The battle for the Caucasus has become one of the longest battles of the Great Patriotic War.
In the name of the medal established on May 1, 1944, only the initial phase of the confrontation between the two armies in the mountainous regions of the south of the USSR was noted, although according to the regulation, the medal “For the Defense of the Caucasus” was also awarded to participants in the offensive battles that took place during 1943.
Operation Edelweiss
The plan to capture the main oil producing regions, from where the Soviet Union received up to 85% of raw materials for fuel, was approved by Hitler in the summer of 1942. This military operation was given a code name by the name of a beautiful mountain flower. Edelweiss envisaged three directions of attacks for the group of German armies “A”: two - bypassing the Caucasus mountain ranges with the seizure of the Black Sea coast ports and an attack on the Caspian Sea with access to the Baku region, the third - through the main Caucasian ridge with the capture of the Grozny oil fields.
Given that there were deposits of tungsten and manganese, without which it is impossible to smelter weapons and armored steel, which, after the loss of Ukraine, the Caucasus became one of the main suppliers of grain, the implementation of the Edelweiss plan would put the Soviet Union in an extremely difficult situation. All awarded the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" - both military and civilian, understanding the significance of victory in the south of the country and the severity of the fighting in the foothills of the Caucasus, considered this award one of the most honorable awards of all time.
Sketch Author
Nikolai Ivanovich Moskalev. The name of this artist is included in the description of medals and orders created according to his sketches. Among them are the medals "For the Defense of Moscow", "For the Defense of Stalingrad" and others, the Order of Kutuzov and, probably, the most revered Order of the Great Patriotic War - the Soldier's Order of Glory.
The medal “For the Defense of the Caucasus” is distinguished in this series by the fact that in its design the artist only used national motifs with a geographic reference: flowers and bunches of grapes.
Description of the medal
On the front side, a round brass medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" with a diameter of 32 mm has an image of the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains - Elbrus. At its foot are images of oil rigs, tanks and military vehicles with soldiers. Above the mountain are three airplane silhouettes. All this is inside the decorative rim with the image of the vine. In the upper part there is an arched inscription in convex letters "For the defense of the Caucasus." A decorative rim at the top point is shared by a star, below is a ribbon with a hammer and sickle and the inscription "USSR".
The reverse side of the coin - the reverse - has a concise solution, which many WWII combat medals have: a convex sickle and a hammer, and below them is a horizontal inscription in three lines “For Our Soviet Motherland”.
The standard pentagonal block, which almost all USSR military medals have, is covered with a moire ribbon. Its width is 24 mm, the main color is olive, at the edges there are blue stripes 2.5 mm wide. In the middle is an olive strip (2 mm) with a red outline, superimposed on a white strip (6 mm) with a blue outline.
The first stage of the Caucasian battle
Operation Edelweiss was initially successful for the German armies and was on schedule. One after another, the largest cities of Stavropol and Krasnodar Territory were captured, including the regional capitals, as well as Armavir, Elista, Mozdok, Maykop and most of Novorossiysk. A symbol of the success of the Nazis was the hoisting in August 1942 by a special group of flag climbers with a swastika on top of Elbrus.
The retreat of the Red Army in some mountainous regions seemed disorganized: the Soviet command did not expect the Germans to attack through impassable passes. And there was too much difference in the training of the German mountain shooters and the opposing units of the Red Army. Nevertheless, by September 1942, the advance of the Wehrmacht was stopped.
Regulation on the medal
According to the statute, all soldiers of the Red Army, Navy and NKVD troops were awarded a medal, who took part in battles for the Caucasus for at least three months from July 1942 to October 1943. The injured in these battles medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" was awarded regardless of the duration of participation in the Caucasian military operations.
Civilians were also awarded this medal, including for participating in the construction of defensive structures, which began back in 1941. Medals of the USSR were awarded on the basis of documents issued by the military, military medical and government authorities of the districts where hostilities took place: the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, the Georgian and Azerbaijan Union Republics.
Like all such awards, the medal "For the Defense of the Caucasus" is worn on the left side, its place was determined after the medal "For the Defense of Kiev".
Soviet counteroffensive
The main reason for the defeat of the Germans in the southern campaign, military analysts called the dispersion of forces in two directions - the Caucasian and Stalingrad, which led to the defeat of the Wehrmacht off the coast of the Volga and off the coast of the Black and Caspian Seas. But the main reason was the persistence and courage shown by Soviet soldiers and sailors. The Germans were neither able to capture Stalingrad, nor break through to Grozny and Baku.
After stubborn defensive battles from the beginning of 1943, the Red Army went on the counterattack, and had it not been for Hitler’s order to withdraw the southern army to Crimea, the main forces of Army Group A would have been surrounded and destroyed.
Particularly impressive was the air battle that unfolded in the sky of the Kuban, one of the largest in history. The victory in it provided the Soviet pilots with an advantage in the air, which they did not miss until the end of the war. It was from that time that the star of the Soviet ace Alexander Pokryshkin rose, who was also awarded an honorary award.
On October 9, the last German soldiers left the Taman Peninsula, the Caucasus was completely liberated. And German pennants were dropped from the top of Elbrus by Soviet warrior climbers in February 1943. Instead, the USSR flags were hoisted.
South bow
The unofficial name of the set of three awards - USSR medals dedicated to events in the southern part of the Great Patriotic War - Southern Bow. “For the Defense of the Caucasus” is the most widespread award of this set: by 1985 it was awarded about 870 thousand. It also includes medals “For the Defense of Sevastopol” (52.5 thousand awarded) and “For the Defense of Odessa” (about 30 thousand ), established simultaneously - December 22, 1942.
There are only about 990 people in the southern bow. The most famous of them is the legendary Marshal Semyon Budyonny - it was he who commanded the formations that took part in the most difficult battles of the first stage of the war on the Black Sea coast. But the feat of all participants in those battles, from the marshal to the rank-and-file, deserves eternal memory.