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This project is dedicated to highlighting persons who received the Cross of St. George during the rule of the Russian Empire (this order was used from 1807 to 1913). Please include recipients of all four classes of this order.
If in your family tree you have persons that received the Cross of St. George, please add them to this project. It would be great if within the profile description "About" there would be brief biography.
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The Cross of Saint George (Russian: Георгиевский крест, romanized: Georgiyevskiy krest) is a state decoration of the Russian Federation. It was initially established by Imperial Russia where it was officially known as the Decoration of the Military Order of Saint George between 1807 and 1913. The Cross of Saint George was reinstated into the Russian awards system in 1992.
History 1807–1917
Established in the February 1807 decree of Emperor Alexander I, it was intended as a reward for "undaunted courage" by the lower ranks (soldiers, sailors, and NCOs) of the military. Article four of the decree ordered the decoration to hang from the same ribbon as the Order of Saint George. There was only a single class with no restriction as to the number of awards per person.
The first soldier to be awarded the Cross of Saint George was a cavalry non-commissioned officer named Yegor Ivanovich Mitrokhin. He received the award for distinction in the battle against the French at Friedland on 2 June 1807.
Numbering of the crosses on the reverse began in January 1809, conversely, a register of the awards was also started that same year. By this time, approximately 10,000 crosses had already been awarded. By the beginning of the War of 1812, 16,833 crosses had been produced by the mint. Statistics of awards over the first years is detailed below:
- 1812: 6,783 awarded
- 1813: 8,611 awarded
- 1814: 9,345 awarded
- 1815: 3,983 awarded
- 1816: 2,682 awarded
- 1817: 659 awarded
- 1818: 328 awarded
- 1819: 189 awarded
An 1856 royal decree divided the decoration into four classes. A person initially received the fourth class and would subsequently be promoted to higher classes for further acts of bravery; one who received all four classes was called a "Full Cavalier of Saint George". The first and second classes were made of gold, and the third and fourth were made of silver. The numbering on the reverse began anew for each class of decoration.
A 1913 royal decree officialized the name "Cross of Saint George" and the numbering began anew. In 1915, due to war shortages, the first and second-class decorations were made of lower-grade gold (60 percent gold, 39.5 percent silver, 0.5 percent copper). The third and fourth-class decorations were produced in the same 99 percent silver. There were 26,950 first-class crosses (No. 5531 to No. 32,840) and 52,900 second-class crosses (No. 65,030 to No. 12,131) produced in low-grade gold. The approximate number of St. George Crosses awarded from 1914 to 1917:
- 1st class: 33,000
- 2nd class: 65,000
- 3rd class: 289,000
- 4th class: 1.2 million
"1M" was used in the serial number to indicate the number one million. On 10 September 1916, the Highest Council of Ministers approved a change to the St George Cross removing the gold and silver from its making. They began to mint crosses made of "yellow metal" (JM) and of "white metal" (BM). The crosses first and second class, made of yellow metal had the letters "JM" (Russian "ЖМ") above the serial number, the crosses second and third class, made of white metal had the letters "BM" (Russian "БМ") above the serial number. The number of crosses produced for each class in "JM" and "BM":
- 1st class JM 10,000: No. 32,481 to No. 42,480
- 2nd class JM 20,000: No. 65,031 to No. 85,030
- 3rd class MB 49,500: No. 289,151 to No. 338,650
- 4th class MB 89,000: No. 1,210,151 to No. 1,299,150
In 1917, the Provisional Government changed the statute of the cross allowing its award to junior officers. When awarded as such, a silver laurel branch device was affixed to the ribbon. The Cross of St. George was abolished after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, and the Order of Glory nominally replaced it during the Soviet Era.
More info: People who were awarded the Cross of Saint George
Этот проект посвящен выделению лиц, получивших Георгиевский крест во времена правления Российской империи (этот орден использовался с 1807 по 1913 год). Пожалуйста, укажите получателей всех четырех классов этого заказа.
Если в вашем генеалогическом древе есть люди, получившие крест Святого Георгия, пожалуйста, добавьте их в этот проект. Было бы здорово, если бы в описании профиля "О себе" была краткая биография.
На открывшейся странице профиля используйте кнопку "Действия", чтобы "Добавить в проект". Выберите этот проект (вы должны быть в списке участников этого проекта, чтобы увидеть его в списке выбора). Вы можете добавить любой общедоступный профиль, на редактирование которого у вас есть разрешение. Если у вас нет разрешения на редактирование профиля, менеджеру профиля отправляется запрос на добавление профиля в проект.
Примечание: В проекты могут быть добавлены только общедоступные профили.
Крест Святого Георгия (русский: Георгиевский крест, латинизированный: Георгие
Больше информации: Награжденные орденом