The tradition of minting government awards in honor of glorious victories is not new. From the eighteenth century, Russian soldiers were awarded medals “composed” personally by Emperor Peter the Great and dedicated to the victories won in the Swedish War, and then to other battles, sea and land. Sometimes the heroic actions of valiant regiments were marked with awards, even when the battle was lost.
The tradition was continued during the Great Patriotic War, as well as after its completion, because the Second World War did not end in May 1945. Imperial Japan was to be defeated, in which the Soviet Army took an active part, defeating the Kwantung group and reaching Korea and China.
Already in the fall of 1944, the doom of Nazi Germany became apparent. Supreme Commander I.V. Stalin supported the proposal of the head of the rear service of Army General Khrulev to develop a sketch of a new medal, the most massive one, which should be awarded to all who contributed to the coming victorious end of the war. The sketch of artists Andrianova I.K. was recognized as the best. and Romanova E.M. The Medal “For Victory over Germany” began to be minted at the Mint in June 1945, at the same time the awarding of representatives of the high command, Marshals Tolbukhin, Rokossovsky, Generals Berzarin, Purkayev, Antonov, Zakharov and others began.
The main element of the decoration of the government award was the image of the Supreme Commander. The medal "For the victory over Germany" was fully consistent with the spirit of the era. On its front side is a profile of I.V. Stalin in a marshal tunic framed by a slightly modified quote from his speech of July 3, 1941. In the original radio address were the words: “We must win!”. After four years of bloody suffering, the defeat of the enemy could be spoken of as a fait accompli: “We won!” The text “For Victory over Germany” along the edge and “In the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” was struck on the reverse side. in the center.
The colors of the award pads corresponded to heroic Russian symbols. The orange and black stripes were the same as on the St. George ribbon.
The medal "For the victory over Germany" has become truly popular. In total, about fifteen million people were awarded it. Among them are direct participants in the hostilities, and those who fought in the territory occupied by the enemy as part of partisan detachments, and selflessly working in the rear.
During the first five and a half years, the medal “For victory over Germany” was supposed to be handed over to the state after the death of the awarded, only in 1951 it was allowed to leave the family with a certificate so that future generations could keep the memory of the heroic past.
After the collapse of the USSR in some countries - the former Soviet republics - this award was called one of the symbols of the totalitarian era and even banned its wearing. However, such an attitude towards people who defeated fascism, which in the twentieth century became the personification of absolute evil, did not add popularity to politicians of European orientation. It is possible to issue a vile law, but it is very difficult to ensure its implementation by those who shed blood on the long journey to Berlin. And it's not about the profile on the front side of the award. It’s enough to just remember why they gave a medal. The victory over Germany forever remained in the people's memory, whether someone likes it or not ...