Highest Soviet military decoration. Established 8 November 1943. Awarded to members of the armed forces high command for successfully conducting combat operations involving one or more army groups, and resulting in a radical change of the situation in favor of the Soviet Armed Forces. The award is constructed of platinum, gold, silver, enamel, and studded with 174 separate diamonds and 5 five-carat synthetic rubies. This was the only Soviet award to be made in a jeweller's workshop and not at a mint. It was awarded to 11 Marshals of the Soviet Union, 1 Soviet Army General, and 5 foreigners. The Soviet Dictator and Generalissimo of the USSR I. "Joseph" V. Stalin and Marshals of the USSR G. K. Zhukov and A. M. Vasilevsky were given the award twice. |
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Variation 1 R* |
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Screwback. This specimen was originally presented to Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower in Frankfurt, Germany, 1945. |
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Variation 2 R* |
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Established 31 October 1967 in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the Great Socialist October Revolution. Awarded to Soviet citizens, enterprises, organizations, and other collective groups of workers, military units, and provinces, counties, and cities of the republics. The order is bestowed for active revolutionary activities, large contributions to the strengthening and expansion of the government, outstanding merits in the building of socialism and the building of communism; also for outstanding courage and gallantry demonstrated in combat and meritorious service in strengthening the national defense of the Soviet State. The order may be awarded to foreign nationals. |
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Variation 1 R2 |
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Variation 2 R1 |
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