UDC

94(47).084.3:737

DOI

https://doi.org/10.37482/2687-1505-V113

Authors

Dmitriy V. Shunyakov
Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin;
ul. Mira 19, Yekaterinburg, 620002, Russian Federation;
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2649-4179 e-mail: konigsberg039@mail.ru

Abstract

This article analyses the military award practice in the Red Army during the Civil War. The author turned to archival materials, published data from official statistics, and scientific literature. The study is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematic approach. In order to process quantitative data, statistical analysis was used to calculate the results obtained by means of continuous sampling. Due to the abolition of the pre-revolutionary award system, new awards had to be created in parallel with the formation of the Red Army. The first award established in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) was the Order of the Red Banner. Initially, it was awarded to individuals;  over time it could also be re-awarded and presented to military units. Other Soviet republics – Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Armenian, Azerbaijan and Georgian – followed this example and established their own orders, which had much in common in terms of composition and meaning. The overwhelming majority of the awards presented during the Civil War were the Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR. To optimize the award process, military personnel were divided into four categories, one category being authorized to award another. The total number of awards was small, only about 0.001 % of military personnel were awarded this order. The most awarded were Red Army soldiers, while the most frequently re-awarded were the upper echelons of military power – unit and formation commanders. The dynamic and socially determined nature of the Civil War explains the prevailing number of awards presented to servicemen in cavalry, artillery and armoured forces. The largest number of awards was given in 1922. The results of the study allow us to draw a conclusion about the democratic nature of the award system during the Civil War in Russia, as well as about the high motivational effect of these awards.

For citation: Shunyakov D.V. The Introduction and Practice of Awarding Orders of the Soviet Republics During the Civil War (1917–1922). Vestnik Severnogo (Arkticheskogo) federal’nogo universiteta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye i sotsial’nye nauki, 2021, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 13–21. DOI: 10.37482/2687-1505-V113

Keywords

Civil War in Russia, Revolutionary Military Council, Red Army, award production, award statistics

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