of the Order of St. George, 1st degree, is also not worn on the shoulder ribbon.
Currently, there are 9 known recipients of this highest military award of the Russian Federation (3 orders of the second degree, 6 orders of the fourth). All of them received orders for the distinctions that were demonstrated during the peacekeeping operation to force Georgia to peace in August 2008. The first holder of the Order of St. George, IV degree, was Colonel General Sergei Afanasyevich Makarov, commander of the North Caucasian Military District troops at that time. The Order of St. George, II degree, was awarded to three Russian military leaders - the Chief of the General Staff, Army General N. E. Makarov, the Commander-in-Chief of the country's Air Force, Colonel General A. N. Zelin, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, Army General V. A. Boldyrev. All of them were awarded for the events of August 2008.
Order of St. George, 2nd class
The badge of the Order of St. George, 1st class, is made of pure gold. It is an equal-ended straight cross with flared ends, which are covered with enamel on both sides. Along the edges of the cross there is a fairly narrow convex welt. In the center of the cross there is a double-sided round medallion with a convex gilded border. The front side of this medallion is covered with red enamel. On the medallion there is an image of St. George on a white horse in a cloak, helmet and armor silver color. The horse's helmet, cloak, saddle and harness are golden in color. The rider looks into right side and strikes a black serpent with a golden spear.
The reverse side of the medallion is coated with white enamel. There is also the monogram of the order, which is made up of black intertwined letters “SG”. At the lower end of the cross you can see the award number. The distance between the ends of the order's cross is 60 mm; at the upper end there is an eyelet, which is intended for attaching the award to the ribbon. The badge of the order is attached to a ribbon 100 mm wide. The ribbon of the Order of St. George is made of silk and contains alternating stripes of the same width: 3 black and 2 orange stripes.
The star of the Order of St. George has four points and is made of silver with gilding. In the center of the star is a gilded round medallion with a convex border and the monogram of the order. Along the circumference of this medallion, on a black enamel field with gilded edging, is the motto of the award “For Service and Bravery” (all letters in capitals). At the top of the circle, between the words of the motto, there is a gilded crown. The distance between the opposite ends of the star is 82 mm. The star of the order is attached to clothing with a pin.
Order of St. George, II degree. The badge and star of the order are the same as those of the order of the 1st degree. The badge of the order is made of silver with gilding. Worn on a neck ribbon - ribbon width 45 mm.
Order of St. George, III degree. The badge of the order is the same, the distance between the ends of the cross is reduced and is 50 mm. Worn on a neck ribbon - ribbon width 24 mm.
Order of St. George, IV degree. The badge of the order is the same. The distance between the ends of the cross is reduced and is 40 mm. It is worn on a pentagonal last, which is covered with a silk ribbon 24 mm wide.
Based on materials from open sources.
Among the military awards Russian Empire The most revered was the Order of St. George. Respect for this award continued during the Soviet period - the colors of the guards ribbon that bordered the main soldier's award of the Great Patriotic War, the Order of Glory, are extremely similar to the colors of the ribbon of the Order of St. George. After the Great Patriotic War, one could easily meet veterans who proudly wore the Crosses of St. George along with Soviet awards.
Preparations for the establishment of the order took several years.
The idea of establishing a special award, awarded exclusively for military merit, came from Empress Catherine II immediately after accession. The first draft of the Order of St. George - a Christian martyr, patron of the military, especially revered in Russia - was prepared by 1765. The Empress, however, was not satisfied with the proposal, and work on the order lasted another four years.
Officially, the statute of the Order of the Holy Great Martyr George was signed by Empress Catherine II in the Winter Palace on November 26 (December 7, new style) 1769.
The service was held in the palace church divine liturgy, the insignia of the order were consecrated - a cross, a star and a ribbon.
The establishment of the order was accompanied by great celebrations and an artillery salute.
Catherine II bestowed the badge of the Order of the 1st degree on herself in honor of the establishment of a new award. The self-imposition of the award will be repeated only once more in history - in 1869 Alexander II This will mark the 100th anniversary of the order.
The badge of the order was an equal-armed cross with flared ends, covered with white enamel. In the central medallion on the front side there was an image of St. George on a white horse, on the reverse side there was a monogram “SG”, that is, “St. George”. The tape is two-color - three black and two orange alternating stripes. The star was four-pointed, gold, with a monogram and the motto in the center - “For service and bravery.”
Some for exploits, and some for length of service
The Order of St. George became the first Russian award to have four degrees.
The cross of the order of the 4th degree was worn on the left side of the chest on a ribbon of the order colors, the cross of the 3rd degree - bigger size- worn around the neck, a cross of the 2nd degree - on the neck, and a star - on the left side of the chest. The cross of the 1st, the highest degree of the order, was worn on a wide ribbon over the right shoulder, and the star was worn on the left side of the chest. The statute of the order stipulated that “this order should never be removed.”
As already mentioned, the Order of St. George was awarded for military exploits, but there was one exception. The 4th degree award could be received by officers for long service, for 25 years of combat service in ground forces, for 18 no less than six-month campaigns (that is, campaigns) in the fleet; Since 1833, awards for 20 campaigns were introduced for naval officers who did not participate in battles. Since 1816, in such cases, the inscriptions began to be placed on the cross: “25 years”, “18 campaigns”, later - “20 campaigns”.
In 1855, however, a decision was made that such a respected and honorable award could not be given for long service, after which the practice of such awards was abolished.
The First Cavalier and the Great Four
Only officers were awarded the Order of St. George. The first recipient of the award was lieutenant colonel Fyodor Ivanovich Fabritsian. It was impossible to find a more worthy candidate for this. Fyodor Fabritsian, a Courland nobleman, enlisted as a soldier in 1749. After going through several military campaigns, Fabritian rose to high ranks, demonstrating personal courage. Contemporaries noted that he was extremely concerned about the needs of his soldiers and took care of them.
On November 11, 1769, commanding a special detachment of Jaeger battalions and part of the 1st Grenadier Regiment numbering 1,600 people, Lieutenant Colonel Fabritian completely defeated a Turkish detachment of 7,000 people and occupied the city of Galati. For this feat, he was awarded the Order of St. George, and not the 4th, but immediately the 3rd degree.
Subsequently, Fyodor Fabritsian became a general and commanded the Russian army in the North Caucasus.
In the entire history of the Order of St. George, only 25 people were awarded its 1st degree, and 125 people received the 2nd degree award. The 3rd and 4th degrees were awarded much more often, the total number of recipients was about 10 thousand people. Moreover, most of the orders of the 4th degree, about 8000, were received not for exploits, but for length of service.
Knights of the Order of St. George were entitled to an annual pension - 700 rubles for the 1st degree, 400 rubles for the 2nd, 200 and 100 rubles for the 3rd and 4th degrees, respectively.
Knights of all four degrees of the Order of St. George were only four people - Field Marshal General Mikhail Kutuzov, Michael Barclay de Tolly,Ivan Paskevich And Ivan Dibich.
"A bird instead of a horseman"
In 1807 Emperor Alexander I a note was submitted with a proposal to “introduce a 5th class or a special branch of the Military Order of St. George for soldiers and other lower military ranks.”
In February 1807, Alexander I approved the insignia of the Military Order for lower ranks “For undaunted courage,” which later received the unofficial name “Soldier George.” The manifesto ordered that the insignia of the Military Order be worn on a ribbon of the same colors as the Order of St. George.
This award was given much more often - during the reign of Alexander I alone there were more than 46 thousand such awards. Initially, “soldier George” did not have degrees. They were introduced by imperial decree in 1856.
An interesting point is that many Muslims and representatives of other faiths fought in the ranks of the Russian army. Since Saint George is a Christian saint, in order not to offend representatives of other faiths, for these cases it was changed appearance awards - to non-Christians it was awarded with the image of a double-headed eagle, and not St. George the Victorious.
This delicacy, however, was not appreciated by everyone. The brave mountaineers even asked with some resentment: “Why do they give us crosses with a bird, and not with a horseman?”
St. George's Cross
The official name of “soldier George” - the insignia of the Military Order - remained until 1913. Then a new statute for the award was drawn up, and it received a new and now better known name - the Cross of St. George. From that moment on, the award became the same for all faiths - St. George was depicted on it.
For exploits in the First World War, about 1.2 million people were awarded the 4th degree St. George Cross, just under 290 thousand people - 3rd degree, 65 thousand people - 2nd degree, 33 thousand people - 1st degree.
Among the full holders of the St. George Cross there will be at least six people who were subsequently awarded the title of Heroes Soviet Union, including legendary commander of the First cavalry army Semyon Budyonny.
IN Civil War The White Army also awarded the Cross of St. George for the fight against the Bolsheviks, but not very actively.
The darkest page in the history of the St. George Cross is its use as a reward in the so-called Russian Corps, a formation made up mainly of emigrants, which during the Second World War sided with the Nazis. The corps acted against the Yugoslav partisans. However, the use of the St. George Cross as an award was an initiative of collaborators, not supported by any laws.
The new history of the award began in 2008
IN new Russia The St. George Cross as an official award was approved by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated March 2, 1992. At the same time, for a long time the award existed purely formally. The statute of the “St. George Cross” insignia was approved in 2000, and the first award took place only in 2008. The first Crosses of St. George in the Russian Federation were awarded to military personnel who showed courage and heroism during the armed conflict in South Ossetia in August 2008.
M.I. Kutuzov was one of four people awarded all degrees of the Military Order of St. George. He went through his entire military career as an officer, from ensign to field marshal general, with the Russian army through the fire and smoke of battle.
Participating in the Russian-Turkish wars of the last third XVIII century, M.I. Kutuzov received orders and other awards, rose to the rank of general, for victories over the Turks on the Danube in 1811 and for the Peace of Bucharest he was awarded count and princely dignity, he received the rank of field marshal general for Borodino; the honorary prefix “Smolensky” to his surname - for the liberation of the city of Smolensk from Napoleon’s troops.
Let us now go back a little and cover in detail the main stages of the military path of this outstanding Russian commander.
During the war with Turkey of 1768-1774, M.I. Kutuzov took part in the battles of Ryaba Mogila, Larga, Kagul. In July 1774, a regiment of the Moscow Legion, whose battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel M.I. Kutuzov, quickly attacked the village of Shumy (not far from Alushta), fortified by Turkish troops.
The battalion crushed the enemy and put him to flight. At the head of the first battalion of the regiment, M. I. Kutuzov burst into Shumy with a banner in his hands, but in this attack he was seriously wounded: a bullet hit him in the left temple and exited near his right eye, which was severely squinted. To preserve it, he wore a black bandage all his life. For this battle, M.I. Kutuzov received his first Order of St. George - the cross of the 4th degree.
After lengthy treatment, M. I. Kutuzov was again assigned to the Crimea in 1776, where he became the closest assistant to A. V. Suvorov, who commanded the troops. By the beginning of the second Turkish war, M. I. Kutuzov was already a major general, commander of the Bug Jaeger Corps. In 1788, this corps took part in the siege and capture of Ochakov. On August 18, the garrison of the fortress made a sortie and attacked a battalion of rangers; the four-hour battle, which ended in victory for the Russians, was led personally by M. I. Kutuzov.
M. I. Kutuzov. Hood. R. Volkov
And again a serious wound: the bullet hit the left cheek and exited the back of the head. Doctors predicted imminent death, but he not only survived, but also continued his military service: in 1789 he accepted a separate corps, with which Akkerman occupied, fought near Kaushany and during the assault on Bendery. By that time, his general’s uniform was already decorated with stars of the Orders of St. Anne and St. Vladimir, 2nd degree.
Field Marshal M. I. Kutuzov. During the assault on Izmail - Major General, commander of the 6th assault column
The next year, 1790, was glorified in Russian military history by the storming of Izmail. About the actions of M.I. Kutuzov, who commanded one of the assault columns, A.V. Suvorov subsequently wrote: “He walked on my left wing, but was my right hand.” On March 25, 1791, for his distinction in the capture of Izmail, the commander received a white neck cross - the Order of St. George, 3rd degree and was promoted to lieutenant general.
In the presentation of M.I. Kutuzov for the award it was said: “Major General and Cavalier Golenishchev-Kutuzov showed new experiments in his art and courage, overcoming all difficulties under the strongest enemy fire, climbed the rampart, captured the bastion, and when the excellent enemy forced him to stop, he, serving as an example of courage, held the place, overcame a strong enemy, established himself in the fortress and then continued to defeat the enemies.” M.I. Kutuzov was appointed commandant of the captured Izmail, and soon all Russian troops on the Danube between the Dniester and Prut were subordinate to him.
M.I. Kutuzov receives the insignia of the Order of St. George, 2nd degree - a large neck cross and a star - for the victory at Machina on June 28, 1791. This battle lasted about six hours and ended in the complete defeat of the Turks. The commander of the Russian troops, Field Marshal N.V. Repnin, reported in his report: “The efficiency and intelligence of General Golenishchev-Kutuzov surpasses all my praise.” Before this, for his valor and brilliant leadership of the troops, which led to victory at Babadag, Mikhail Illarionovich was awarded the insignia of the Order of Alexander Nevsky.
In the 90s of the 18th century, M.I. Kutuzov won brilliant victories already in the diplomatic arena, and also showed himself as an excellent administrator and teacher in the post of Chief Director of the Land Cadet Corps. Under Emperor Paul I, he commanded troops in Finland, was the Lithuanian governor-general and the St. Petersburg military governor. During these years he received grand cross the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (October 4, 1799) and the highest award of the Russian Empire - the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called (September 8, 1800). To become a holder of all Russian orders, he only had to receive the first degrees of the orders of St. Vladimir and St. George. The Vladimir ribbon over the shoulder was worn by M. I. Kutuzov on February 24, 1806 as a reward for the 1805 campaign, in which he proved himself to be a brilliant commander.
Commander-in-Chief Prince M.I. Kutuzov. 1812 Engraving by B. Chorikov. XIX century
In 1811, M.I. Kutuzov again took part in the war against Turkey, now as the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in Bessarabia. On June 22, 1811, he defeated the Turks near Rushuk, for which Emperor Alexander I granted him his own reward portrait, decorated with diamonds. And the next year, a month before Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, M.I. Kutuzov concluded a victorious peace with Turkey.
The role of M.I. Kutuzov in Patriotic War 1812 is well known. Being first the commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of Russia in the war with Napoleon, and then the commander-in-chief of the allied forces, he showed himself to be a remarkable strategist, a man of great statesmanship and the greatest commander. On December 12, 1812, for the “defeat and expulsion of the enemy from the borders of Russia,” Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov, already with the rank of field marshal, received Russia’s highest military award - the Order of St. George, 1st degree - and became not only a holder of all Russian and many foreign orders, but also the first full holder of the Order of St. George.
M.I. Kutuzov led the military operations of the Russian army even after the invaders were expelled from Russia. The great commander died in the small Silesian town of Bunzlau on April 16 (28), 1813. An obelisk was erected there with the inscription: “Prince Kutuzov-Smolensky brought the victorious Russian troops to this place, but here death put an end to his glorious deeds. He saved his Fatherland and opened the way to the deliverance of Europe. May the memory of the hero be blessed."
Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818)
The famous Russian commander Field Marshal Mikhail Bogdanovich Barclay de Tolly, a participant in many important battles of the late 18th - early 19th centuries, was a man of a bright and difficult fate. The beginning of his military biography is associated with participation in the Russian-Turkish War of 1787-1791: for the assault on Ochakov, he received his first awards - the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th degree with a bow and the golden Ochakov cross. In 1789 he took part in the battle of Kaushany, during the capture of Akkerman and Bendery; in 1794, commanding a battalion, he received the Order of St. George, 4th degree. In 1798, Colonel M.B. Barclay de Tolly was appointed chief of the 4th Jaeger Regiment; a year later this regiment became an exemplary regiment, and its commander was promoted to major general.
The war with Napoleonic France of 1806-1807 strengthened the fame of M. B. Barclay de Tolly as a skillful and fearless general. In 1806, he was awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree, for excellent command and selfless courage in the bloody battle of Pułtusk. The following year, 1807, the general showed himself brilliantly in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau, where he commanded the rearguard of the Russian army, and was awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 2nd degree. The outstanding military leadership talent of M. B. Barclay de Tolly fully manifested itself (and was assessed) during the Russian-Swedish War of 1808-1809.
A clear practical mind, determination and amazing courage put him in the forefront of Russian military leaders. M.B. Barclay de Tolly commanded a separate detachment that made the famous crossing across the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia, which ended with the capture of the city of Umeå. After this operation, he was promoted to infantry general and received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, and in 1810 he was appointed Minister of War.
His activities in this position deserve the highest praise. Under him, an “Institution for managing a large active army” was compiled, which brought considerable benefit to the Russian army in the Patriotic War of 1812 and in its foreign campaign of 1813; a corps organization was introduced, new fortresses were built, infantry divisions were formed, the allowance of troops was improved and, most importantly, the training of recruits. The merits of the Minister of War already in 1811 were awarded the Order of St. Vladimir, 1st degree.
Battle of Preussisch-Eylau (1807).
The retreat to Moscow in 1812 aroused dissatisfaction with M. B. Barclay de Tolly both in the army and in Russian society. He was accused of indecision and even treason. But the commander stood firm on the implementation of his deeply thought-out plan for waging war. On August 17, he was forced to transfer command of all troops to M.I. Kutuzov, and he himself remained at the head of the 1st Army. He was also removed from the leadership of the War Ministry.
Bovine engraving from maps. Zvebakha
In the Battle of Borodino, M.B. Barclay de Tolly commanded the right flank and center of the Russian troops. “The cast iron crushed, but did not shake the chests of the Russians, personally enlivened by the presence of Barclay de Tolly. There was hardly a dangerous place left in the center where he would not have command and where there would be a regiment not encouraged by his words and example.
Five horses were killed under him,” one of the participants in the battle later recalled. The general’s fearlessness and composure, which amazed everyone (he seemed to be looking for death in battle!), combined with excellent management, and the skill of the commander, restored to him the unjustly lost trust in the army. For his leadership of the troops in the Battle of Borodino, M. B. Barclay de Tolly was awarded the Order of St. George, 2nd degree.
M. B. Barkyaai-de-Tolly Battle of Borodino. Unknown thin 1820s
The commander successfully led the battles during the foreign campaign of 1813, and in May of the same year, a month and a half after the death of M.I. Kutuzov, he took command of the combined forces of the Russian-Prussian army.
He was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, the highest award of the state. On August 18, in the battle of Kulm, he completely defeated the corps of the French general F. Vandam and took him prisoner. The Order of St. George, 1st degree, crowns this feat, and M. B. Barclay de Tolly becomes a full Knight of St. George. On the day of the capture of Paris, March 18, 1814, he received the field marshal's baton, and a little later the title of His Serene Highness.
Ivan Fedorovich Paskevich (1782-1856)
Field Marshal I. F. Paskevich-Erivansky, participating in the Russian-Turkish War of 1806-1812, rose from captain to major general in five years, and then received his first military awards, among which were 4th and 3rd -I degree of the Order of St. George. In 1812, I. F. Paskevich was appointed head of the 26th division, commanding which he took part in many battles of the Patriotic War, and in the most important of them - Borodino - he defended the battery of N. N. Raevsky.
However, I. F. Paskevich’s further career was connected not so much with military exploits, but with the favors that the monarchs showered on him. In the first half of the 1820s, he commanded the 1st Guards Division, whose brigades were under the command of the Grand Dukes Nikolai and Mikhail Pavlovich.
When Nicholas I became emperor, he continued to call I.F. Paskevich “father-commander”, because as a young man he served under him and he was one of his military mentors.
In 1825, I. F. Paskevich was appointed a member of the Supreme Court of the Decembrists, and at the end of his activity - governor in the Caucasus instead of General A. P. Ermolov, who was disliked by the emperor. Here, during the Russian-Iranian War, for the capture of the Erivan fortress, I. F. Paskevich received the Order of St. George, 2nd degree, in 1829, and soon became a full Knight of St. George: the 1st degree of the order was awarded to him for the capture of Erzurum in the war against Turk. Subsequently, I. F. Paskevich “became famous” for suppressing the Polish uprising in 1831, and in 1849 - the Hungarian revolution. In 1828 he received the title of “Count of Erivan”, and in 1831 - “His Serene Highness Prince of Warsaw”.
Field Marshal General I.F. Paskevich. Engraving by Yu. Utkin based on fig. Reimers. 1832
Ivan Ivanovich Dibich (1785-1831)
I. I. Dibich-Zabalkansky was a contemporary and a kind of rival of I. F. Paskevich. A native of Prussia, he entered the Russian service and, participating against Napoleon in the war of 1805-1807, received the Order of St. George, 4th degree. In 1812, he was awarded the neck Cross of St. George for the battle of Polotsk. In 1818 he was promoted to adjutant general, and three years later Emperor Alexander I took him with him to the Laibach Congress. And from that time on, the dexterous I.I. Dibich became the tsar’s inseparable companion, confidently pursuing a court career, and at the same time a military career. He also earned the favor of Emperor Nicholas I - with a report on the discovery of a Decembrist conspiracy, personally taking measures to arrest many of them. I. I. Dibich received his title of Trans-Balkan, as well as the two highest degrees of the Order of St. George for Russian-Turkish war 1828-1829. As Chief of the General Staff, he developed the plan for the 1828 campaign.
The next year, I. I. Dibich was appointed commander-in-chief in the Balkan theater of military operations (instead of Field Marshal P. X. Wittgenstein, who was blamed for the army’s unsuccessful actions). Here I.I. Dibich showed great determination. In May, at Kulevcha, he defeated the Turkish army, and this victory brought him the insignia of the Order of St. George, 2nd degree. Then, after taking the fortress of Silistria, he crossed the Balkans and, despite the difficult situation of the small Russian army, in the rear of which there were Turkish troops, he managed to dictate victorious peace terms to the Turks. This success was marked by the highest degree of the Russian military order.
The Trans-Balkan campaign turned the head of the ambitious I. I. Dibich, and when a year later an uprising broke out in Poland, he self-confidently promised the emperor to end it with one blow. But the campaign dragged on, I. I. Dibich no longer showed decisiveness, and it is unknown how the matter would have ended if he had not died of cholera. The suppression of the Polish uprising was completed by I. F. Paskevich.
Field Marshal I. I. Dibich-Zabalkansky
established on November 26, 1769 by Empress Catherine 2, was intended to be awarded exclusively for military merits, as stated in the statute: “Neither high breed nor wounds received in front of the enemy give the right to be awarded this order, but it is given only to those who have distinguished themselves especially a courageous act." It was also intended to be awarded for service of at least 25 years in officer ranks.
Badges of the Order of St. George worn on a ribbon of Russian colors state emblem(black eagle on a gold background) - three black and two yellow (orange) stripes, called .
Images of the insignia of the Order of St. George:
- to the widow of warrant officer Eduard Pere, who was posthumously awarded the Order of St. George, 4th degree, with a description of the feat and an application of the order.
The Order of St. George had four degrees.
1 tbsp. – a white enamel cross with flared ends, with a gold border around the edges. In the middle, on the medallion, in a red enamel field there is an image St. George on a horse, slaying a serpent with a spear. On the reverse side of the medallion is the saint's monogram: SG. Worn on a shoulder strap at the hip.
The star is golden, rectangular (diamond-shaped). Worn on the left side of the chest. In the central medallion of the star, on a gold or yellow field, is the saint’s monogram: SG. Around the medallion, around the circumference, on a black enamel background is the order’s motto “For Service and Bravery” in gold letters.
2 tbsp. - a cross of the same size as the highest degree. Worn around the neck, on an order ribbon 5 cm wide. The star is the same as for 1st degree.
3 tbsp. - a cross of a smaller size than 1 and 2 degrees. Worn around the neck, on a ribbon 3.2 cm wide.
4 tbsp. - an order measuring 34 x 34 mm, worn in the buttonhole of a uniform on a ribbon 2.2 cm wide.
From 1816 to 1855, on the cross of the 4th degree, awarded to officers (in the army - for 25 years of service, and in the navy - for 18 navigation campaigns), the inscriptions were placed: “25 years” or “18 campaigns”. From 1833 to 1855 the inscription was added: “20 campaigns” - for sailors who did not participate in battles. Since 1856, awards for length of service in officer ranks were transferred to the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class. And Order of St. George began to be awarded only for differences on the battlefield.
The St. George's Duma (established in 1782) met in Chesma at the Order Church, and from 1801 - in the St. George's Hall of the Winter Palace. The Duma determined the rights to receive the order for military exploits by public discussion and awarded the award by a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes. IN war time The Duma met at the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Army to consider proposals for awarding the order for distinction in past battles. In 1849, the names of all holders of the order were listed on the marble plaques of the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, and later the names of new holders were regularly added there.
In the Catherine Statute for the first time for Russian legislation the rules for issuing pensions to gentlemen of the Order of St. George were prescribed: “Special merits ... not only with these awards to show honor, but also to this we add annual pensions to the senior gentlemen of each class.”
From 1876 to 1917, a schedule of order pensions was in force, providing, in addition to pensions for higher degrees, issuing 3 tbsp to gentlemen. - 50 pensions of 200 rubles and 4th st. - 325 gentlemen for 150 rubles.
1st degree was awarded 25 times (23 awards and 2 conferments - Catherine 2 and Alexander 2), by gentlemen of the 2nd degree. there were 124 people, 3rd class cavaliers. - 640 and about 15 thousand cavaliers of the 4th Art. . Over 6,700 awards were made for military distinctions, over 7,300 for “25 years” of service, about 600 for “18 campaigns,” and 4 awards for “20 campaigns.”
Since 1812, 16 regimental priests were awarded the fourth degree, in addition, about 500 clergy were awarded pectoral crosses on the St. George Ribbon from the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty.