The Medal for Military Merit is a kind of military merit medal established by the Soviet Union before the war, which was established on the same day as the Medal for Bravery on October 17, 1938.
On October 17, 1938, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on the establishment of the Medal for Meritorious Service in War. The decree stipulates that the Medal for Meritorious Service will be awarded to servicemen of the Red Army, the Red Navy and the Border Guards who have contributed to the victory of military operations without fear of life, skillful and active combat, as well as other ordinary Soviet citizens who have participated in the battle to destroy the enemy of the Soviet state.
Medal for Meritorious Service. The regulations for the awarding of the Medal of Merit are: "1skillfully, actively, and courageously complete the assigned combat tasks in battle, and contribute to the victory of the battle; 2.brave and fearless in defending the state border of the Soviet Union; 3.Outstanding achievements in combat and political training, mastery of new military equipment, maintenance of a high level of combat readiness of troops, and other aspects; 4.Commanded the troops to perform outstanding in combat missions against the German invaders. ”
The Medal for Meritorious Service and the Medal for Courage are round in shape, with a diameter of 31 325 mm with a bump about 1 mm wide around the edges. The obverse of the medal features the inscription CCCP (filled with red enamel) at the top, and in the middle is the Russian text "Awarded for Meritorious Service ( Below are rifles and knives crossed left and right. The original ribbon of the Medal of Merit was a red rectangular "small hanging", but from 1943 it was changed to a gray pentagonal ribbon with yellow edges that was 24 mm wide.
A "small hanging" medal with a rectangular red ribbon.
According to the regulations, the medal for meritorious service is worn on the left chest, after the Ushakov medal.
The Medal for Meritorious Service was established shortly after the conflict at Lake Hassan (known as the Zhanggufeng incident), so on October 19, the third day of the establishment of the medal, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded the first batch of 168 medals for meritorious service to soldiers who had distinguished themselves in the conflict at Lake Hassan, and on October 25, 1,159 other meritorious personnel in the Lake Hassan incident.
Half a year later, when the Battle of Nomenkan broke out, another 2,842 people were awarded medals for meritorious service, and before the Great Patriotic War, about 21,000 medals were awarded.
After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, about 3 million people were awarded medals for meritorious service in the war.
On November 3, 1944, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Decree on Service, awarding medals or medals to servicemen who have reached the required number of years of service and have not made major mistakes during their service. Specifically, after 10 years of service, a medal of merit will be awarded; at least 15 years, awarded the Order of the Red Star; At the age of 20 years, the Order of the Red Banner was awarded. In 1945, the Service Decree was amended to provide that the Order of Lenin would be awarded to those who had completed 25 years of service; The second Order of the Red Banner is awarded to those who have reached the age of 30.
Before 1947, the back of the Order of Merit was engraved with a number, and on January 30, 1947, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR passed a decree simplifying the production process of the medal, abolishing the numbering on the back of the Medal for Meritorious Service and Medal for Bravery.
During the entire period of the Soviet Union, about 5,210,000 and 78 medals of war merit were awarded.