What orders and medals was awarded to Stalin. Honorary titles and awards of Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich

Frankly, this is a very stupid and inappropriate myth. The fact is that Stalin did not suffer from a craving for awards. And this was well known to everyone. Why on earth did our snotty intelligentsia come up with such nonsense - and the hell knows! After all, Stalin is not Brezhnev, who maniacally suffered from an irresistible craving for various awards.

It seems that this happened due to one circumstance. Our intelligentsia really loves to “slap” all their vile traits on the one in respect of whom the authorities give the command “face”. Here they were ordered to throw mud at Stalin in every way - well, intellectuals are trying in the sweat of their “muzzles of the face” ... They invent all sorts of dirty stuff, if only to please the authorities and snatch a fatter piece from it. Under Stalin, they could not do this. To curry favor with Stalin, the famous poet Osip Mandelstam, for example, scribbled more than fifty laudatory poems about him. I even wrote an ode. Did not help. Especially when the ode appeared. With this, Mandelstam finally brought Stalin out of patience and an order was given to send him away from the capital, to Vladivostok (by the way, mind you, not to logging, but to the capital of the Soviet Far East). Stalin did not tolerate sycophants, more precisely, he hated them with a fierce hatred. Because I thought that "a helpful bastard is worse than an enemy". The same was true with awards, especially military ones.

In his famous book "The matter of the whole life "Marshal of the Soviet Union Alexander Mikhailovich Vasilevsky wrote:" Stalin firmly entered military history. His undoubted merit is that under his direct leadership as the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the Soviet Armed Forces withstood defensive campaigns and brilliantly carried out all offensive operations. But he, as far as I could observe him, never talked about his merits. And he had fewer awards than the commanders of the fronts and armies.

What awards did Stalin have, who had been at the helm of power in the USSR for more than 30 years? After all, the great ones are not without human weaknesses - they are also living people. In the paintings and photographs of many famous historical figures, both state, political and military, all are depicted with a huge number of various awards. Our marshals and generals, especially during the military period, are literally hung from head to toe with all sorts of awards. Their ceremonial tunics weigh almost one and a half pounds. But on Stalin's tunic, only one modest star of the Hero of Socialist Labor always gleamed. He received it in 1939 along with the first Order of Lenin. It is interesting to note the following in this connection. Unlike Hitler, who in principle wore only one of his two Iron Crosses on his tunic, that is, a purely militaristic order, Stalin preferred to wear only the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, thus clearly emphasizing the peaceful orientation of his activity at the head of state and party.

As for the awards, Stalin had 14 in all. His first award was the Order of the Red Banner, which he received on the initiative of Lenin and on the basis of the decision of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of November 27, 1919 "for merits on the fronts of the civil war." Stalin received the second Order of the Red Banner (at that time it was not yet divided into military and labor) in February 1930 - the Central Executive Committee of the USSR took into account numerous petitions from a number of organizations, general meetings of workers, peasants and Red Army soldiers and awarded Stalin "for merits on the fronts of the socialist construction". By the way, the wording is very remarkable - it turns out that both among the people and at the top everyone perfectly understood that the large-scale socialist transformations carried out under the leadership of Stalin, in essence, is a war for the construction of socialism. It is unlikely that all of them were wrong, for it was really a war. Resistance to these changes was fierce. In total, Stalin had three Orders of the Red Banner.

On November 6, 1943, Stalin was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st class, by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "for the correct leadership of the operations of the Red Army in the Patriotic War against the Nazi invaders and the successes achieved." Pay attention to the date. By that time, it was already clear even to the blind that a radical turning point in the war had already occurred a long time ago - the great victories in the Battle of Stalingrad and in the Battle of Kursk were the clearest proof of this. By that time, marshals and generals had already washed their well-deserved (and some undeserved) military and other orders and medals more than once, and Stalin received the military order only on November 6, 1943.

On June 20, 1944, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Moscow City Council of Working People's Deputies, on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, presented Stalin in the Kremlin with the first medal - "For the Defense of Moscow". The wording of the decree was as follows - "for the leadership of the heroic defense of Moscow and the organization of the defeat of German troops near Moscow." Again, pay attention to the date of awarding this medal - by that time, the military leaders awarded with such a medal, who took part in the defense of Moscow and in the defeat of the Nazi troops near Moscow, had sobered up more than once after numerous libations about such an award. And Stalin had just received it on June 20, 1944.

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By the way, there is one notable incident associated with this medal, which took place at a lesser-known banquet for the high command, which took place before the famous Victory banquet. According to the book “Fathers-commanders. Stars on shoulder straps - stars on graves ”to the description of Yu. I. Mukhin, the situation was as follows:

Marshal Zhukov was at the same table with the Supreme Commander, but not a word was said in his personal honor. It seemed strange to everyone present. Senior commanders began to give signs to him (that is, Zhukov. - A.M.) signal for a smoke break. Zhukov asked Stalin to take a break. The leader gave permission. He himself smoked a pipe at the table, and everyone went into the smoking room. Here, the commanders of the fronts asked Marshal Zhukov to start a short speech so that they could continue the toast in honor of the First Marshal of Victory.

Zhukov began his speech-toast like this: “If I were asked when during the whole war it was the hardest for me, I would answer that in the autumn and winter during the defense of Moscow, when the fate of the Soviet Union was practically decided.”

Having listened silently to this tirade of Zhukov, Stalin suddenly interrupted him with the words: “Here you are, Comrade Zhukov, remembering the defense of Moscow. It is true that it was a very difficult time. This was the first victorious battle of our army in the defense of the capital. Do you know that many of its defenders, even the generals who were wounded and distinguished themselves in battle, turned out to be not awarded and cannot receive them, since they became disabled!

Zhukov replied to this reproach as follows: “Comrade Stalin, I, like you, also did not receive awards for this battle, although almost all employees of the General Staff were awarded the Orders of Lenin (Shaposhnikov, Antonov, Vatutin, Shtemenko and others). I fully admit that I made a miscalculation in this matter, and we will correct it.

Here Stalin hit the table with his fist so hard that the crystal leg of the tall wine glass broke off, and red wine spilled onto the tablecloth. The leader, interrupting Zhukov, said: "But at the same time, you did not forget to reward your bl ... s." There was a deathly silence, during which Stalin got up, left the table and never returned.

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Stalin's third medal was "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945", and the first was the medal "20 Years of R.K.K.A.".

On July 29, 1944, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Stalin the highest Soviet military order of Victory with the wording "for exceptional services in organizing and conducting offensive operations of the Red Army, which led to the largest defeat of the German army and a radical change in the situation on the front of the struggle against the Nazi invaders in favor of the Red Army. The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Stalin with the second Order of Victory on June 26, 1945 with the wording "for exceptional services in organizing all the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and their skillful leadership in the Great Patriotic War, which ended in complete victory over Nazi Germany." In the Soviet Union, only three people were twice awarded the Order of Victory - Marshals of the Soviet Union I. V. Stalin, A. M. Vasilevsky and G. K. Zhukov.

The day after the award of the second Order of Victory, on June 27, 1945, Marshal of the Soviet Union Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin (second) and the Gold Star medal as "leading the Red Army in the difficult days of defending our Motherland and its capital Moscow, who led the fight against Nazi Germany with exceptional courage and determination. On the bust by the sculptor Yatsyno, Stalin is depicted in an open overcoat, and on the tunic two stars of the Hero of Socialist Labor and the Soviet Union are visible, which in reality never happened. Stalin never wore the Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, not considering himself worthy of this title, since he believed that since he personally did not take part in the hostilities at the front and did not perform any feats at the front, he did not have the right to such a title. By the way, having learned about this award, he expressed extremely sharp dissatisfaction with this and uttered a harsh word to the overly agile people who arranged the issuance of such a decree - "sycophants".

Simultaneously with the assignment of the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, on the written submission of the front commanders, Stalin was awarded the highest military rank - Generalissimo of the Soviet Union. By the way, along the way, they also wanted to establish the Order of Stalin, but Joseph Vissarionovich was outraged to the core by such flattery and categorically rejected such a proposal.

In 1949, in connection with the anniversary - the 70th anniversary - Stalin was awarded the third Order of Lenin. This was the last award in his life.

Total 9 orders and 5 medals - 14 awards, among which not a single foreign one. Frankly, in comparison with the many-pood "iconostases" of the same marshals and generals of the Victory - it is extremely not dense. Well, and if we compare it with the unforgettable Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, who had 120 awards, Comrade Stalin was completely deprived, as he himself ordered himself to be called in response to attempts to address him as "Comrade Generalissimo of the Soviet Union."

That's how Stalin "loved to reward himself." And of the available awards, he most of all valued the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. And he wore only this award. Because there was a creator!

In the 20th century in our history, only Stalin had the shoulder straps of a generalissimo. The workers of one of the Soviet factories “asked” for this title after the victory over Germany in 1945. Of course, all the inhabitants of the Union learned about this "petition" of the proletariat.

Few people remember, but Stalin was awarded the highest tsarist empire. This was the final turning point in the minds of the Bolsheviks, since before that ideology had swept aside all attempts, Stalin realized that in a difficult hour for the country, the continuity and traditions of the victorious spirit of the Russian Empire so hated by the Communists should save the country. Shoulder straps are introduced - a distinctive symbol of the "imperial punishers", the status of an officer, which had only a derogatory meaning before, some new ranks.

These reforms, in a difficult hour for the country, were supposed to rally all the forces scattered by the civil war. The Germans understood that the weakness of the USSR was a generation gap. They skillfully used this, recruiting numerous battalions from the Red Army. Stalin understood this with his military encirclement.

It is in the critical years for the country that the continuity of generations is established. Speaking about these events, we will remember how many generalissimos there were in our history. We will also tell you some interesting facts about Stalin related to this title.

Generalissimos in world history

The term "generalissimo" comes to us from Latin. In translation, it means "the most important." This is the highest rank that has ever been introduced in the army of any state. The uniform of the generalissimo gave not only military status, but also civil law, political. This title was awarded only to truly special people.

Until recently, this title was held by Chiang Kai-shek (pictured above), an opponent of the Chinese Communists. But today there are no acting generalissimos in the world. This rank is also absent in the system of our army. The last person in the world to have such a high title was Kim Jong Il, the leader of the DPRK, who was only posthumously awarded it in 2011. For North Koreans, this is not just a person, it is God, a symbol of the nation. In this country, a calendar is maintained that is directly related to this political figure. It is unlikely that anyone else with such a high rank can appear in the DPRK.

History knows little of the generalissimo. In France, for 400 years, only two dozen figures have been awarded this title. In Russia, to count them over the past three hundred years, the fingers of one hand are enough.

Who was the first generalissimo? Version one: "funny commanders"

The first to be awarded this title in Russian history were the associates of Peter the Great - Ivan Buturlin and Fedor Romodanovsky. However, in a similar way, every boy playing in the yard with friends can assign it. In 1864, twelve-year-old Peter awarded them the title of "generalissimo of amusing troops" during the game. They stood at the head of two newly formed "amusing" regiments. There were no correspondences with the real titles of that time.

Version two: Alexey Shein

Officially, the high ranks of the "amusing commanders" were not supported by written acts and orders. Therefore, historians call Shein as the main contender for the role of the first generalissimo. During the Azov campaign, he commanded the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky regiments. Peter the Great appreciated Shein's competent leadership, tactics and military dexterity, for which he was awarded this high title on June 28, 1696.

Version three: Mikhail Cherkassky

Peter I loved to give high government titles and awards “from the master's shoulder”. Often these were chaotic and sometimes rash decisions that violated the usual and logical course of things. Therefore, it was during the time of Peter I that the first generalissimo of the Russian state appeared.

One of these, according to historians, was the boyar Mikhail Cherkassky. He was in charge of administrative affairs, was popular in society. With his own money he built a warship for

Peter I highly appreciated his contribution to the country. Other, less significant, but useful things for society were not left without attention. For all this, Peter awarded the boyar Cherkassky with the highest military rank. According to historians, this happened on December 14, 1695, that is, six months before Shein.

fatal title

In the future, those who wore the shoulder straps of the Generalissimo were not lucky. There were three of them in total: Prince Menshikov, Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick and Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov, who will have titles and regalia for more than one article.

Prince Menshikov, a faithful friend and comrade-in-arms of Peter the Great, was endowed with this title by the young Peter the Second. The young emperor was supposed to marry the daughter of the prince, but palace intrigues tipped the scales in the other direction. In fairness, let's say that young Peter did not have time to get married. At the last moment, he died of smallpox, after which Prince Menshikov was stripped of all titles and awards and exiled to his possessions in Berezniki, away from the capital.

The second holder of the highest military rank is the husband Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick. However, he was not for long. A year later, he was also deprived of this title after the overthrow of his wife from the throne.

The third person to be awarded a high rank in the empire was A. V. Suvorov. His victories were legendary throughout the world. This title was never called into question. But the tragedy is that he stayed as a generalissimo for less than six months, after which he died.

After Suvorov, no one received this high rank in the Russian Empire. Thus, one can calculate how many generalissimos there were in Russian history before the USSR. We will talk about the title of Stalin a little later.

Instead of titles - positions

After the revolution, the Bolsheviks were negative about any reminders of the tsarist regime. The concept of "officer" was abusive. As a rule, the holder of this status, who did not have time to immigrate in time, fell under the persecution of the authorities. Often this ended in a shooting.

Instead of titles, there was a certain system of positions in the country. For example, the famous Chapaev was a divisional commander, that is, a division commander. The official appeal to such a position is "Comrade Divisional Commander". Marshal was considered the highest rank. And the statutory appeal to him is “Comrade Marshal”, or by his last name: “Comrade Zhukov”, “Comrade Stalin”, etc. That is, the title of Stalin throughout the war was precisely Marshal, and not Generalissimo.

It is noteworthy that the ranks of general and admiral appeared later, only in 1940.

Ordering the system

During the difficult days of the war, the Soviet leadership embarked on serious military reforms in the army system. The old posts have been abolished. In their place, "royal" military distinctions and ranks were introduced, and the army itself became not "red worker-peasant", but "Soviet", the prestige of the status of officers was introduced.

Many people, especially mature and elderly people, negatively perceived this reform. You can understand them: an officer for them was a synonym for “oppressor”, “imperialist”, “bandit”, etc. However, on the whole, this reform strengthened the morale in the army, made the management system logical, complete.

All the military leadership of the country and Stalin personally understood that these measures would help achieve victory, streamline the structure and hierarchy. Many people think that it was at this time that the highest rank of generalissimo was introduced. However, this is also misleading. Stalin throughout the war, until victory, was a marshal.

Victory Reward

So, until 1945, the highest rank in the USSR was Marshal. And only after the Victory, on June 26, 1945, the title of Generalissimo of the Soviet Union was introduced. And the next day, on the basis of the "request" of the workers, it was assigned to I.V. Stalin.

The introduction of a separate title for Joseph Vissarionovich has been talked about for a long time, but the leader himself constantly rejected all these proposals. And only after the war, succumbing to the persuasion of Rokossovsky, he agreed. It is worth noting that until the end of his days, Stalin wore the uniform of a marshal, albeit a little deviated from the charter. The appeal "Comrade Stalin" was considered a violation of the charter, since this appeal was just to the marshal, but the leader himself did not mind. After June 1945, he should have been addressed as "Comrade Generalissimo."

After Stalin, there were proposals to give the highest rank to two other leaders of the USSR - Khrushchev and Brezhnev, but this never happened. After 1993, this title was not included in the new army hierarchy of the Russian Federation.

Shoulder straps of the Generalissimo

The development of a uniform for the new rank began immediately after it was awarded to Stalin. This work was carried out by the rear service of the Red Army. For a long time, all materials were classified as "secret", and only in 1996 the data was made public.

When creating the form, they tried to take into account the current uniforms of the chief marshal of the armed forces, but at the same time create something special, unlike everyone else. After all the work, the shoulder straps of the Generalissimo resembled the uniform of Count Suvorov. Perhaps the developers were trying to please Stalin, who had a weakness for the style of the uniforms of the Russian Empire with epaulettes, aiguillettes and other paraphernalia.

Stalin subsequently said more than once that he regretted agreeing to confer on him this highest military rank. He will never put on a new uniform of the Generalissimo, and all developments will fall under the heading "secret". Stalin will continue to wear a marshal's uniform - a white tunic with a stand-up collar or a gray pre-war cut - with a turned-down collar and four pockets.

Possible reason for the rejection of the new form

However, what is the reason why Stalin refused to wear a special uniform? There is an opinion that the leader had a number of complexes regarding his appearance and believed that such a curvaceous figure would look ridiculous and ridiculous on a short, unsightly elderly man.

It was according to this version, according to some, that Stalin refused to lead the magnificent and sign the act of surrender of Germany. However, this is just a theory. So it was or not, we, the descendants, can only speculate.

Brilliant interpretation by Yuri Mukhin of a well-known historical fact.

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STRISHOK TO THE PORTRAIT OF STALIN

I want to write not even about a historical moment, but just a hint at one moment in our history, which still remains unnoticed.

Starting from the Civil War in the USSR, awards "for battle and for work" were established. Stalin could not refuse to award them, since this would be a disregard for state awards, although Stalin himself never wore orders, making an exception only for the star of the Hero of Socialist Labor, which from the moment he was awarded this title in 1939, from time to time appears on his chest. In total, before the war, he had three orders - the Order of Lenin and two Red Banners.

During the war, he began to command all front-line operations and received five more awards - one Order of Lenin, two Orders of Victory, one of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree (as for another Order of Lenin, I will talk about it separately). That is, Stalin, like all marshals of the USSR, accepted the awards due to him, since he was obliged to accept them, and, most likely, agreed that he deserved them.

Marshal Timoshenko, who for a year and a half on the eve of the war was People's Commissar (Minister) of Defense, fought well during the war and was awarded six orders - one Order of Lenin, one Order of Victory, three Orders of Suvorov 1st degree and one Red Banner. That is, he was awarded even more orders than Stalin.

Marshal Voroshilov, from 1925 to the beginning of 1940 was the people's commissar of defense. During the war he was awarded three orders - one Order of Lenin, one Order of Suvorov 1st degree and one Red Banner.

The title of Hero of the Soviet Union began to be awarded to military leaders from the moment this award was established, Zhukov, for example, had this title for Khalkhin Gol, marshals Kulik and Timoshenko for the Finnish war, and General Stern for leading troops in Spain for fulfilling international duty. That is, conferring the title of Hero of the Soviet Union to the highest command staff of the Red Army was already an established practice. Accordingly, during the Great Patriotic War, the assignment of this rank to senior military leaders was continued, but already in a sharply increased number. Some were awarded this title twice (Marshals Rokossovsky, Zhukov), and at the end of the war and following its results, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was generally awarded with a chokh, and those who, in conscience, were supposed to be shot were included in the lists of awarded generals.

However, Marshals Timoshenko and Voroshilov were not awarded this title either during the war or following its results. It turns out that Stalin, approving the lists of those submitted for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, simply crossed out these generals, although throughout the war he agreed with awarding them with military orders. For example, Stalin three times presented Timoshenko to be awarded the highest commander's order of Suvorov, 1st degree (Zhukov has only two of them, Stalin has one), introduced Timoshenko to the unique Order of Victory, that is, he believed that Timoshenko deserved these orders. But I didn't consider him a hero. Why??

Another moment. Not a single commissar (later "member of the military council") became a Hero of the Soviet Union. Although such political workers as Khrushchev, Brezhnev and, especially, Mekhlis, cannot be accused of cowardice. Commissar Poppel, who fought out the remnants of his corps 800 km along the rear of the Germans, wrote that such an instruction regarding the commissars had been received since the beginning of the war.

So why, in Stalin's understanding, pre-war people's commissars and, in general, all commissars are not heroes?

I think that's the point.

By June 22, 1941, the Red Army had everything from the Soviet people to defeat the Germans - excellent human material (even Zhukov considered the young Soviet soldier to be the main factor in the victory), completely modern weapons and equipment, and, most importantly, all this in quantities that exceeded weapons and equipment Germans. The Red Army had enough ammunition, fuel and equipment. But in 1941 she suffered shameful defeats, gave the Germans vast territories of the USSR and almost 40% of the population. Was Stalin tormented by the question why? I think that I tormented from the beginning of the war and the rest of my life. And I think that he saw the reason for these defeats in the abomination that the cadre command staff of the Red Army showed in the war - he saw massive meanness, betrayal, cowardice, inability to fight and contempt for the life of soldiers. All this vileness was preserved and kept intact by the cadre officers of the Red Army from the tsarist officers, and at the beginning of the war this tsarist-officer abomination in the Red Army remained uneradicated.

And the ministers of defense and commissars were responsible for the quality of the personnel command staff of the army.

But why did Stalin never mention this in a single word? Because nothing like this could be spoken aloud during the war and immediately after it. Start talking about this general-officer meanness or even shoot for it during the war, and confidence in the command staff will collapse, respectively, the army will not exist, but even with the victory over the Germans and the Japanese, the military threat to the USSR constantly remained, in view of the superiority of the United States in the atomic weapons.

But what about Stalin himself? He is the leader, is it not his fault in such a composition of the command of the Red Army? Yes, he was a leader, yes, he was responsible for everything. And, if I understand correctly, Stalin understood and accepted this guilt.

When, immediately after the end of the war with the Germans, all front commanders signed a collective petition to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet to award their commander-in-chief the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR granted this request - awarded this title to Stalin with the award of the Golden Star and the Order of Lenin. But Stalin categorically refused to accept the signs of these awards, and for the first time they appeared only on pillows near his coffin. (Later, the artists began to paint on his portraits both a star and another Order of Lenin, but during his lifetime, Stalin not only did not wear them, but did not receive them either). Stalin did not consider himself a Hero of the Soviet Union.

Here is such a touch to the portrait of Stalin.

I already wrote that I was on a program in the Liberal Democratic Party, and the organizers fussed, so I took part not only in the discussion about the Malaysian Boeing 777, but also about Stalin. I give this record, perhaps it will be of interest to someone.

On December 20, 1939, for exceptional services in organizing the Communist Party, creating the Soviet state, building a socialist society in the USSR and strengthening friendship between peoples, Comrade Stalin was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

I want to write not even about a historical moment, but just a hint at one moment in our history, which still remains unnoticed.

During the war, he began to command all front-line operations and received five more awards - one Order of Lenin, two Orders of Victory, one of the Red Banner and the Order of Suvorov 1st degree (as for another Order of Lenin, I will tell about it separately). That is, Stalin, like all marshals of the USSR, accepted the awards due to him, since he was obliged to accept them, and, most likely, agreed that he deserved them.

So why, in Stalin's understanding, pre-war people's commissars and, in general, all commissars are not heroes?

I think that's the point.

And the ministers of defense and commissars were responsible for the quality of the personnel command staff of the army.

(Yu. Mukhin)

I draw your attention to the fact that even here they could not do without lies. Order No. 270 clearly condemns those who surrendered captured, and not those who were captured ... All military personnel who were captured and released from it went through filtration camps. So, in total, according to the results of the war, over 90% of Soviet military personnel released from captivity, having successfully passed the necessary check , returned to duty or were sent to work in industry. The number of those arrested was about 4% and about the same number sent to penal battalions ...

And as always, the icing on the cake:

fkmrf123 » Georgy Shakhov Today 08:29

For those to whom it was all thoroughly interesting to know, perhaps not a curiosity. But for those who came across such a "truth" by chance, it's just how amazing the fact turns out.

Mikhail Naida » fkmrf123 Today 08:48

Stalin did not consider himself a Hero. And it is right. A hero is a specific act, in a specific place... who does in the Name of People what the absolute majority... is not capable of. Later, freeloaders (mostly Jews) defiled this Title, starting to reward each other in order to amuse their own ego. A typical example today is the title of academician ... 90% of which, the essence is scum-mold ... no right to this once honorary title ... they do not have. In the State, there are probably a couple of awards left, which the Jews have not yet turned into tsatski ... I think these are the Order of Victory and the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called with Swords. Yes, sir...

Stalin had various medals and orders in his piggy bank, and he was also awarded many honorary titles. But eyewitnesses claimed that the generalissimo, whose name is known all over the world, really valued only one distinguishing mark, which he wore at all official events.

Various speculations about numerous medals and awards

At the time when Stalin was in power, not even the most courageous person would have dared to express doubt aloud that the Commander-in-Chief of the USSR received some titles undeservedly. But after the end of his authoritarian rule, such statements could be heard more and more often. One of the versions voiced in relation to Stalin's awards was the statement that he specifically wrote out various military awards for himself in order not to look in an unfavorable light in the eyes of his subordinates. It is worth noting right away that some military leaders of these very awards often had much more than Stalin.

In addition, today you can read a lot of authoritative evidence that confirms that Stalin, the man who ruled the Soviet Union for about 30 years, remained quite modest until the end of his life and preferred an ascetic lifestyle. He did not particularly like to brag about material wealth and achievements, therefore it is really difficult to imagine that such a person could specially reward himself with something in order to look worthy next to military commanders.

Stalin's special attitude to his awards

In their memoirs, books and memoirs, people who had the opportunity to personally communicate with Stalin, and also spent some time with him, note that he had a modest attitude towards awards. He never liked to brag about them and did not flaunt them. Even received in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, "he wore very rarely.

Given this, it can hardly be assumed that Iosif Vissarionovich specially issued awards for himself and put forward his candidacy for state titles. Why did the generalissimo need orders and medals that he was not going to brag about, and did not even consider it necessary to wear them to various official events?

Despite how many awards Stalin had, he always, without exception, had only one gold medal, the Hammer and Sickle.

The hammer and sickle gold medal was awarded to Stalin in 1939 by the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet for special services in building the socialist society of the USSR, maintaining friendly relations between peoples and for merits in organizing the Bolshevik Party. It was not clear to many why Stalin valued this particular award so much. But authoritative historians and biographers say that this award, like no other, reflected the meaning of his life - work for the development and prosperity of the socialist Fatherland.

Reproach to Marshal Zhukov

It is worth noting that Iosif Vissarionovich still occasionally wore some of his awards, which he received before the war. Those that were awarded during the war years, the Generalissimo wore very rarely. But those awards of Stalin, which were presented after the war for the Great Victory, it was almost impossible to see on it.

It can be assumed that he believed that most of these medals were given out undeservedly. Or perhaps Stalin considered them well-deserved, but received at a disproportionately high price. In favor of such reflections, one can cite the situation described by Yu. Mukhin in one of his books.

According to the author, at a banquet organized for the high command in honor of the Victory, Zhukov sat at the same table with Stalin. At the same time, no expected laudatory odes in honor of the First Marshal of Victory Zhukov sounded. To the marshal himself and to some of those present, this seemed strange. Zhukov decided to take the initiative into his own hands and say a toast.

He began by saying that the most difficult time he had to endure during the entire Second World War was the defense of Moscow. Stalin, after listening to this whole speech, confirmed that the time was difficult and in many respects decisive for the subsequent outcome of the war. He mentioned that at the same time, many defenders of the capital did not receive well-deserved awards, because, having distinguished themselves in battles, they were seriously wounded or left disabled. Then Stalin hit the table hard with his fist and noticed that those who did not need to be encouraged by these awards were not forgotten, got up from the table and left, never returning to the banquet.

The first awards of young Stalin

Despite the specific attitude to the medals "For Victory", Stalin still valued his first awards. In addition to the star of the Hero of Labor, these include the following:

The order was awarded in 1919 for the final capture of Tsaritsyn by the Red troops.
The Order was awarded in 1937 for services rendered on the front of social construction.
Medal "XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army" issued in 1938

Awards received during the war years

Since Iosif Vissarionovich was the commander-in-chief of the USSR troops, during World War II he was awarded medals and orders:

Orders and medals received in the post-war period

Medals issued precisely in the post-war period were not particularly popular with Stalin. Among them are:

Awards issued by various republics

In addition to state awards, I.V. Stalin also had awards received for his services from other republics. These include:

Awards issued by the Czechoslovak SSR: two Military Crosses of 1939 (the first was awarded in 1943, the second - in 1945) and two Orders of the White Lion (I class and "For Victory") were awarded in 1945.
Order received from the Tuva People's Republic: Order of the Republic of the TPR issued in 1943.
Ranks, medals and orders of the Mongolian People's Republic: a medal issued for the "Victory over Japan" (1945); order to them. Sukhe-Bator received in 1945; conferring the title of Hero of the Mongolian Republic with the receipt of the "Gold Star"; medal dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Mongolian Revolution, issued in 1946
Stalin was awarded the Order of the Red Star, issued by the Bukhara Soviet Republic, in 1922.

Ranks received

After the victory at Stalingrad in March 1943, a new military rank was awarded to Stalin - Marshal. After the end of the Second World War, in the circles of those close to him, there was more and more talk that the Commander-in-Chief should be awarded the title of Generalissimo. But Stalin was not interested in honorary titles, and he refused for a very long time. Unexpectedly, a letter from K. Rokossovsky could have an impact on him, in which the author, referring to Stalin, noted that they were both marshals. And if someday Stalin wants to punish Rokossovsky, he will not have enough authority for this, because their military ranks are equal.

Such an argument turned out to be very reasoned for Joseph Vissarionovich, and he gave his long-awaited consent. This title was awarded to him in June 1945, but until his last days, Stalin refused to wear a uniform with He considered it too elegant and luxurious.