Awarded the St. George Cross. Russian military awards

From the history of the award

This cross is the most famous award. The badge, known in the military history of Russia as the "St. George Cross" is the most legendary, revered and widespread award of the Russian Empire.

Institution.

The original name of the award was “Insignia of the Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George.” It was established by the Highest order of Emperor Alexander I of February 13 (23), 1807. The task is to encourage and celebrate the courage of lower ranks. The name of the first recipient is known - Yegor Ivanovich Mitrokhin, non-commissioned officer of the Cavalry Regiment - for the battle at Friedland, in Prussia on December 14, 1809, “for skillful and brave execution of orders.” Friedland is the current city of Pravdinsk.

Award rules.

Unlike all other soldier’s medals, the cross was awarded exclusively for a specific feat, for “this insignia is acquired only on the battlefield, during the siege and defense of fortresses, and on the waters in naval battles.” The list was clearly and down to detail regulated by its Statute.
It is characteristic that not only a soldier could receive an award for the feat indicated there. The future Decembrists Muravyov-Apostol and Yakushkin, who fought at Borodino with the rank of ensign, which did not give the right to an officer's award, received St. George's crosses No. 16697 and No. 16698. There is a known case of the general being awarded a soldier's award - Count Mikhail Miloradovich in a battle with the French in a soldier's ranks in the battle near Leipzig received the St. George Cross, 4th degree. The vicissitudes of fate - in 1825 he was shot dead on Senate Square by the Decembrist Kakhovsky.

Privilege.

The lower rank - holder of the St. George Cross in the army was spared from corporal punishment. The soldier or non-commissioned officer awarded it received a salary one third more than usual, for each new cross the salary was increased by another third until the salary doubled. The additional salary remained for life after retirement; widows could receive it within a year after the death of the gentleman.

Award block from the time of the Crimean War: Insignia of the military order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George, medals - “For the defense of Sevastopol” and “In memory of the Crimean War of 1853 - 1854 - 1855 - 1856.” The block was tied to the uniform with strings.

Degrees.

On March 19, 1856, four degrees of awards were introduced, and awards were made sequentially. The badges were worn on a ribbon on the chest and were made of gold (1st and 2nd) and silver (3rd and 4th). The numbering of characters was no longer general, but began anew for each degree. “Either his chest is covered in crosses, or his head is in the bushes” - that’s all about him.

Knight of St. George.

Full Knight of St. George - all four degrees of the cross, 1st and 3rd degree - block with a bow. The two medals on the right are “For Bravery”.

The only one who received crosses 5 times was Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny, and because of his love for fighting. He was deprived of his first award, the St. George Cross of the 4th degree, in court for assault on a senior in rank. I had to receive the award again, this time on the Turkish front, at the end of 1914. He received the St. George Cross, 3rd degree, in January 1916 for participating in the battles near Mendelij. In March 1916 - awarded the cross of the 2nd degree. In July 1916, Budyonny received the St. George Cross, 1st degree, for the fact that five of them brought 7 Turkish soldiers from a sortie.

Women.

There are several known cases of women being awarded the cross: this is the “cavalry maiden” Nadezhda Durova, who received the award in 1807; in the lists of cavaliers she is listed under the name of cornet Alexander Alexandrov. For the battle of Dennewitz in 1813, another woman received the St. George Cross - Sophia Dorothea Frederica Kruger, a non-commissioned officer from the Prussian Borstell brigade. Antonina Palshina, who fought in the First World War under the name Anton Palshin, had the St. George Cross of three degrees. Maria Bochkareva, the first female officer in the Russian army, commander of the “women’s death battalion” had two Georges.

For foreigners.

For non-believers.

From the end of August 1844, a special cross was installed to reward military personnel of other religions; it differed from the usual one in that the coat of arms of Russia, a double-headed eagle, was depicted in the center of the medallion. The first full holder of the cross for non-believers was Labazan Ibrahim Khalil-ogly, a police cadet of the 2nd Dagestan Cavalry Irregular Regiment.

St. George's Cross.

The award began to be officially called the St. George Cross in 1913, when the new Statute of the “insignia of the Military Order” was approved, and the numbering of crosses began anew from that time. The new statute also introduced lifelong allowances: for the 4th degree - 36 rubles, for the 3rd degree - 60 rubles, for the 2nd degree - 96 rubles and for the 1st degree - 120 rubles per year, for gentlemen of several degrees an increase or the pension was paid only for the highest degree. A pension of 120 rubles in those days was quite a decent amount, the salary of a skilled worker in 1913 was about 200 rubles a year.

About numbering.

The first crosses of 1807 were not numbered. This was corrected in 1809, when it was ordered to compile precise lists of gentlemen, and the crosses were temporarily removed and numbered. Their exact number is known - 9,937.

Numbering allows you to determine who the award belonged to. This cross of the 4th degree - junior non-commissioned officer of the Grenadier Corps of the engineer battalion Mikhail Bubnov, order dated July 17, 1915, No. 180, was distributed by Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich on August 27 of the same year (RGVIA archive, fund 2179, inventory 1, file 517 ).

The numbering of the crosses was renewed several times - by the different design of the numbering font, you can determine which period the award belongs to. When during the First World War the number of awards exceeded a million, the designation 1/M appeared on the reverse, on the upper ray of the cross.

St. George Ribbon.

It is traditionally believed that the colors of the ribbon - black and yellow - mean “smoke and flame” and are a sign of a soldier’s personal valor on the battlefield. Another version is that these colors are based on the life of St. George the Victorious and symbolize his death and resurrection: St. George went through death three times and was resurrected twice.
There is a simpler version. The colors of the ribbon when establishing the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George in 1769 were established by Catherine II and for the color of the ribbon she took the colors of the imperial standard: black and yellow-gold, excluding white.

Certificate of acceptance of the St. George Cross into the Fatherland Defense Fund


Due to the shortage of precious metals, by decree of Nicholas II in 1915, the gold content in St. George's crosses of the 1st and 2nd degrees was first reduced to 600 thousandths - crosses of the 3rd and 4th degrees continued to be made from 990 silver. In 1917, the crosses began to be made from base metals, and the letters ZhM (yellow metal) and BM (white metal) began to be minted on the crosses themselves.
At this time, the government was collecting donations for the Fatherland Defense Fund. One of these collections was the collection of awards from precious metals to the state fund. In the army and navy, lower ranks and officers everywhere handed over their awards of silver and gold. The archives contain documents confirming these facts.

After February 17th.

Left: St. George's Cross with a laurel branch. This was awarded to officers who distinguished themselves in battle after February 1917. To receive an award, a decision of a meeting of lower ranks was required. Right: Posters 1914 - 17

After October, by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of December 16, 1917, signed by V.I. Lenin, “On the equal rights of all military personnel,” orders and other insignia, including the St. George Cross, were abolished. But at least until April 1918, holders of St. George's crosses and medals were given a “surplus salary”. Only with the liquidation of the Chapter of Orders did the issuance of money for these awards cease.

Against the Bolsheviks.

During the Civil War in the White Army, awarding military awards was rare, especially in the initial period - the White Guard considered it immoral to award military awards to Russians for their exploits in the war against the Russians. General Wrangel, in order not to award the Cross of St. George, established a special order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which was equivalent to the St. George's.

Cross to the Great Patriotic War.

Legend claims that during the Great Patriotic War the possibility of restoring the award and resuming the award of the St. George Cross was considered, but was rejected due to its religious background. The Order of Glory, a soldier's award - a star on the block of the St. George Ribbon, has a very similar award status with the St. George Cross.

1945. Demobilized soldiers who arrived in Leningrad. On the right is a participant in three guard wars, Private F. G. Vadyukhin. A famous photograph testifying to an unusual rule for the Red Army that appeared during the war - holders of the Crosses of St. George were unofficially allowed to wear these awards.

Philip Grigorievich Vadyukhin born in 1897 in the village of Perkino, Spassky district, Ryazan province. Drafted into the Red Army on October 16, 1941 by the Vyborg RVK of the city of Leningrad. He was a rifleman, then a medical instructor in the 65th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 22nd Guards Rifle Division of Riga. In addition to the St. George Cross and the Guards Badge, the photo shows four stripes for wounds, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Glory of the third degree (he was awarded for providing assistance to 40 wounded and evacuating 25 wounded under enemy fire on December 26-31, 1944 in the area of ​​​​the village of Muzikas in Latvia ) and two medals “For Courage”.

Nowadays.

The Russian military Order of St. George and the sign "St. George's Cross" were restored in the Russian Federation in 1992 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated March 2, 1992 No. 2424-I "On state awards of the Russian Federation." 11 people were awarded.

St. George's Cross at the Mint

The dream of every warrior, starting from a simple private and up to the commanders of entire armies, from the smallest cog in a complex machine that protects the homeland from enemy attack, right up to its most gigantic levers and hammers, is, upon returning home after a battle, to bring it as a material proof of personal bravery and military prowess, a silver or gold cross of St. George on a two-color, black and yellow ribbon.
Titanic wars like the current one entail many victims on the altar of people's love and devotion to the fatherland. But the same war will give birth to many deeds, many truly heroic deeds will be crowned with the highest award for brave men - the Cross of St. George.
We are literally trying to do the impossible, Baron P.V. Klebek, head of the Petrograd Mint, told our employee, in order to satisfy as quickly as possible the orders given to us by the Chapter of Orders for the production of St. George's crosses and medals. The premises of the Mint are so small, so inconsistent with the actual needs of the present time, that the only palliative was the introduction of almost continuous work for the whole day, with the exception of those intervals that are necessary for lubricating the machines and apparatus of the Mint.
Thanks to such intensive work, we were able to achieve that there were no delays in satisfying these enhanced orders for coins, St. George crosses and medals. During the last four months of the past year, the Mint minted one silver change coin worth 8,700,000 rubles or more than 54,000,000 circles; A million rubles worth of copper coins were minted during the same period; for this it was necessary to knock out about 60,000,000 copper circles.
For 1915, we have already received an order for the production of a silver coin for 25,000,000 rubles and a copper coin for 1,600,000 rubles, which will total over 406,000,000 circles. St. George's crosses and medals are produced in a special "medal" department of the Mint. Upon receipt of an order from the Chapter of Orders for the production of the required number of crosses and medals, the required number of gold and silver bars is released from the metal treasury of the Mint to the medal department. Upon receipt of the ingots in the medal department, the metals are sent to the smelter, where precious metals are alloyed with the required amount of pure copper in graphite crucibles.

The silver and gold from which St. George's crosses and medals are made are of a very high standard, higher than the gold and silver used to make coins. For the latter, nine hundred parts of noble metal and one hundred parts of copper are taken per thousand parts. To make St. George's crosses and medals, only ten parts of copper and nine hundred and ninety parts of pure electrolytic gold or silver are taken per thousand parts.
The ligation process in the crucible occurs within three, three and a half hours. After this, a sufficiently melted and mixed mass of metal is poured into special molds, “molds”, after cooling in which the metal is obtained in the form of strips, about eight inches long, a square inch thick and weighing: silver strips 20 pounds, gold strips 35 pounds.

These strips are rolled through special rollers into ribbons slightly wider than the width of the cross and medal. The next stage in the production of crosses and medals is cutting the ribbon, i.e. cutting metal pieces from ribbons by machine equal to the contours of the cross and circles equal to the contours of the medal. The resulting crosses and circles are cleaned with files to remove burrs or burrs and go to a special department, where they are cleaned and polished with sand.

The crosses cleaned in this way go under the so-called pedal press, where the minting of St. George's crosses takes place, i.e. extrusion on both sides of the cross on one side of the image of St. George the Victorious, on the other side the cipher and designation of the degree. The medal is minted on one side with a portrait of the Sovereign Emperor, on the other “for bravery” and a designation of the degree. Both crosses and medals, as is known, have four degrees. The first and second degrees of both medals are gold, the third and fourth are silver.

When minting, the metal is flattened along the edges and therefore the crosses from the medal press are sent to a special machine for cutting, which gives the cross its final appearance. From under this machine, the cross comes in for final finishing and sanding of the edges with files, after which a special machine punches the eyelet, which completes the machine processing of the crosses. All that remains is to stamp a serial number on each cross and medal.

Before the current war, only orders awarded to officers were called Crosses of St. George. The lower ranks received silver and gold insignia of the military order. Medals were issued “for bravery” and the name “St. George Medals” was received only shortly before the start of the Second Patriotic War. Therefore, all crosses in medals made by the Mint for the real war are numbered from the first number.
The numbers are stamped out with special hand punches, and exceptional attention is required from the master, since an error in the number cannot be corrected and a damaged cross must, like a defect, go back into melting. The renumbered crosses and medals go to the last packaging compartment, in which the rings are first threaded into the ears of the crosses and medals and then these latter are packed into special bundles, 50 pieces each, for delivery to the Chapter of Orders. The rings threaded into the ears are made of gold and silver wire, also 990 standard, which is drawn on special machines also in the medal department of the Mint. It is also necessary to mention the side work closely related at the Mint to the production of St. George's crosses and medals. This is the testing of metals from which all ordered crosses and medals are made.

After the metal strips leave the melting department, small pieces of metal are taken from the first, last and middle strips of a given batch and sent to a special “assay” department of the Mint, in which department the determination of the metal sample is carried out using extremely precise instruments. Let us also mention automatic stamp-cutting machines that produce stamps for medals and crosses.

Manager of the medal department, mining engineer N.N. Perebaskin shared information about the progress of work with our employee.

During the entire Japanese campaign over the course of a year and a half, we only had to make up to one hundred and thirty thousand crosses. Now, for the period from July 24th (the day when we received the first order from the Chapter of Orders), we were ordered 266,000 St. George crosses until January 1st. and 350,000 St. George medals. Having energetically taken up the implementation of this order, we managed to deliver 191,000 St. George crosses by January 1 of this year. and St. George medals 238,000 pieces. We melt 12 poods a day to make crosses. silver and up to 8 poods. gold. A thousand gold crosses weigh 1 pood 11 pounds of metal, 1,000 silver crosses weigh 30 pounds, 1,000 gold medals weigh 1 pood 22 pounds, silver crosses weigh one pood.

“Chest in crosses or head in bushes” - this was the principle by which the contenders for this award lived, and were confident that the honor of the distinction was worth the risk. In the tsarist army, the Cross of St. George was one of the most respected distinctions, despite its “soldier’s” status. The soldiers who received it often became celebrities. Officers who earned soldier's distinction were respected by their comrades and subordinates more than holders of elite "neck" badges. The word “George” was symbolic, and the details of the sign were separated into symbols separately.

Today the award has been restored and its symbolic significance remains great.

Reward for those unrelated

The main feature of the St. George Cross is that it was intended exclusively for lower ranks (soldiers and non-commissioned officers). Previously, they were not supposed to be awarded orders at all. Orders were considered exclusively the privilege of the nobility (compare: “order of knighthood”). That’s why the cross was called not an order, but a “sign of the order.”

But in 1807, under the impression of the war with Napoleon, Tsar Alexander heeded the advice of an unknown person, who recommended establishing a reward for the rank and file. The first recipient was the soldier Yegor Mitrokhin, who distinguished himself in the battle with the French.

Cavaliers were entitled to increased pay and exemption from corporal punishment (including the usual scolding by officers at that time, although not officially).

The award should not be confused with the Order of St. George - “officer George”. It was intended exclusively for officers.

At the same time, the conscious part of the command staff of the Russian army valued the soldier’s option. The “toy soldiers” on the officer’s jacket aroused admiration. Often they were held by officers who had served their rank with valor, or who had previously been demoted for a duel, freethinking and other matters that were not considered dishonorable.

It took courage to create such a reason for demotion. She also helped to earn the soldier’s George and quickly regain his lost rank. The soldiers also respected officers with such distinctions. It was especially chic to have both a soldier and an officer George.

Special conditions of award

The conditions for awarding the Cross of St. George were harsh and differed significantly from the conditions provided for officer awards.

1. It could only be obtained for participation in hostilities.
2. It was issued only for a personal feat (capturing a useful prisoner, an enemy banner, saving the life of a commander, or another similar act). Injury or participation in a major campaign did not give such a right.
3. It was awarded only to lower ranks. There are only a few exceptions.

One soldier could be awarded more than once. Accordingly, he received more privileges - his salary increased, and after retirement he was awarded an “increased pension.”

The terms of the award have changed several times.

Initially, there were no degrees, and the cross itself was issued to a soldier only once. If he had the right to claim it again, he was only noted and awarded the appropriate reward. In 1833, a form of wearing a badge was introduced (with the one known to everyone).

In 1844, a variety “for non-believers” appeared. It was almost secular in nature - the image of the saint was replaced by a coat of arms, a double-headed eagle. There are anecdotal cases of resentment among Muslim mountaineers in Russian service who received these awards and were offended because there was a “bird” on the crosses and not a “dzhigit.”

In 1856, 4 degrees of awards appeared. Now it should be given from the lowest (4th degree) to the highest. The St. George Cross of the 4th and 3rd degrees was made of silver, the higher degrees - of gold.

In 1913, the unofficial name of the award became official. According to the new statute, those awarded the 4th degree of the St. George Cross received (in addition to other privileges) the right to a lifelong pension - 36 rubles per year (this is not enough), for subsequent degrees the amount of remuneration increased.

Initially, award badges did not have numbers.

But in 1809, numbers were introduced, and even already issued awards were renumbered (temporarily withdrawing them). At the same time, the compilation of personal lists of those awarded the St. George Cross began. Some have been preserved in the archives, and even now it is not difficult to determine the owner of the award by the number.

In 1856 and 1913, the numbering began anew. But the ability to determine the owner by number remains. In recent years, she has been helping to establish the identities of some of those killed in the Great Patriotic War. Not long ago, the remains of a soldier who died at Stalingrad were identified. There were no personal items or medallion with him, but the soldier wore “George” on his chest.

A difference for all time

Before the revolution, respect for the Knights of St. George was not in doubt. They had the right and even the obligation to wear awards constantly. Miniatures of the “St. George’s Cross” were provided for daily use. The awardees were talked about in the newspapers; they were “heroes of the nation.”

But even during the First World War, the status of the award was omitted. For the sake of raising morale (the war was not popular), the command distributed crosses not according to the regulations. So many award badges were issued and distributed in advance, as if the entire Russian army consists of miracle heroes (this was clearly not the case). After the February Revolution of 1917, the award completely lost its value (Kerensky received 2 pieces - he’s still a soldier!).

During the Civil War, in the White Army there was an attempt to restore the practice of awarding those who distinguished themselves. But ideological representatives of the white movement doubted the morality of such a step - to celebrate “heroism” in a fratricidal war “not sanctioned” by the monarch. However, there were those awarded, and the appearance of the badge underwent some changes.

The Don Army, for example, turned the saint into a Cossack. In the 30s...40s, white emigration occasionally gave awards to figures of the white movement and anti-Soviet agents. But this no longer evoked the same respect as before.

A lot of holders of the St. George Cross went to serve in the Red Army. There they had no privileges (officially abolished in 1918).

Some of the award badges disappeared as part of the operation “diamonds for the dictatorship of the proletariat” - golden crosses of St. George were handed over to the state to buy food for the hungry.

But there were those awarded who kept them, and were not subjected to any reprisals for this. Marshal Budyonny (who had an iconostasis of Soviet awards) always wore only the full St. George set.

Such actions were not encouraged, but the authorities did not pay attention when experienced older soldiers (who had already gone to the second world war in their lives) allowed themselves to do this. The experience and skills of such fighters were worth more than ideological trifles.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Order of Glory appeared - the Soviet analogue of the Tsarist Soldier's Order. After this, older military men were allowed to wear crosses semi-officially and the rights of the full set of Orders of Glory and the full set of St. George were equalized.

Revival of an old award

After the collapse of the USSR, Georgies officially returned to the list of Russian awards in 1992. But the creation of a new statute took time, and then immediate changes. It was assumed that awards, as before, would be for participation in battles for the defense of the Fatherland. But the Ossetian events of 2008 changed the situation. Now the Crosses of St. George of the Russian Federation are also awarded for distinction during battles outside the country.

There is also an anniversary medal “200 years of the Cross of St. George”.

Post-Soviet times are a dark period in the history of the award. The poverty of the first years after the collapse of the USSR led to the “putting up for auction” of what cannot be traded. Orders and medals, Soviet and Tsarist, have also become commodities. Openly naming their “market price” is simply immoral - it’s the same as trading in the Motherland.

But there are now a lot of privately produced “St. George Crosses” on the market (the production of awards is the Mint’s priority). It is difficult to distinguish them from the originals - museum workers conduct thorough checks of the signs they receive. But it’s better to let it be this way - copies of St. George’s crosses are not rewards, trading them is not a crime. You can at least hang a pectoral cross on a St. George ribbon - this will not make it valuable for history.

The historical value of the award depends on the time of its issue and affiliation, which can be determined from the lists of awardees. The price of the metal is not important.

Confirmation of high status

Many famous people and entire military units had St. George's crosses. In some cases, it is difficult for our contemporaries to even imagine that a particular person could have them.

1. The awarding of Shurochka Azarova in “The Hussar Ballad” is not made up. This is an episode of the biography of Nadezhda Durova, the prototype of the heroine.
2. General Miloradovich, who was killed during the Decembrist speech, had a soldier's distinction.
3. Marshal Budyonny had not even 4, but 5 Georgievs. The first 4th degree was taken away from him as punishment for fighting. But Budyonny immediately earned a new one, and then went upward.
4. The famous “Vasily Ivanovich” (divisional commander Chapaev) received a little less - 3 pieces.
5. Georgy Zhukov, Rodion Malinovsky, Konstantin Rokossovsky had 2-3 awards each - it’s not surprising that they became marshals of Victory!
6. The partisan general Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak had 2 "George". Then he added 2 Gold Stars to them. A total of 7 heroes of the Soviet Union were also full Knights of St. George.
7. The crews of the cruiser "Varyag" and the accompanying gunboat "Koreets" were awarded as military units.
8. During World War I, 2 French and 1 Czech pilots were awarded.

In the lists of gentlemen there are some completely strange characters. So, search engine enthusiasts unearthed in them a certain von Manstein and a certain... Hitler! They have nothing to do with the Third Reich and their odious namesakes.

The unexpected side of fame

The Cross of St. George is the most famous Russian award. Because of this, she is associated with Russia in general. Related to this are attempts to “appropriate” it entirely, as well as its individual attributes.

The authorities of the unrecognized DPR and LPR are now issuing their analogues. The status of these awards is not determined due to the uncertain situation of the republics themselves.

Even more often, the St. George ribbon is used - the color of the order block. Theoretically, they should symbolize “smoke and flames” (black and orange stripes). But no one is interested in this - the ribbon is viewed as a symbol of Russian power.

For this reason, it is used in symbolism in states friendly to Russia. Countries that have strained relations with Russia are trying to ban it.

Thus, in Ukraine, public use of a ribbon is even treated as a criminal offense.

Today, some orders of Russia are rated higher than the Cross of St. George. Its revival is not intended to change the awards hierarchy. This is simply a tribute to the glory of our ancestors and an attempt to revive the continuity of generations where it is worth doing.

Video

St. George's Cross, as the highest for the lower ranks of the Russian army, which was awarded exclusively for personal courage on the battlefield, has a history of more than two centuries. However, it did not immediately receive its usual name. This official name appeared only in 1913 in connection with the adoption of the new Statute of the Order of St. George.

First time title St. George's Cross or the sign of the Order of St. George appears on November 26, 1769, when Empress Catherine 2 established a special order to reward generals, admirals and officers for the military exploits they personally performed. The order was named in honor of the Holy Great Martyr George, who is considered the heavenly patron of warriors.

Even Emperor Paul 1, in 1798, began individual rewards for military distinctions of the lower ranks, then the insignia of the Order of St. Anna. But this was the exception rather than the rule, since they were originally intended specifically to reward privates and non-commissioned officers for 20 years of blameless service. But circumstances required incentives for lower ranks for courage in battle, and during the first ten years of the existence of this award there were several thousand such exceptions.

In January 1807, Alexander 1 was presented with a note which argued for the need to establish a special award for soldiers and lower officer ranks. At the same time, the author of the note referred to the experience of the Seven Years' War and the military campaigns of Catherine 2, when soldiers were given medals that recorded the location of the battle in which they participated, which certainly increased the soldiers' morale. The author of the note proposed making this measure more effective by distributing insignia “with some discrimination,” that is, taking into account real personal merit.

St. George's Cross in the first half of the 19th century.

As a result, on February 13, 1807, the Highest Manifesto was issued, establishing the Insignia of the Military Order (ZOVO), which would later become known as St. George's Cross. The Manifesto stipulated the appearance of the award - a silver sign on a St. George ribbon, with the image of St. George the Victorious in the center. Reason for award - acquired in battle by those who showed particular courage. The manifesto also stipulated other nuances of the new award, in particular, benefits and material incentives (a third of the military salary for each award) provided to the gentlemen, as well as the fact that the number of such badges is not limited in any way. Subsequently, exemption from all corporal punishment was added to the benefits of the awardees. Awards were distributed to new cavaliers by commanders in a solemn atmosphere, in front of the military unit, in the fleet - on the quarterdeck under the flag.

At first, when the number of recipients was relatively small, the insignia was numberless, but due to the increase in the number of recipients and the compilation of lists of gentlemen, it became necessary to number them. According to official data, until October 1808, 9,000 lower ranks received awards without a number. After this, the Mint began producing signs with numbers. During the military campaigns that took place before Napoleon's campaign against Russia, they were awarded more than 13,000 times. During the Patriotic War and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army (1812-1814), the number of recipients increased significantly. The archives preserve information on the number of awards by year: 1812 - 6783, 1813 - 8611, 1815 - 9345 awards.

In 1833, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, a new statute for the Order of St. George was adopted. It included a number of innovations, some of which concerned the awarding of crosses to lower ranks. Of these, it is worth noting the most important. For example, all powers in awarding awards now became the prerogative of the Commanders-in-Chief of the armies and commanders of individual corps. This played a positive role, since it greatly simplified the grant process, thus eliminating many bureaucratic delays. Another innovation was that all soldiers and non-commissioned officers who, after the third award, received the maximum increase in pay, received the right to wear a cross with a bow from, which became, in a certain sense, a harbinger of the future division into degrees.

In 1844, changes were made to the appearance of crosses awarded to Muslims, and subsequently to all non-Christians. It was prescribed that the image of St. George on the medallion be replaced with the coat of arms of Russia, the double-headed imperial eagle. This was done in order to give the award a more “neutral”, in a confessional sense, character.

St. George's crosses of 4 degrees.

The next major change in the statute of the order, relating to the St. George's awards for lower ranks, occurred in March 1856 - it was divided into 4 degrees. 1 and 2 tbsp. were made of gold, and 3 and 4 of silver. The awards of degrees were to be carried out sequentially, with each degree having its own numbering. For visual distinction, grades 1 and 3 were accompanied by a bow from the St. George ribbon.

After numerous awards for the Turkish War of 1877 - 1878, the stamps used at the Mint for minting crosses were updated, while medalist A.A. Griliches made some changes and awards, which finally acquired the form that remained until 1917. The image of the figure of St. George in the medallion has become more expressive and dynamic.

In 1913, a new statute for the St. George's Awards was adopted. It was from this moment that the Insignia of the Military Order for awarding lower ranks began to be officially called St. George's Cross. For each degree of this award, a new numbering was introduced. The special award for non-believers was also abolished, and they began to be awarded a standard badge.

The first St. George's crosses were produced in small quantities by April 1914. Since back in October 1913, the Mint received an order for their production to reward border guards or participants in military expeditions. And already in July 1914, in connection with the outbreak of war, the Mint began minting a large number of St. George's Crosses. To speed up production, they even used awards that had not been awarded since the Japanese War, with partial new numbers applied. During 1914, more than one and a half thousand crosses of the first degree were sent to the troops, about 3,200 of the 2nd class, 26 thousand of the 3rd class. and almost 170 thousand of the fourth.

GK 4 tbsp., silver.

In connection with the large minting of St. George's crosses from precious metals, which took place in difficult economic conditions, in May 1915 it was decided to reduce the standard of gold used for these purposes. Military awards of the highest grades began to be made from an alloy containing 60 percent pure gold. And since October 1916, precious metals were completely excluded from the manufacture of all Russian awards. GKs began to be minted from tombac and cupronickel, with the designation on the rays: ZhM (yellow metal) and BM (white metal).

In August 1917, the Provisional Government decided to allow the Civil Code to award awards not only to lower ranks but also to officers, “for feats of personal courage,” while a special Laurel branch was placed on the St. George ribbon.

Civil Code 1st class, 1917, tompak, w/m.

The Insignia of the Military Order, commonly called the "St. George Cross" was established in 1807 by Russian Emperor Alexander I. It was intended to reward the lower ranks of the army and navy for exploits and bravery in wartime.

In 1807, the first statute of the Insignia of the Military Order was approved. The first signs did not have numbers and were later returned to the chapter to be numbered according to the lists of the Chapter of Orders. There were about 9 thousand such signs. At the first award of the Badge of Distinction of the Military Order, the salary of the lower rank increased by one third, when performing the next feat that fit the statute of the lower rank, the salary increased by another third, and so on to a maximum of double salary, moreover, the badge of the order was issued only once. In order to highlight lower ranks who had been nominated for awards more than once, in 1833, a new version of the statute required lower ranks to wear the Badge of Distinction on a ribbon with a bow for repeated feats. Initially, only the lower ranks of the Christian faith could receive the Badge of Distinction, and non-Christians were awarded medals for bravery and diligence. This caused dissatisfaction on the part of the non-Christian lower ranks, because Every soldier dreamed of having a cross with the image of a “warrior” on his chest. Since 1844, the Insignia of the Military Order began to be awarded to lower ranks of non-Christian religion. Such signs were distinguished by the fact that on the front and back sides in the central medallion the state emblem of Russia was placed - a double-headed eagle.

This depiction of the coat of arms instead of St. George was due to the fact that persons of non-Christian faith could not wear on the chest the image of St. George the Victorious, a Christian saint. The numbering of crosses for “non-believers” was separate; a total of 1,368 crosses were issued before 1856. In 1849, Tsar Alexander II awarded the Insignia of the Military Order to veterans of the Prussian army for the war with Napoleon and the special distinction of these signs was the monogram A II on the upper ray and a separate numbering (the sign “N” was stamped on the left reverse ray, and on the right reverse number of the cross, such signs were issued - 4264 pieces.

Insignia of the Military Order with the monogram of Emperor Alexander I, for Prussian veterans. No. 2162. Silver. Weight 14.32 g. Size 34x40 mm. Established in July 1839 to reward soldiers of the Prussian troops who participated in the wars of 1813, 1814 and 1815, in memory of the 25th anniversary of the capture of Paris by the Allied forces. 4500 pieces were minted, 4264 pieces were issued, 236 pieces were unissued. were returned to St. Petersburg. The issued crosses were also subject to return, but not all were returned. This cross was awarded to the Fusilier of the 30th Prussian Infantry Regiment, Friedrich Zinder.

Data on awards and serial numbers of crosses were transferred to the Chapter of Orders, where they were registered and stored in special lists.

The next change in the statute of the Insignia of the Military Order occurred in 1913. From that time on, it began to be called the “St. George Cross”; the St. George Medal (a numbered medal for bravery) was also added to the St. George Statute. The number of those awarded the Cross of St. George was not limited. The appearance of the crosses did not undergo significant changes, only the sign “N” began to be stamped in front of the serial number. The number sign was stamped on all crosses with serial numbers from 1 to 99999, and on crosses with 6 digits in the number, the “N” sign was not stamped (only crosses of the 4th degree and 3rd degree fell under this rule). The order of wearing crosses on ribbons has also not changed. Awarding crosses for non-Christians of other faiths was abolished. According to the new statute, posthumous awarding of the St. George Cross became possible, and the cross could be transferred to the relatives of the deceased.
The procedure for awarding the Cross of St. George:
- The St. George Cross was complained in order of precedence of degrees, starting from the fourth degree gradually to the first.
- Regarding the lower ranks who distinguished themselves, without observing their numbers, the commander of a company, squadron or battery, no later than a month after the end of the battle or case during which the feats were performed, must transfer to the higher commander of the unit a nominal list with a description of each feat and under which article of the statute it fits. (The lists are presented in the originals without combining them into general lists and with reservations about those ranks that already have St. George’s crosses.)
- The right to approve nominations for awarding the Cross of St. George had the commanders of non-individual corps and their superiors vested with authority, and in the fleet, the commanders of squadrons and individual detachments.
- The Commander-in-Chief or commander of the army or navy had a special right to personally award the Cross of St. George. In addition, the corps commander (in the navy, the head of a separate detachment), subject to his personal presence at the very place of the battle during the performance of the feat.
- In the absence of the required number of St. George's crosses, before the crosses were awarded, ribbons were issued, which were worn on the chest on the order block.
- All materials on submissions to the St. George Cross were considered secret until the final result was announced
- The Cross of St. George, both in the land department and in the navy, was assigned to lower ranks in the presence of the main military commanders, by them themselves, and in their absence by the senior commanders after them.
- The awards were made in front of the formation of units with banners and standards, the troops were kept on “guard,” and when laying crosses, the troops saluted the cavaliers “with music and marching.”
- At the end of the war, a special honorary order was given to the army and navy for all those awarded the St. George Cross, with the approval of the highest authority in the army and navy, with a detailed description of the feats and the numbers of the awarded crosses.

Certificate of awarding the St. George Cross, 3rd degree, No. 1253 to the senior non-commissioned officer of the 165th Lutsk Infantry Regiment Larion Sidorichenko.

Special rights and benefits of those awarded the George Cross:
- The St. George Cross has never been removed.
- On a cloak outside the formation, only the ribbon on the side of the cloak was worn.
- Each person awarded the St. George Cross was assigned an annual cash payment of 4th degree - 36 rubles, 3rd degree - 60 rubles, 2nd degree - 96 rubles, and 1st degree - 120 rubles from the day of accomplishment of the feat. When the highest degree was awarded, the issuance of the lowest degree ceased.
- After his death, the widow of the awardee enjoyed the cash payment due to him on the cross for another year.
- Cash payments during service were carried out as an increase in salary, and after dismissal from active service, as a pension.
- Upon transfer to the reserve rank, those awarded the 2nd degree badge were presented to the rank of lieutenant officer (or corresponding to it), and those awarded the 1st degree were presented to the same rank when awarded.
- When the 4th class was awarded the St. George Cross, the next rank complained at the same time.
- Lower ranks who had the 3rd and 4th degree of the St. George Cross, when awarded the medal “For Diligence”, were presented directly to the silver neck medal, and those who had the 1st and 2nd degree of the St. George Cross - directly to the gold neck medal.
- Those who have the St. George Cross, both employees and reserve and retired lower ranks, who have fallen into crime, are deprived of the Cross no other way than by court.
- In case of loss or unintentional loss of the St. George Cross by any of the lower ranks, at least reserve or retired, he is given, at the request of his superiors, a new cross free of charge.

St. George's Cross, 1st degree No. 4877. Gold, 17.85 gr. Size 34x41 mm.

St. George's Cross, 2nd degree No. 11535. Gold, 17.5 g. Size 41x34 mm. Petrograd Mint. 1914–1915

St. George's Cross, 3rd degree No. 141544. Medalist A. Griliches. Silver, 10.50 gr. Size 34x41 mm.

St. George's Cross, 4th degree No. 735486. Medalist A. Griliches. Silver, 10.74 gr. Size 34x41 mm.

Tailcoat badge of the Insignia of the Military Order. Workshop of M. Maslov, Moscow, 1908-1917. Silver, 2.40 gr. Size 17x17 mm.

St. George's Cross without degree. Unknown workshop, Western Europe, early 20th century. Silver, 13.99 gr. Size 45x40 mm.

St. George's Cross without degree. Unknown workshop, Western Europe, early 20th century. Bronze, 9.51 gr. Size 42x36 mm.

In 1915, the composition of gold in crosses of the 1st and 2nd degrees was reduced from 90-99% to 50-60%. To mint crosses with a reduced gold content, an alloy of gold and silver was used, followed by surface gilding with high-grade gold. This was due to economic difficulties as a result of the outbreak of the 1st World War. When the numbering of signs of the 4th degree approached the limit for placement on two rays (no more than six characters), crosses with numbers over a million began to be minted with the sign “1/M” on the upper ray of the reverse side, which meant one million. The first such signs with numbers from 1 to 99999 had zeros in front of the numbers and were printed in this way: from 000001 to 099999. In 1917, according to the new position, crosses began to be minted from base metals and the letters Zh. appeared on the crosses - in the lower corner on the left ray of the reverse sides, M - in the lower corner on the right ray of the reverse side on all signs of the 1st and 2nd degree. On the 3rd and 4th degrees the letters B. and M were minted.

St. George's Cross, 3rd degree No. 335736. Metal, silver plated, 10.03 gr. Size 34x41 mm. According to V.A. Durov, 49,500 pieces were minted. crosses of this type.

St. George's Cross, 4th degree No. 1/m 280490. Metal, silver plated, 10.74 g. Size 34x41 mm. According to V.A. Durov, 89,000 pieces were minted. crosses of this type.

In 1917, another change occurred in the statute on awarding officers with soldier's badges with a branch on a ribbon and on awarding lower ranks with officer insignia of the Order of St. George with a twig on a ribbon. Such badges were awarded to lower ranks and officers by decision of the general meeting of a company, regiment, battery, division or other military unit.
During World War I, there was a great lack of funds, so the government collected donations for the Fatherland Defense Fund. One of these collections was the collection of awards made of precious metals. In the army and navy, lower ranks and officers everywhere handed over their awards of silver and gold. There are photographs and other documents confirming these facts.

Certificate that Corporal Fyodor Bulgakov handed over one cross of the 4th degree No. 37047 for the needs of the state.

Armed forces in the North of Russia. St. George's Cross, 4th degree. No. 1634. Unknown workshop, Russia, 1918-1919. Aluminum, 3.42 g. Size 35x40 mm. This cross, by order of General Miller No. 355 of November 1919, was awarded to the senior non-commissioned officer of the 3rd Northern Regiment “... for the fact that in the battle on August 10 this year, being in secret, he was surrounded by the enemy, and promptly reported about this and despite the obvious danger, he entered into battle with the enemy, thereby contributing to the overall success of the battle.”

Original taken from hanzzz_muller to GEORGE'S CROSS

[From the history of awards - part I]
This cross is the most famous award. The badge, known in the military history of Russia as the "St. George Cross" is the most legendary, revered and widespread award of the Russian Empire.

1. Institution.
The original name of the award was “Insignia of the Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George.” It was established by the Highest order of Emperor Alexander I of February 13 (23), 1807. The task is to encourage and celebrate the courage of lower ranks. The name of the first recipient is known - Yegor Ivanovich Mitrokhin, non-commissioned officer of the Cavalry Regiment - for the battle at Friedland, in Prussia on December 14, 1809, “for skillful and brave execution of orders.” Friedland is the current city of Pravdinsk.


These are different awards, with different statuses. And they look different.

2. Award rules.
Unlike all other soldier’s medals, the cross was awarded exclusively for a specific feat, for “this insignia is acquired only on the battlefield, during the siege and defense of fortresses, and on the waters in naval battles.” The list was clearly and down to detail regulated by its Status.
It is characteristic that not only a soldier could receive an award for the feat indicated there. The future Decembrists Muravyov-Apostol and Yakushkin, who fought at Borodino with the rank of ensign, which did not give the right to an officer's award, received St. George's crosses No. 16697 and No. 16698. There is a known case of the general being awarded a soldier's award - Count Mikhail Miloradovich in a battle with the French in a soldier's ranks in the battle near Leipzig received the St. George Cross, 4th degree. The vicissitudes of fate - in 1825 he was shot dead on Senate Square by the Decembrist Kakhovsky.

3. Privileges.
The lower rank - holder of the St. George Cross in the army was spared from corporal punishment. The soldier or non-commissioned officer awarded it received a salary one third more than usual, for each new cross the salary was increased by another third until the salary doubled. The additional salary remained for life after retirement; widows could receive it within a year after the death of the gentleman.

Award block from the time of the Crimean War: Insignia of the military order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George, medals - “For the defense of Sevastopol” and “In memory of the Crimean War of 1853 - 1854 - 1855 - 1856.” . The block was tied to the uniform with strings.

4. Degrees.
On March 19, 1856, four degrees of awards were introduced, and awards were made sequentially. The badges were worn on a ribbon on the chest and were made of gold (1st and 2nd) and silver (3rd and 4th). The numbering of characters was no longer general, but began anew for each degree. “Either his chest is covered in crosses, or his head is in the bushes” - that’s all about him.

5. Knight of St. George.

Full Knight of St. George - all four degrees of the cross, 1st and 3rd degree - block with a bow. The two medals on the right are “For Bravery”.

The only one who received crosses 5 times was Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny, and because of his love for fighting. He was deprived of his first award, the St. George Cross of the 4th degree, in court for assault on a senior in rank. I had to receive the award again, this time on the Turkish front, at the end of 1914. He received the St. George Cross, 3rd degree, in January 1916 for participating in the battles near Mendelij. In March 1916 - awarded the cross of the 2nd degree. In July 1916, Budyonny received the St. George Cross, 1st degree, for the fact that five of them brought 7 Turkish soldiers from a sortie.

6. Women.
There are several known cases of women being awarded the cross: this is the “cavalry maiden” Nadezhda Durova, who received the award in 1807; in the lists of cavaliers she is listed under the name of cornet Alexander Alexandrov. For the battle of Dennewitz in 1813, another woman received the St. George Cross - Sophia Dorothea Frederica Kruger, a non-commissioned officer from the Prussian Borstell brigade. Antonina Palshina, who fought in the First World War under the name Anton Palshin, had the St. George Cross of three degrees. Maria Bochkareva, the first female officer in the Russian army, commander of the “women’s death battalion” had two Georges.

7. For foreigners.

8. For non-believers.
From the end of August 1844, a special cross was installed to reward military personnel of other religions; it differed from the usual one in that the coat of arms of Russia, a double-headed eagle, was depicted in the center of the medallion. The first full holder of the cross for non-believers was Labazan Ibrahim Khalil-ogly, a police cadet of the 2nd Dagestan Cavalry Irregular Regiment.

9. The feat of "Varyag".

Award block for the lower rank of the cruiser crew. On the right is a specially established medal "For the battle of the Varangian and the Korean on January 27, 1904 - Chemulpo"

Gift address to crew members from the Assembly of Nobility of St. Petersburg.

10. St. George's Cross.
The award began to be officially called the St. George Cross in 1913, when the new statute of the “insignia of the Military Order” was approved, and the numbering of crosses began anew from that time. The new statute also introduced lifelong allowances: for the 4th degree - 36 rubles, for the 3rd degree - 60 rubles, for the 2nd degree - 96 rubles and for the 1st degree - 120 rubles per year, for gentlemen of several degrees an increase or the pension was paid only for the highest degree. A pension of 120 rubles in those days was quite a decent amount, the salary of a skilled worker in 1913 was about 200 rubles a year.

11. About numbering.
The first crosses of 1807 were not numbered. This was corrected in 1809, when it was ordered to compile precise lists of gentlemen, and the crosses were temporarily removed and numbered. Their exact number is known - 9,937.

Numbering will allow you to determine who the award belonged to. This cross of the 4th degree - junior non-commissioned officer of the Grenadier Corps of the engineer battalion Mikhail Bubnov, order dated July 17, 1915, No. 180, was distributed by Grand Duke Georgy Mikhailovich on August 27 of the same year (RGVIA archive, fund 2179, inventory 1, file 517 ).

The numbering of the crosses was renewed several times - by the different design of the numbering font, you can determine which period the award belongs to. When during the First World War the number of awards exceeded a million, the designation 1/M appeared on the reverse, on the upper ray of the cross.

12. St. George's ribbon.

It is traditionally believed that the colors of the ribbon - black and yellow - mean “smoke and flame” and are a sign of a soldier’s personal valor on the battlefield. Another version is that these colors are based on the life of St. George the Victorious and symbolize his death and resurrection: St. George went through death three times and was resurrected twice.
There is a simpler version. The colors of the ribbon when establishing the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George in 1769 were established by Catherine II and for the color of the ribbon she took the colors of the imperial standard: black and yellow-gold, excluding white.

13. After February 17th.

Left: St. George's Cross with a laurel branch. This was awarded to officers who distinguished themselves in battle after February 1917. To receive an award, a decision of a meeting of lower ranks was required. Right: Posters 1914 - 17

14. Against the Bolsheviks.
During the Civil War in the White Army, awarding military awards was rare, especially in the initial period - the White Guard considered it immoral to award military awards to Russians for their exploits in the war against the Russians. General Wrangel, in order not to award the Cross of St. George, established a special order of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which was equivalent to the St. George's.

15. Cross in the Great Patriotic War.
Legend claims that during the Great Patriotic War the possibility of restoring the award and resuming the award of the St. George Cross was considered, but was rejected due to its religious background. The Order of Glory, a soldier's award - a star on the block of the St. George Ribbon, has a very similar award status with the St. George Cross.

1945. Demobilized soldiers who arrived in Leningrad. On the right is a participant in three guard wars, Private F. G. Vadyukhin. A famous photograph testifying to an unusual rule for the Red Army that appeared during the war - holders of the Cross of St. George were unofficially allowed to wear these awards.
Photo link: http://waralbum.ru/38820/

Philip Grigorievich Vadyukhin born in 1897 in the village of Perkino, Spassky district, Ryazan province. Drafted into the Red Army on October 16, 1941 by the Vyborg RVK of the city of Leningrad. He was a rifleman, then a medical instructor in the 65th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 22nd Guards Rifle Division of Riga. In addition to the St. George Cross and the Guards Badge, the photo shows four stripes for wounds, the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Glory of the third degree (he was awarded for providing assistance to 40 wounded and evacuating 25 wounded under enemy fire on December 26-31, 1944 in the area of ​​​​the village of Muzikas in Latvia ) and two medals “For Courage”.

16. Archive.

Data on the recipients is currently stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) in Moscow. The data is incomplete - some of the documents from military units did not have time to get into the archives due to the events of the 17th. After the First World War, it was planned to build a temple and memorial dedicated to all the Knights of St. George, but for known reasons the good initiative was never realized.

17. Nowadays.
The Russian military Order of St. George and the sign "St. George's Cross" were restored in the Russian Federation in 1992 by Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated March 2, 1992 No. 2424-I "On state awards of the Russian Federation." 11 people were awarded.
No comments.

18. P. S. - private opinion about the St. George's Ribbon.
I don’t wear the St. George’s ribbon on Victory Day. I don’t even attach it to the car. The ribbon is always the badge of the recipient of the award. I did not “take away the enemy’s banner or standard,” or even “take away our banner or standard, captured by the enemy.”
And if you don’t deserve it, then you’re not worthy to wear it.

Application (for amateurs).
19. Manufacturing technology.
"GEORGE'S CROSS" - AT THE MINT.
Magazine "Ogonyok" No. 5 dated February 1 (14), 1915, pp. 5-6

The dream of every warrior, starting from a simple private and up to the commanders of entire armies, from the smallest cog in a complex machine that protects the homeland from enemy attack, right up to its most gigantic levers and hammers, is, upon returning home after a battle, to bring it as a material proof of personal bravery and military prowess, a silver or gold cross of St. George on a two-color, black and yellow ribbon.
Titanic wars like the current one entail many victims on the altar of people's love and devotion to the fatherland. But the same war will give birth to many deeds, many truly heroic deeds will be crowned with the highest award for brave men - the Cross of St. George.
“We are literally trying to do the impossible,” Baron P.V. Klebek, head of the Petrograd Mint, told our employee, “in order to satisfy as quickly as possible the orders given to us by the Chapter of Orders for the production of St. George’s crosses and medals. The premises of the Mint are so small, so does not correspond to the actual needs of the present time, that the only palliative was the introduction of almost continuous work for a whole day, with the exception of those intervals that are necessary for lubricating the machines and apparatus of the Mint.
Thanks to such intensive work, we were able to achieve that there were no delays in satisfying these enhanced orders for coins, St. George crosses and medals. During the last four months of the past year, the Mint minted one silver change coin worth 8,700,000 rubles or more than 54,000,000 circles; A million rubles worth of copper coins were minted during the same period; for this it was necessary to knock out about 60,000,000 copper circles.
For 1915, we have already received an order for the production of a silver coin for 25,000,000 rubles and a copper coin for 1,600,000 rubles, which will total over 406,000,000 circles. St. George's crosses and medals are produced in a special "medal" department of the Mint. Upon receipt of an order from the Chapter of Orders for the production of the required number of crosses and medals, the required number of gold and silver bars is released from the metal treasury of the Mint to the medal department. Upon receipt of the ingots in the medal department, the metals are sent to the smelter, where precious metals are alloyed with the required amount of pure copper in graphite crucibles.
The silver and gold from which St. George's crosses and medals are made are of a very high standard, higher than the gold and silver used to make coins. For the latter, nine hundred parts of noble metal and one hundred parts of copper are taken per thousand parts. To make St. George's crosses and medals, only ten parts of copper and nine hundred and ninety parts of pure electrolytic gold or silver are taken per thousand parts.
The ligation process in a crucible occurs within three to three and a half hours. After this, a sufficiently melted and mixed mass of metal is poured into special molds, “molds” (picture No. 1), after cooling in which, the metal is obtained in the form of strips, about eight inches long, a square inch thick and weighing: silver strips 20 pounds, gold - 35 pounds.

These strips are rolled through special rollers into ribbons slightly wider than the width of the cross and medal. The next stage of making crosses and medals is cutting the ribbon (picture No. 2), i.e. cutting metal pieces from ribbons by machine equal to the contours of the cross and circles equal to the contours of the medal. The resulting crosses and circles are cleaned with files from burrs or burrs and go to a special department, where they are cleaned and polished with sand (picture No. 3).
The crosses cleaned in this way go under the so-called pedal press, where the minting of St. George’s crosses takes place (picture No. 4), that is, the image of St. George the Victorious is extruded on both sides of the cross on one side (picture No. 12), on the other side the cipher and designation of the degree ( picture No. 13). The medal is minted on one side with a portrait of the Sovereign Emperor (photo No. 14), on the other “for bravery” and a designation of degree (photo No. 15). Both crosses and medals, as is known, have four degrees. The first and second degrees of both medals are gold, the third and fourth are silver.

When minting, the metal is flattened along the edges, and therefore the crosses from under the medal press are sent to a special machine for cutting (photo No. 5, on the left is the assistant manager, mining engineer A.F. Hartman), which gives the cross its final appearance. From under this machine, the cross comes in for final finishing and polishing of the edges with files (photo No. 6. On the right are: in front the head of the Mint, Baron P.V. Klebek, behind the manager of the medal part, mining engineer N.N. Perebaskin), after which a special machine punches the eyelet, which ends the machine processing of the crosses. All that remains is to stamp a serial number on each cross and medal. Photos Nos. 10, 11, 12 and 13 depict the gradual stages of the production of St. George's crosses, after which a special machine pierces the eyelet, which ends the machine processing of the crosses. All that remains is to stamp a serial number on each cross and medal.

After strips of metal come out of the melting department, small pieces of metal are taken from the first, last and middle strips of a given batch and sent to a special “assay” department of the Mint, in which department the determination of the sample of metals is carried out using extremely precise instruments (photo No. 9). Let us also mention automatic stamp-cutting machines that produce stamps for medals and crosses (picture No. 8).

Manager of the medal department, mining engineer N.N. Perebaskin, shared with our employee information about the progress of work: “During the entire Japanese campaign for a year and a half, we had to make only up to one hundred and thirty thousand crosses. Now, for the period of time from July 24 (the day when we received the first order from the Chapter Orders), we were ordered 266,000 St. George crosses and 350,000 St. George medals by January 1. Having energetically taken up the fulfillment of this order, we managed to deliver 191,000 St. George crosses and 238,000 St. George medals by January 1 of this year. "To make crosses per day, we melt 12 poods of silver and up to 8 poods of gold. A thousand gold crosses weigh 1 pood 11 pounds of metal, 1,000 silver crosses weigh 30 pounds, 1,000 gold medals weigh 1 pood 22 pounds, silver crosses weigh one pood."

20. Authenticity check.
1. The original, silver or gold, has a high quality metal - due to the virtual absence of alloys (only 1% copper). The silver of the cross (until 1915) practically does not darken.
2. The original cross has clearer details. The cross and numbering were made using the die method, under high pressure, while copies were made using the casting method. In addition, casting leaves micro-shells.
Size 3. Of course, dental prosthetics technologies have made great strides forward, but the size of the copy, due to its cooling after casting, will be slightly smaller than the original.
4. Grooves from the mold stamp. On the side surfaces of the original cross, even after processing, they are clearly visible. When casting, it is problematic to reproduce them.
5. The eyelet hole was punched with a special machine, which slightly deformed the cross. The edge of the hole is not rounded.