Virtuti Militari

Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military Order of Merit of the Republic and was the third highest military order of the 2nd Republic, the People's Republic, Congress Poland, the Duchy of Warsaw and the 1st Republic ( choice kingdom ).

From 1831 to 1835 he belonged to the Imperial Russian Order ( Ordjen wojennych zaslug ).

  • 3.1 Medal of 1792
  • 3.2 First Order, 1792-1793
  • 3.3 Duchy of Warsaw and Congress Kingdom, 1807-1831
  • 3.4 Second Republic 1918-1945
  • 3.5 People's Republic 1945-1990 ( Grand Crosses only to foreigners )

Insignia and classes of the Order

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1792-1795

The very first sign of Virtuti Militari medal was awarded in 1792 oval gold and silver medal. The obverse showed the crowned by a royal crown monogram SAR ( Stanislaus Augustus Rex ), under the monogram is two crossed laurel branches were with a ribbon. On the reverse the medal had the inscription " Virtuti Militari ", under her two laurel branches as on the obverse. Just a few months after the foundation of the medals you created the correct order, which had five classes: Grand Cross, Commander's Cross, Golden Cross and as the lowest classes of the gold and silver medal. The appearance of the averse was the same as today, the reverse was the center medallion the picture of the Lithuanian national coat of arms and on the arms of the monogram SARP ( Stanislaus Augustus Rex Poloniae ). The band was the same as today.

Duchy of Warsaw 1807-1815

In the Duchy of Warsaw, where the Order of the name " Military Order of the Duchy of Warsaw " was, he kept his initial appearance from the period before the third partition of Poland, but 1808 had the Duke Friedrich August I, at the request of Emperor Alexander I, yes the Grand Duke of Lithuania was, replace the Lithuanian national coat of arms on the reverse by the inscription " Rex et Patria " ( " King and Country " ) under which the year was 1792. The five classes were retained, instead of the medals of the 4th and 5th grade the Golden and the Silver Cross were introduced. The crosses the 1st and 2nd classes were suspended on a golden royal crown.

Congress Poland 1815-1830

During this time no changes in appearance were introduced. After the deposition of the Emperor Nicholas I as king of Poland, the Lithuanian coat of arms was again introduced in 1831 on the lapel.

Russian foreign rule 1831-1917

After the suppression of the Polish November Uprising of 1830, Emperor Nicholas I the Order with his previous appearance exist. The Lithuanian rider disappeared from the lapel, the date 1792 was replaced by 1831. The order was awarded only to Russians who took part in the fighting against the Polish insurgents. A total of 106,500 Russian officers and soldiers, which meant a devaluation of the order it received. From 1835, he was not awarded, but remained in the list of Russian imperial orders until 1917.

2nd Republic 1918-1945

The order had five classes: Grand Cross, Commander's Cross, Knight's Cross, Golden Cross and Silver Cross. The cross of the Order of the higher three classes was black enamel, with golden fringe, and bore on the obverse in the midst of a golden medallion with white enamelled Polish White Eagle with full regalia, which was surrounded by a green laurel wreath. The arms of the cross bore the golden inscription Virtuti Militari. In reverse the gilded cross was smooth and carried in the center medallion inscription Honor i Ojczyzna ( "Honour and Fatherland" ). The crosses in the 4th and 5th grade were not enameled, their appearance was apart the same as in the higher classes.

The crosses of 1st and 2nd class were suspended on a golden royal crown. The Order Star (only for 1st class ) is an eight-pointed silver star, carried the cross of the Order. In the center medallion of the cross, the white eagle was with full regalia, which was surrounded by the inscription Honor i Ojczyzna and a green laurel wreath.

The ribbon was dark blue, framed by two wide black stripes. The Grand Cross was worn on a sash from the right shoulder to the left hip, the Commander's Cross of the neck, the other three classes were breast decorations, which were to be worn on the left breast.

People's Republic 1945-1990

The five classes of the Order were retained. The picture of the white eagle in the medallion of the cross and the star lost its regalia and showed the uncrowned eagle of the People's Republic. The crown in the suspension of the 1st and 2nd class was abolished and by an oval gold plaque with ( until 1952 ) the initials " RP " ( Rzeczpospolita Polska - Poland ) and after 1952 " PRL " ( Rzeczpospolita Polska Ludowa - People's Republic of Poland ) replaced. The ribbon was unchanged.

3rd Republic from 1990

Man returned fully to the version from the period 1918-1945 back from 1991, there was the suspension of the 1st and 2nd class from a plaque with the initials " RP ".

Chronology of the History of the Order

Some well-known Knight of the Order Virtuti Militari (only wholesale and Komturkreuze )

Medal of 1792

  • Tadeusz Kościuszko (gold), Major General;

First Order, 1792-1793

  • Prince ( Józef ) Josef Anton Poniatowski ( Commander ), General, Commander in Chief;

Duchy of Warsaw and Congress Kingdom, 1807-1831

  • Prince Józef Poniatowski, ( Grand Cross ), Marshal of France;
  • Count Jan Ledochowski, politicians and Emigrant
  • Louis -Nicolas Davout, Duke of Auerstedt, Prince of Eckmühl, ( Grand Cross ), Marshal of France;
  • Józef Zajaczek, ( Commander ), General;
  • Henryk Dabrowski January, ( Commander ), General;
  • Józef Chlopicki, ( Commander ), General
  • Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki, (the only commander of 1831 ), commander of the army of the rebels, Colonel-General
  • Joanna Żubr, soldier, first woman who received this award

Second Republic 1918-1945

  • Józef Piłsudski ( Grand Cross ), head of state, commander;
  • Albert I, King of Belgium ( Grand Cross );
  • Victor Emmanuel III. , King of Italy ( Grand Cross )
  • Alexander I, King of Yugoslavia ( Grand Cross );
  • Ferdinand I, King of Romania ( Grand Cross );
  • Edward Rydz - Śmigły, ( Commendatore ), Polish Marshal;
  • Józef Haller Hall Castle, ( Commander ), General
  • Ferdinand Foch, ( Grand Cross ), Marshal of France and Poland;
  • Maxime Weygand, ( Commander ), General;
  • John J. Pershing ( Commander ), General;
  • Count Ignacy Kazimierz Ledochowski, General, died in a concentration camp Mittelbau Dora
  • Count Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski, General, Commander of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, ( Commendatore ).
  • Charles de Gaulle ( Grand Cross ), General, French President;
  • Michal Gutowski, (gold and silver), Brigadier General;
  • Stanisław Skalski, (gold and silver), Brigadier General
  • Jacob L. Devers, Lieutenant General, U.S. Army

People's Republic 1945-1990 ( Grand Crosses only to foreigners )

  • Alexei Antonov
  • Nikolai Bulganin
  • Leonid Brezhnev (award annulled 1990)
  • Josip Broz Tito
  • Andrei Grechko
  • Ivan Konev
  • Dwight Eisenhower
  • Bernard Montgomery
  • Konstantin Rokossovsky
  • Ludvik Svoboda
  • Alexander Vasilevsky
  • Georgi Zhukov
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