Orders and Medals of the Republics

scook17 · 05-29-2002, 08:06 AM

I've noticed that a lot of former republics had their own medals or variations on soviet medals. I was wondering if all the republics had their own awards or variations on the soviet awards, or just some of the republics?

I have a particular interest in Belarus, as my wife is Belarussian. Does anyone know of any variations or specific medals awarded in Belarus?

It seems to be only the older medals that have these 'republic' versions for some reason. Does anyone know the background to this?

Kind Regards,
Shane Cook.

tinmoldova · 05-29-2002, 08:38 AM

For the most part, with the start of the Stalin era, all Republic awards were eliminated in favor of USSR-wide awards. Stalin had a very different outlook on nationalism and federalism than Lenin. Stalin sought to create a "Soviet Man" instead of protecting and codifying the unique nature of the component nations within the Soviet state. Documents issued with these USSR awards would denote the specific region of action or nationality of the recipient. Following the demise of the USSR, each new Republic created their own awards. In fact, even some non recognized "Republics" or organizations began issuing awards as well (i.e. Communist Party of Russia, Transnistrian Republic, etc).

tinmoldova · 05-29-2002, 08:42 AM

Adding to my previous post:
Badges would often retain some of their Union specificity. I have several badges that have MSSR (Moldova) on them. However, for medals, I think the most prevalent (though still rare) Union Republic specific medals would be the 10, 15, 20 yr. of Irreproachable service medals. These medals, particularly MOOP and MVD issues, would sometimes list the UR for which they were awarded on the back--i.e. MOOP BSSR.

05-29-2002, 08:06 AM	#1
scook17 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 408	Orders and Medals of the Republics I've noticed that a lot of former republics had their own medals or variations on soviet medals. I was wondering if all the republics had their own awards or variations on the soviet awards, or just some of the republics? I have a particular interest in Belarus, as my wife is Belarussian. Does anyone know of any variations or specific medals awarded in Belarus? It seems to be only the older medals that have these 'republic' versions for some reason. Does anyone know the background to this? Kind Regards, Shane Cook.

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05-29-2002, 08:38 AM	#2
tinmoldova Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 106	For the most part, with the start of the Stalin era, all Republic awards were eliminated in favor of USSR-wide awards. Stalin had a very different outlook on nationalism and federalism than Lenin. Stalin sought to create a "Soviet Man" instead of protecting and codifying the unique nature of the component nations within the Soviet state. Documents issued with these USSR awards would denote the specific region of action or nationality of the recipient. Following the demise of the USSR, each new Republic created their own awards. In fact, even some non recognized "Republics" or organizations began issuing awards as well (i.e. Communist Party of Russia, Transnistrian Republic, etc).

05-29-2002, 08:42 AM	#3
tinmoldova Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Posts: 106	Adding to my previous post: Badges would often retain some of their Union specificity. I have several badges that have MSSR (Moldova) on them. However, for medals, I think the most prevalent (though still rare) Union Republic specific medals would be the 10, 15, 20 yr. of Irreproachable service medals. These medals, particularly MOOP and MVD issues, would sometimes list the UR for which they were awarded on the back--i.e. MOOP BSSR.

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