The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisans for heroic deeds during the

German-Soviet War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

, known since the mid-1960s in the former Soviet Union as the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...

History

The Order was established on 20 May 1942 and came in first class and second class depending upon the merit of the deed. It was the first Soviet order established during the war, and the first Soviet order divided into classes. Its statute precisely defined, which deeds are awarded with the order, e.g. shooting down three aircraft as a fighter pilot, or destroying two heavy or three medium or four light tanks, or capturing a warship, or repairing an aircraft under fire after landing on a hostile territory, and so on, were awarded with the first class. It was also given to some allied troops and commanders, including western allies. All together, over 324,903 of the 1st class and 951,652 of the 2nd class were issued during the war. Until 1985, the total number reached about 1,370,000.Description of the order
In 1985, during the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Victory Day, it was decided that all surviving veterans of the war would be awarded either 2nd or 1st class of the Order, and about 2,054,000 first class and 5,408,000 second class were issued then. As of January 1992, the total number of all awarded Orders was 2,487,098 first class and 6,688,497 second class variants.

Design

It featured a red enamel five-pointed star, made of silver, with straight rays in the background, and crossed

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

and a Mosin rifle. The rays in the background were

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

en for 1st Class and silver for 2nd Class. The central disc had a golden hammer and sickle on a red enamel background, surrounded by a white enamel ring with the words ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННАЯ ВОЙНА ("Patriotic War"). Originally the Order was attached to a plain red ribbon much like the Gold Star award, but from June 1943 the Order was to be worn on the right chest without ribbon; on less formal occasions a ribbon bar, dark red with a bright red central stripe for the 1st Class, or dark red with bright red edge stripes for the 2nd Class, may be worn instead. Anniversary orders of 1985 were made cheaper, as a single silver piece, gold-plated in the 1st class.

References

External links

Description of the order

Указ Президиума Верховного Совета «Об учреждении Ордена Отечественной войны первой и второй степени» от 20 мая 1942 года
// Ведомости Верховного Совета Союза Советских Социалистических Республик : газета. — 1942. — 28 мая (№ 19 (178)). — С. 1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Patriotic War Military awards and decorations of the Soviet Union Military awards and decorations of World War II Awards established in 1942 1942 establishments in the Soviet Union