Perhaps the most respected award in the Russian army was the military order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George. It was established by Empress Catherine II at the end of November 1769. Then the foundation day of the order was solemnly celebrated in St. Petersburg. From now on, he was supposed to be celebrated every year, not only at the Highest Court, but also where the Knight of the Great Cross would be. It is worth noting that, formally, the Order of St. George was lower than the Andreevsky Order, but for some reason the generals appreciated the first of them more.
Patron saint
At the time, Peter the Great spoke about the establishment of a purely military award, but Catherine II, as is well known, realized his idea. St. George became the patron saint of the order. His life and exploits are described in numerous legends and legends, including the well-known legend about the liberation of the beautiful princess from the terrible and evil dragon or serpent. It is interesting that not only in Kievan Rus, but throughout Europe during the Crusades, this saint was extremely revered by the military.
For the first time, the image of George the Victorious appeared on the seal of the founder of Moscow, Prince Yuri Dolgoruky, since this great martyr was considered his patron. Later, this image in the form of a horseman, striking a serpent with his spear, began to adorn the coat of arms of the Russian capital.
Reason for rewarding
It is worth noting that the Order of St. George the Victorious was originally intended exclusively for the hierarchical elite of the Russian Empire. Later, Catherine II decided to somewhat expand the circle of persons awarded by him, so this badge of honor was divided into 4 degrees. He was given the motto "For service and courage." Subsequently, the Order of St. George the Victorious was awarded only for military services to the Fatherland officers who performed a feat that brought great benefit and crowned with complete success.
Description
These badges differed from each other. The Order of George the Victorious of the 1st degree of the Big Cross was a four-pointed golden star made in the form of a rhombus. She was attached to the left half of her chest. A 1st degree cross was worn on the same side, at the hip, on a special striped orange-black ribbon. She was worn over her uniform only in especially solemn occasions, and on weekdays she had to hide under the uniform, while the ends of the ribbon with the cross were let out with the help of a special cut on the side.
The badge of the Order of St. George of the 2nd degree is a cross that had to be worn around the neck, on a narrow ribbon. In addition, like the award of the previous degree, he had a four-pointed star. The Order of the 3rd class was the Small Cross, which was supposed to be worn around the neck. The 4th degree award was attached to the tape and buttonhole.
A golden star in the form of a rhombus has in the middle a black hoop with the words “For service and courage” written on it, and inside it is a yellow box with the image of the monogram named after St. George. An equilateral cross with expansion at the ends also relied on this order. Its coating is white enamel, and on the edges - a gold border. The emblem of Moscow is placed in the central medallion : Saint George the Victorious in silver armor, mounted on a horse and striking a serpent with a spear, and on the back there is a white field and the same monogram as on the star.
First degree award
The Order of St. Great Martyr and Victorious George was so honorable that for the entire time of its existence, signs of the 1st degree were awarded to only 25 people. The first cavalier, not counting Catherine II, was Field Marshal P. Rumyantsev. He was awarded the Order in 1770 for winning the battles at Larg. The last - Grand Duke N. N. the Elder in 1877 for the capture of Plevna and the defeat of the army of Osman Pasha. When presenting this award, the upper class was not awarded any lower.
For services to the Russian Empire, the Order of St. George the Victorious 1st degree was given not only to their own, but also to foreign citizens. So, the King of Sweden Charles XIV, the former Marshal of the Napoleonic army Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, Field Marshal of Britain Wellington, the Prince of France Louis of Angouleme, the Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky, the Emperor of Germany William I and others received the honorary badge of the highest class in different years.
Order of the Second Degree
He was awarded 125 people. The very first holder of this award was Lieutenant General P. Plemyannikov in 1770, and the last - the French Army General Ferdinand Foch in 1916 for success in the Verdun operation.
Interestingly, for the entire time of the First World Order of St. George the Victorious 1st degree was never awarded. But only two Russian servicemen managed to deserve the 2nd grade awards. They were Grand Duke N. N. the Younger, who at that time held the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, as well as the front commanders - Generals N. Ivanov, N. Ruzsky and N. Yudenich. The most famous was the last of them, who, after the 1917 revolution, led the white movement in northwestern Russia.
In World War I, Yudenich fought against the Turkish army on the Caucasian front. He earned his first order of St. George the 4th Victorious during the Sarykamysh operation, which ended in January 1915. The general also received his following awards for the fight against the Turks: 3rd class - for the defeat of part of the enemy army, and 2nd - for the capture of Erzurum and the Virgo Beyne position.
By the way, N. Yudenich turned out to be the penultimate holder of this order of the 2nd degree and the last awarded from among Russian citizens. As for foreigners, only two people were awarded the St. George orders: French General Joseph Joffre and Ferdinand Foch, mentioned above.
Order of the Third Degree
This award received more than six hundred people. The first cavalier of this order was Lieutenant Colonel F. Fabrizian in 1769. During World War I, the third degree was awarded to 60 distinguished students, among whom were such well-known generals as L. Kornilov, N. Yudenich, F. Keller, A. Kaledin, A. Denikin and N. Dukhonin.
During the civil war, the St. George Order of the 3rd degree marked the feat of ten servicemen who distinguished themselves by fighting in the ranks of the white movement against the Bolshevik army. These are Admiral A. Kolchak, Major General S. Wojciechowski and Lieutenant General V. Kappel and G. Verzhbitsky.
Order of the Fourth Degree
The statistics of the issuance of this award was preserved only until 1813. For this period, the Order of St. George the Victorious was awarded to 1195 people. According to various sources, over 10.5-15 thousand officers received it. Basically, he was issued for a certain period of service in the army, and since 1833, and for participating in at least one of the battles. After another 22 years, the awarding of the Order of St. George with the 4th degree for excellent service was completely canceled. The first cavalier to receive this badge was the Russian national Prime Minister R. L. von Patkul in 1770 for the suppression of the Polish rebellion.
In addition to Empress Catherine II, as the founders of the order, two women were also awarded with this military male award. The first of them is Maria-Sophia-Amalia, the queen of both Sicilies. She participated in the military campaign against Garibaldi and for her services was awarded the Order of the 4th degree in 1861.
The second awarded woman was R. M. Ivanova. She served in the Russian army as a sister of mercy during World War I. Her feat was that after the death of the entire command structure, she took over the leadership of the company. She was awarded posthumously, as the woman soon died from her injuries.
In addition, representatives of the military clergy were awarded the Order of the 4th degree of St. George. The first cavalier priest was Vasily Vasilkovsky, awarded for the personal courage shown in the battles of Maloyaroslavets and Vitebsk. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the order was awarded 17 more times, with the last award taking place in 1916.
Cavaliers of the Order of St. George
The first to receive this high award was Colonel F.I. Fabritsian, who served in the 1st Grenadier Regiment. He distinguished himself during the assault on Galati, which occurred in early December 1769. He was awarded an extraordinary 3rd degree.
There were full cavaliers of the Order of St. George the Victorious, awarded with all four classes. These are the princes M. B. Barclay de Tolly and M. I. Golinischev-Kutuzov-Smolensky and two counts - I. I. Dibich-Zabalkansky and I. F. Paskevich-Erivansky. Among the honors awarded with this badge were Russian autocrats. In addition to Catherine II, who established it, all subsequent emperors had these orders of various degrees, with the exception of Paul I.
Privilege
It is worth noting that the awarded Order of the Great Martyr George the Victorious gave its owners considerable rights and benefits. They were allowed not to make lump sum payments to the treasury, as was customary for other high awards. They still had the right to wear a military uniform even if they did not serve the prescribed ten-year term.
Cavaliers of any degree of these orders necessarily received the hereditary nobility. Since April 1849, all their names were recorded on special marble boards, which were hung out in the St. George Hall of the Kremlin Palace. In addition, in those educational institutions where cavaliers previously studied, their portraits should be hung out in a place of honor.
The heroes were also provided with lifelong pension payments. Senior gentlemen of all degrees received from 150 to 1 thousand rubles a year. In addition, privileges extended to their widows: women could receive pensions from their deceased husbands for another whole year.