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Only in the autumn of 1918 was the first official insignia of the RSFSR established, which later became known as the Order of the Red Banner.
At the beginning of September 1918, at the suggestion of Yakov Sverdlov, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee created a special commission to draw up a draft of new, worker and peasant awards. As a result, the Order of the Red Carnation and the Order of the Red Banner were proposed. The leaders of the country opted for the second option. The decree "On insignia", which legalized the existence of the Order of the RSFSR "Red Banner" (under this name the award existed until August 1, 1924, and then was renamed the Order of the Red Banner), was adopted on September 16. According to the statute, this award was presented "for special bravery, dedication and courage shown in the defense of the socialist Fatherland." In addition to individual citizens, military units, formations and associations, warships could also receive it. Cavaliers of the order received the honorary right to be called "Red Bannermen".
The Secret of the Two Hammers
One of the actual creators of the order was the then "Minister of War" - People's Commissar Trotsky. It was through the efforts of Lev Davidovich that the first Bolshevik insignia did not turn into a laughingstock. After all, at first, some “influential comrades” in the heat of revolutionary maximalism proposed making an order (so that it was as noticeable as possible!) Almost the size of a frying pan and hanging it around the neck of the recipient on a chain ... Trotsky demonstrated a sense of proportion in this matter and demanded: “Red Banner" should be as elegant and beautiful as royal orders.
The appearance of the award was commissioned to come up with the artist Vasily Denisov. However, in reality, almost all the work on the creation of sketches for the Order of the Red Banner was done by the son, a young artist Vladimir Denisov, instead of his ill father, who presented six different options. One of them, with minor amendments, was already approved on October 4, 1918.
In the center of the approved version of the order was a round badge covered with white enamel, which depicted a golden hammer and sickle, framed by a golden laurel wreath. An inverted red star was placed under the round sign, under which a hammer, a plow, a torch and a red banner with the inscription: "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" crossed. Outside, the order was wrapped around a golden wreath, on which was placed a red ribbon with the inscription "R.S.F.S.R." (exactly so - with dots, the abbreviated name of the republic was written according to the then rules).
A careful reading of this description immediately reveals a clear congestion of the order with images of hammers. There are already two of them here: one in the center, and the other looks out from under the star. The explanation for such an abundance of blacksmith tools is quite simple. At the time when the artist was creating a sketch of the award, the state symbols of the republic of workers and peasants had not yet been approved. There was only a project to make the crossed hammer, rifle and plow the main emblem of the young Soviet state. It was this "triad" that Denisov used when creating the composition of the order. However, when the sketch was already accepted, and preparations were underway for the manufacture of the insignia, the country's leaders approved another official emblem - a crossed hammer and sickle. In order to make fewer changes to the design of the order, it was decided to leave the composition of the “Red Banner” the same, and add the hammer and sickle directly to the image of the central star. Such is interesting story heraldic throwing and searching.
Lost Cavaliers
The first holder of the order was Vasily Blucher, who was awarded for personal courage and skillful leadership of a large partisan formation during a 40-day raid on the rear of the White Army. The award document was issued to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on September 28, 1918, however, the hero himself received the order sign under No. 1 only six months later. The reason for this was technical delays: the masters of the Petrograd Mint could not make the award itself, and the People's Commissar Trotsky sent the product for rework from time to time, dissatisfied with the quality. As a result, the first few "Red Banners" were ready only by February 1919.
The second order bearer was Vasily Panyushkin - a revolutionary sailor, head of the Smolny security, and then an employee of the Cheka, the commander of the food requisitioning detachment ...
But this is where the confusion begins. The fact is that in the Decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of September 28, 1918, three awardees were mentioned at once: the first Order of the Red Banner - to Blucher, the second - to Panyushkin, and the third to the order was presented ... a certain Kuzmich. Only after the publication of the official document did it become clear that in fact it was about the Cossack commander Philip Kuzmich Mironov. He organized the red cavalry on the Don, then became the commander of the Second Cavalry Army, which smashed the troops of Baron Wrangel in the Crimea ... In early September 1918, the Mironov brigade distinguished itself in battles on the Eastern Front, and the commanders of the regiments that were part of it sent a telegram to the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, asking to reward his brigade commander. But in the text of this dispatch adopted in Moscow, for some reason, the name and surname of the hero disappeared, only the patronymic remained, which migrated to the government decree.
However, the “case of order No. 3” is not exhausted by this incident, although the mistake of the telegraph operators was corrected at the same time, in 1918. Later, Mironov was accused of treason, and in early 1921 he was arrested. And on April 2, 1921, Filipp Kuzmich died in the Butyrka prison: according to the official version, he was “accidentally” shot by a sentry. After such a turn of events, the name of Mironov disappeared from the lists of the first holders of the order. But the “Red Banner” itself under No. 3 suddenly showed up with another owner - and even with what! There is information (and widely disseminated) that this order was awarded to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin!
The future "father of the peoples" was indeed awarded the "Red Banner" for the Tsaritsyn operation. But this happened later, in the autumn of 1919, and, therefore, the serial number of the insignia should be larger ... The explanations of the researchers of this rebus are as follows: first, Joseph Vissarionovich was awarded Order No. 400, and only then military officials who wanted to please the leader replaced it with a duplicate of the "ownerless" order with an honorary third number. (However, the “owner” himself hardly appreciated such zeal: Stalin, as you know, was indifferent to his own orders and medals).
An equally complicated story is connected with Order No. 4. The official reference books indicate that it was handed over to one of the heroes of the Civil War, Jan Fabricius, who ended up being a Knight of the Red Banner four times. However, existing documents confirm only the last three awards, which took place in 1920-1921, but about the first - when? for what? - not a word anywhere. It can be assumed that this order was “ascribed” to Fabricius (who tragically died in 1929 in a plane crash) retroactively in order to hide the name of the “legitimate” owner. Indeed, judging by many data, the cavalier-"Red Banner" No. 4 was none other than Nestor Makhno.
Information about this surfaced only relatively recently: the Order of the Red Banner was allegedly awarded to the father on the proposal of the Revolutionary Military Council in April 1919 for the fact that he and his brigade ensured the successful capture of Yekaterinoslav. There are even eyewitness accounts that Makhno, upon receiving the award, said: "I am fighting not for orders, but for the victory of the revolution, since I am a peasant." It seems that a photograph of the father with the Order of the Red Banner on his chest was also found ... But after the ataman joined the ranks of the enemies of Soviet power and began to fight against it, they tried in every possible way to "blur" the fact of his award. And so that the order No. 4, which turned out to be “no man's”, did not cause unnecessary questions, it was retroactively “attached” to the numerous awards of Fabricius.
The next in order, the fifth Order of the Red Banner, for almost half a century, remained in the status of "incognito" for almost everyone. Only in the mid-1960s did it become clear that Boris Dumenko, the organizer of the First Cavalry Army, received this award in March 1919. In the spring of 1920, this outstanding cavalry commander was accused of murdering the military commissar and shot. The name of Boris Mokeevich remained deleted from all documents during the Civil War until his rehabilitation in 1964.
But the owner of the "Red Banner" with the sixth number did not have to be classified: this order went to the legendary "red horseman" (and, by the way, at first Dumenko's deputy for the First Cavalry Army) Semyon Budyonny, who managed to survive in the meat grinder of Stalin's repressions.
Pistol-bearer
Along with the RSFSR, the Order of the Red Banner was established in other republics. After their unification into a single Soviet Union, a decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR appeared, according to which, from August 1, 1924, the republican "Banners" were replaced by the Order of the Red Banner, uniform for the country. Its appearance was completely copied from the award created by the artist Denisov, only the inscription has changed: "USSR" instead of "RSFSR". However, for a few years after that, all the newly awarded insignia of the old type: too many of them had been made by that time at the Mint. And only in the early 1930s they began to award the Order of the Red Banner with the letters "USSR" on enamel.
During the existence of this award, some of the country's top officials, many outstanding military leaders, managed to receive it: in addition to the already mentioned Stalin and Blucher - Trotsky, Tukhachevsky, Beria, Andropov ... Brezhnev was twice the Red Banner, Marshal Zhukov - three times, Marshals Budyonny, Voroshilov and Rokossovsky had six orders of the Red Banner. And the maximum number of such awards for one person is seven. Among the 7-time "record holders" are ace pilot I. Kozhedub, Colonel-General of tank troops K. Kozhanov.
Apparently, in the entire history of the existence of the Order of the Red Banner, the youngest cavalier of such a high award was the 12-year-old pioneer Kostya Kravchuk, who during the Nazi occupation of Kyiv saved the regimental colors of the 968th and 970th rifle regiments of the Red Army (the banners were handed over to the boy by wounded Red Army soldiers before by the capture of the city by the Nazis).
The Order of the Red Banner is in many ways a unique award. Only it was used when awarding military leaders with honorary weapons, approved by a decree of April 8, 1920. The first paragraph in the decree was written: “Honorable revolutionary weapons, as an exceptional award, are awarded for special military distinctions shown by the highest commanding officials in the army in the field.” Award checker or dagger with the "Red Banner" attached to the overlay in the entire history were awarded to outstanding Soviet generals and naval commanders only 21 times. Among the holders of this award are M. Frunze, G. Kotovsky, M. Tukhachevsky, S. Timoshenko, I. Uborevich, the already mentioned S. Budyonny and K. Voroshilov. In addition, there was a completely unique version of the “Red Banner” weapon, when the order was attached to the handle of the “Mauser” (only two such rarities were awarded - all to the same commander Budyonny and commander-in-chief Kamenev).
The “Red Banner” was awarded to several cities for the mass heroism of their inhabitants, shown during the Civil War. The very first "Red Banner" city was in 1919 Petrograd. Later, Tsaritsyn, Tashkent, Lugansk, Grozny were added to it ... Already since the mid-1920s, decrees were repeatedly issued on awarding military formations, ships with this insignia ... For example, the Baltic Fleet, the Special Department of the State Political Administration (OGPU ), armored train No. 8, cruiser "Aurora" (he was given an order for the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution, as one of the "main actors”)… Especially many such awards took place during the Great Patriotic War. One of the first to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner was the famous 316th Rifle Division of Major General Panfilov, shortly after that renamed the 8th Guards ...
In the initial period of the existence of the "Red Banner" it was awarded several times to the heroes of peaceful labor. In 1925, this military order was awarded to participants in the flight on the route Moscow - Beijing (the very first Soviet-built aircraft were used in it). The cavaliers of the "Red Banner" were the head of the flight, the famous scientist and future polar explorer O. Schmidt, all the pilots (including the legendary ace M. Gromov) and aircraft mechanics.
In 1945, the main military newspaper of the country, Krasnaya Zvezda, became the Red Banner newspaper.
Half a million "red bannermen"
Until 1930, when the Order of Lenin was established, the Red Banner was the highest award in the USSR. However, even later, among the military, the “Znamya” was valued above the “Ilyich”: after all, it could only be obtained for military merit. This high status was, however, for some time spoiled by the decree of 1944, according to which the Order of the Red Banner began to be awarded to officers, generals and admirals simply for long service: served flawlessly for 20 years - get the "Banner", and for 30 years of exemplary service - one more! (It was “for seniority” that I. Stalin was awarded his third “Red Banner” in November 1944.) In total, for the length of service so prestigious order managed to hand over about 300 thousand times. Only in February 1958 such "arithmetic" was canceled and the award again became purely military.
There were cases when the awarding of the "Red Banner" was perceived as a personal insult. So it was, for example, with the famous submariner A. Marinesko. For his "attack of the century", which resulted in the sinking of the German liner "Wilhelm Gustloff" with several thousand fascist officers and soldiers on board, the commander of the S-13 submarine was supposed to receive the title of Hero by all laws. Soviet Union. However, they gave him only the Order of the Red Banner: the authorities could not forgive the brave sailor for past disciplinary liberties.
One of the rarest cases when an officer received such an order from the hands of the head of state himself occurred at the end of 1949. In the Kremlin, Stalin personally handed over the "Red Banner" to pilot Major K. Zotov. The “Father of Nations” rewarded the officer for actually saving him, Joseph Vissarionovich, from death. Six months earlier, on April 29, 1949, Zotov, in his MiG-15, took part in the final rehearsal of the air parade over Red Square. Already on the approach to the center of the capital, the major's combat vehicle suddenly caught fire. On the radio, the pilot received an order to urgently leave the flaming fighter, but did not comply with it: after all, the plane was heading exactly for the Kremlin. Zotov managed to turn his MIG towards the Moscow River and only then used the catapult.
The Order of the Red Banner was awarded until 1991. During this time, 581,300 awards with this distinction took place. The last to be honored with the Red Banner were General of the Army K. Kobets, Colonel General Yu. Rodionov, Major General V. Samoilov, Colonel of Justice V. Nikitin and Lieutenant Colonel of the Medical Service V. Remizov. President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev signed decrees on their awarding on December 24, 1991 - literally a few days before the final collapse of the Union.
Alexander DOBROVOLSKII
Photo from the editorial archive
The "First Order" in the Star Wars saga is a political structure that has managed to seize power in the entire galaxy. She was first mentioned in the seventh film of the epic, but the story was never fully revealed. Detailed information about this organization is present in the article.
First prerequisites
The First Order was not featured in the original Star Wars films. The authors of the new continuation of the saga admitted that they created it specifically for the seventh film, but at the same time they came up with a canonical story. After the fall of the Empire and the death of Darth Sidious, according to his own will, many worlds were to turn into ashes, including the home planet of the lord of Naboo.
This plan to carry out fell to the role of the former Grand Admiral Gallius Rex. He pulled the entire force of the fleet to Jakku, from where the first blow was to thunder. Only now the man himself had his own plans for the climatic weapon entrusted to him. Rex wanted to remove all those who were objectionable to him and restore the Empire.
Start
The story of the "First Order" in "Star Wars" begins with the fact that Gallius' plan failed, and he himself was killed by Admiral Ray Sloane. Before his death, he confessed his true intentions and handed over the coordinates of the Eclipse flagship, which had been hiding from the rebels for a long time. Sloan went there, and after her many supporters loyal to the ideals of the Empire.
The path to uncharted regions was extremely dangerous. After all, there were a huge number of various kinds of anomalies. For fourteen years, dissatisfied with the state of the Republic and those who dreamed of the Empire's revenge fled the Galaxy. Year after year, a powerful organization was formed from an unbridled mass of people, which eventually led to the founding of the "First Order" in Star Wars. This structure was like a military junta with respect only for strength. A powerful army was formed outside the Republic and was ready to go into battle.
Development of ideas
The "First Order" insignia in Star Wars came about when a similar organization was formed from fans of the Imperial regime. It was a circle with a row of spikes inside, which is inscribed in a hexagon. For the correct development of the structure, the order must thank Armitage Hux. This general adopted the Jedi test scheme and began training warriors from an early age.
So the ideology was introduced to the children, and along with this, the number and power of clones from the planet Kamino increased. Such a force, somewhere in the outskirts of the galaxy, became significant enough that the Senate heard about it. As usual, they did nothing. Moreover, many members of the House remained loyal to the Empire. After her fall, they hid their true desires, and the order could embody them. That is why many senators began to secretly work for this military organization with already quite impressive power. Only a hero former war Leia Organa saw this as a danger and began to create resistance forces.
Role of the Acolytes
The story of the First Order in Star Wars wouldn't be complete without the dark side fanatics. These people firmly believed that the Sith were liberators, and their fall during the war could not be the end. Such individuals called themselves acolytes of the otherworld and were engaged in looking for all sorts of artifacts of the Jedi who had gone over to the dark side.
By unknown forces from the far corners of the galaxy, visions came to them of some forgotten place in the Unknown Regions. Palpatine also knew about this, but before his death he did not manage to organize a trip there. In theory, the acolytes got their way and found the location that was in the signals of the dark side. The rest of the story can only be speculated. Most likely the followers of the Sith discovered Snoke there, or he was one of the acolytes, but was chosen as a receptacle for the dark forces that were discovered in a secret place. The authors are silent about this in the new trilogy.
Head of the Order
One can only speculate about where the Supreme Leader of the First Order, Snoke, came from. But he is too much unlike an ordinary person. Outwardly, the body is covered with various scars and scars, it is difficult for him to move independently, but this does not reduce his strength. Manipulations with her dark side are given to him by the movement of one finger. According to him in the new trilogy of films, he can feel the innate abilities of a person.
That is how he lured Ben Solo into his service, who disowned his parents and took the name Kylo Ren. Snoke is a brutal and strong leader, perfect for a military structure like the First Order. He had students even before Ben, but it was in him that he saw the opportunity to get a really strong ally who would be a worthy heir to the Sith. Snoke never leaves the ship, and gives all orders from his flagship or through Kylo Ren.
military power
The troops of the "First Order" in "Star Wars" are accurately depicted in the films of the new trilogy. In the fourteen years since the flight to the Unknown Regions, an army has been formed from the heirs of the Empire. General Hux began to teach military science to children, as well as attract clones. As a result, the Order had a huge army of attack aircraft of various tops at its disposal.
Flamethrowers, ground suppression squads, fighters for snowy locations - thanks to such troops, the organization could conduct military operations throughout the galaxy. They were able to build their huge flagships as well as small aircraft similar in structure to those used by the imperial army. Thanks to their impressive military strength, they managed to seize power and destroy the Republic. This is where the plot of the new Star Wars trilogy begins.
"The Force Awakens" has shown us a new enemy that threatens the tranquility of the galaxy. The First Order - at first glance it seems that this is the same Empire, but in profile. So it will seem, if you limit yourself to just watching films. In the rapidly growing new canon, one can learn both the fate of the Empire after the explosion of the second Death Star, and where the mysterious First Order came from.
The late Emperor Palpatine was the most self-absorbed man in the galaxy. Years of subversive work in the Senate, state-scale intrigues, conspiracies, double lives - all in order to one day say to yourself: "Yes, I won." There was no other Sith who could so amuse his monstrous selfishness.
The empire was based on the personal power of Darth Sidious and the dark charm of Darth Vader, and the work of its bureaucratic mechanisms was provided by the moffs, the governors of the sectors. Simply put, Palpatine offloaded all management duties to ambitious moffs with carte blanche (imagine what a colossal amount of work awaits the sole dictator of the entire galaxy), while he himself first of all enjoyed power, improved his command of the dark side of the Force and searched for the surviving Jedi, the last a threat to yourself. And, like any absolute leader, Palpatine was carried away by the superproject.
The construction of the first Death Star, begun by the Separatists before the fall of the Republic, was given such an abyss of resources that all other branches of the young Empire suffered greatly from it. They were going to build a second station there too! The first victim of the Death Star was not Alderaan at all, but the Imperial budget.
Such a shaky political structure, tied to one dictator, even if he considered himself immortal, literally collapsed from a couple of powerful blows. The destruction of two deadly battle stations deprived the fleet of the Empire of the last trump card, and the death of the entire small top of the state broke off a thousand invisible threads that held the whole galaxy in power, like a puppet puppet.
Just over a year after the death of Lord Sidious, that is, in 5 ABY (after the Battle of Yavin), the Empire was defeated at the Battle of Jakku, whose traces you could see in the seventh episode of Star Wars. The totalitarian power, limited by this time to only a small part of the galaxy, signed the capitulation.
Formally, this cannot be considered the end of the Empire, because the surviving territories of it retained their independence, albeit with numerous restrictions of the shameful truce (disarmament, a ban on recruiting stormtroopers, the surrender of Coruscant). But the very essence of the Empire disappeared there. Officials and generals quickly quarreled among themselves, and the fragment of the Empire crumbled into crumbs.
The late Sith Lord considered the protection of his own person to be the main goal of the Empire. And although her defense mechanisms were quite impressive, the Emperor suffered from paranoia. Will they kill him anyway? Darth Sidious decided that in this case he would take with him to hell everyone who could reach his hands.
As soon as he died, a whole army of droids with messages from the Emperor scattered throughout the galaxy, to the most ideological and loyal officers, in order to entrust them with Operation Ashes. One such officer turned out to be Admiral Garrick Versio, whose daughter Eden is the protagonist of Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017). Part of their plan included destroying Palpatine's home planet of Naboo with a climate weapon. Many other worlds were preparing for a no less sad fate. To do this, Palpatine, long before the start of the Rebellion, built and classified several Observatories, where he hid valuables, holocrons and artifacts of the ancient Sith and weapons of mass destruction.
Grand Admiral Gallius Rex occupied a special place in the plan. With the help of successful "leaks of information", he jeopardized the Imperial Council of the Future, which planned the future fate of the dying state. The Republican forces eliminated the Council, and only Admiral Ray Sloan managed to slip out of the hands of yesterday's rebels. The empire is again beheaded.
According to Palpatine's further plan, Rex pulled the forces of the Empire and the New Republic to Jakku for a decisive battle, but the outcome of it was decided in advance. The observatory on Jakku was meant to blow up the planet with Sith technology. However, Rex failed to carry out the plan and was killed by Admiral Ray Sloane.
This is where the story of the First Order begins. Gallius admitted that he used the legacy of the Emperor in order to recreate his Empire in the future. And he called the brutal purge in the ranks of the imperial government the "selection" that Admiral Sloan went through. He gave Ray the coordinates of the Eclipse flagship, which was drifting in the Unknown Regions.
There Sloane went, and after her - thousands of people devoted to the ideals of the Empire. Unexplored regions are called so for a reason: travel there is difficult and dangerous due to anomalies. As if someone's will protects this area from study and development. It was there that Palpatine's visions of the dark side of the force were leading, which we will talk about later.
Slowly, idealists, revanchists and just interesting personalities fled beyond the "political map" of the galaxy, into the Unknown Regions. Someone empty-handed, and someone - with military ships, secret technologies, weapons and "gold of the party." Between 5 ABY and 19 ABY, this battered runaway guard was being transformed into a monolithic military junta, the First Order.
One of the highest positions in the command of the Order was occupied by General Armitage Hux, who successfully tested his stormtrooper training program here. Instead of recruiting draft-age youth, he combined the former Jedi Order's tradition of beginning training at a young age, as well as intensive clone training, with Kamino. The Order has kidnapped children across the galaxy and brutally drilled them into more capable fighters than the stormtroopers of old. Armitage himself grew up in a similar environment, because his father, the Imperial warlord Brandol Hux, kept his son strict and punished for signs of weakness. Now Armitage has brought to life the postulate "children are the main weapon of the Order."
The Republican Senate eventually became aware of the emergence of a new force in the galaxy. And, following the centuries-old traditions of the Senate, he hid his head in the sand, not counting a handful of fugitives at the end of the world as a reason for excitement. Moreover, among the parliamentarians there were those who managed to change their shoes on the fly while the Civil War was going on, although in fact their sympathies remained on the side of the centralized dictatorship. Some of them joined the First Order, while others remained in the Senate, while working for the Order.
The pernicious influence turned out to be so great that the hero of the war, General Leia Organa, had to create a semi-underground private organization - the Resistance, to fight, and then the war with the Order. As it turned out, not in vain. The Order “embedded” weapons like those in the Death Stars into the planet, and then destroyed the capital of the neutral Republic and other worlds with one shot. Now the Starkiller has blown itself up. How will the heirs of the Empire frighten the enemy?
As in the Empire, the true power in the Order belongs to the masters of the Force, who are, as it were, above the rest of the hierarchy. The Knights of Ren - that's what they call themselves, and with the Sith they are connected only indirectly. Supreme Leader Snoke is one of them, as is the converted Jedi Kylo Ren. Other knights wear sinister masks, serve as Kylo's personal bodyguards, and, apparently, do not wield the Force or carry lightsabers: such conclusions can be drawn from the frame from the trailer for The Force Awakens. The history of the knights is unclear, but there are some considerations.
During the Civil War, there were dark side fanatics among the people insensitive to the Force, who considered the Sith to be liberators, going against the current of life. Back then, their self-designation was Acolytes of the Otherworld. Their leader was Yup Tashu, a former adviser to the Emperor himself and an expert on the dark side of the force - he believed that the Empire could not be built without a powerful Sith at the head. The Acolytes hunted for Sith artifacts, hoping to bring their presence back into the galaxy. Their visions related to the Dark Side of the Force pointed to a certain place in the Unknown Regions - and after all, shortly before his death, Palpatine himself observed these visions and prepared for the expedition, but died earlier.
The only ones who were able to settle in the Unknown Regions were the harsh Chiss, who arrived there thousands of years before the founding of the Old Republic. The Chiss Dominion at one time asked the Empire for help to fight a mysterious enemy, and it is not very clear if that enemy is connected with Supreme Leader Snoke.
Apparently, the Acolytes got their way and found that place from the visions. Perhaps they found Snoke there, for some reason locked away from civilization. Or Snoke was one of the Acolytes chosen by an unknown dark side entity to be their host. In addition, the Acolytes had a particular passion for collecting Sith masks, whose influence can be extremely strong. At the same time, the Knights of Ren wear masks, and Kylo, in addition, worships the charred helmet of his grandfather, Darth Vader. It's all going pretty well!
The new trilogy is unwilling to deviate from the pattern we saw in the original epic. If this continues, then the First Order will not fit into it. It is one thing - the rebels and their oppressors, and quite another - two approximately equal states. Yes, and the Order was created in a completely different way, not by decree of the usurper of power, but in remote lands, gathering new strength from the fragments of the former power. But their role in history is the same: evil militarists who don't know how to shoot.
"The Force Awakens" has shown us a new enemy that threatens the tranquility of the galaxy. The First Order - at first glance it seems that this is the same Empire, but in profile. So it will seem, if you limit yourself to just watching films. In the rapidly growing new canon, one can learn both the fate of the Empire after the explosion of the second Death Star, and where the mysterious First Order came from.
The late Emperor Palpatine was the most self-absorbed man in the galaxy. Years of subversive work in the Senate, state-scale intrigues, conspiracies, double lives - all in order to one day say to yourself: "Yes, I won." There was no other Sith who could so amuse his monstrous selfishness.
The empire was based on the personal power of Darth Sidious and the dark charm of Darth Vader, and the work of its bureaucratic mechanisms was provided by the moffs, the governors of the sectors. Simply put, Palpatine offloaded all management duties to ambitious moffs with carte blanche (imagine what a colossal amount of work awaits the sole dictator of the entire galaxy), while he himself first of all enjoyed power, improved his command of the dark side of the Force and searched for the surviving Jedi, the last a threat to yourself. And, like any absolute leader, Palpatine was carried away by the superproject.
The construction of the first Death Star, begun by the Separatists before the fall of the Republic, was given such an abyss of resources that all other branches of the young Empire suffered greatly from it. They were going to build a second station there too! The first victim of the Death Star was not Alderaan at all, but the Imperial budget.
Such a shaky political structure, tied to one dictator, even if he considered himself immortal, literally collapsed from a couple of powerful blows. The destruction of two deadly battle stations deprived the fleet of the Empire of the last trump card, and the death of the entire small top of the state broke off a thousand invisible threads that held the whole galaxy in power, like a puppet puppet.
Just over a year after the death of Lord Sidious, that is, in 5 ABY (after the Battle of Yavin), the Empire was defeated at the Battle of Jakku, whose traces you could see in the seventh episode of Star Wars. The totalitarian power, limited by this time to only a small part of the galaxy, signed the capitulation.
Formally, this cannot be considered the end of the Empire, because the surviving territories of it retained their independence, albeit with numerous restrictions of the shameful truce (disarmament, a ban on recruiting stormtroopers, the surrender of Coruscant). But the very essence of the Empire disappeared there. Officials and generals quickly quarreled among themselves, and the fragment of the Empire crumbled into crumbs.
The late Sith Lord considered the protection of his own person to be the main goal of the Empire. And although her defense mechanisms were quite impressive, the Emperor suffered from paranoia. Will they kill him anyway? Darth Sidious decided that in this case he would take with him to hell everyone who could reach his hands.
As soon as he died, a whole army of droids with messages from the Emperor scattered throughout the galaxy, to the most ideological and loyal officers, in order to entrust them with Operation Ashes. One such officer turned out to be Admiral Garrick Versio, whose daughter Eden is the protagonist. Part of their plan was to destroy Palpatine's home planet of Naboo with a climate weapon. Many other worlds were preparing for a no less sad fate. To do this, Palpatine, long before the start of the Rebellion, built and classified several Observatories, where he hid valuables, holocrons and artifacts of the ancient Sith and weapons of mass destruction.
Grand Admiral Gallius Rex occupied a special place in the plan. With the help of successful "leaks of information", he jeopardized the Imperial Council of the Future, which planned the future fate of the dying state. The Republican forces eliminated the Council, and only Admiral Ray Sloan managed to slip out of the hands of yesterday's rebels. The empire is again beheaded.
According to Palpatine's further plan, Rex pulled the forces of the Empire and the New Republic to Jakku for a decisive battle, but the outcome of it was decided in advance. The observatory on Jakku was meant to blow up the planet with Sith technology. However, Rex failed to carry out the plan and was killed by Admiral Ray Sloane.
This is where the story of the First Order begins. Gallius admitted that he used the legacy of the Emperor in order to recreate his Empire in the future. And he called the brutal purge in the ranks of the imperial government the "selection" that Admiral Sloan went through. He gave Ray the coordinates of the Eclipse flagship, which was drifting in the Unknown Regions.
There Sloane went, and after her - thousands of people devoted to the ideals of the Empire. Unexplored regions are called so for a reason: travel there is difficult and dangerous due to anomalies. As if someone's will protects this area from study and development. It was there that Palpatine's visions of the dark side of the force were leading, which we will talk about later.
Slowly, idealists, revanchists and just interesting personalities fled beyond the "political map" of the galaxy, into the Unknown Regions. Someone empty-handed, and someone - with military ships, secret technologies, weapons and "gold of the party." Between 5 ABY and 19 ABY, this battered runaway guard was being transformed into a monolithic military junta, the First Order.
One of the highest positions in the command of the Order was occupied by General Armitage Hux, who successfully tested his stormtrooper training program here. Instead of recruiting draft-age youth, he combined the former Jedi Order's tradition of beginning training at a young age, as well as intensive clone training, with Kamino. The Order has kidnapped children across the galaxy and brutally drilled them into more capable fighters than the stormtroopers of old. Armitage himself grew up in a similar environment, because his father, the Imperial warlord Brandol Hux, kept his son strict and punished for signs of weakness. Now Armitage has brought to life the postulate "children are the main weapon of the Order."
The Republican Senate eventually became aware of the emergence of a new force in the galaxy. And, following the centuries-old traditions of the Senate, he hid his head in the sand, not counting a handful of fugitives at the end of the world as a reason for excitement. Moreover, among the parliamentarians there were those who managed to change their shoes on the fly while the Civil War was going on, although in fact their sympathies remained on the side of the centralized dictatorship. Some of them joined the First Order, while others remained in the Senate, while working for the Order.
The pernicious influence turned out to be so great that the hero of the war, General Leia Organa, had to create a semi-underground private organization - the Resistance, to fight, and then the war with the Order. As it turned out, not in vain. The Order “embedded” weapons like those in the Death Stars into the planet, and then destroyed the capital of the neutral Republic and other worlds with one shot. Now the Starkiller has blown itself up. How will the heirs of the Empire frighten the enemy?
As in the Empire, the true power in the Order belongs to the masters of the Force, who are, as it were, above the rest of the hierarchy. The Knights of Ren - that's what they call themselves, and with the Sith they are connected only indirectly. Supreme Leader Snoke is one of them, as is the converted Jedi Kylo Ren. Other knights wear sinister masks, serve as Kylo's personal bodyguards, and, apparently, do not wield the Force or carry lightsabers: such conclusions can be drawn from the frame from the trailer for The Force Awakens. The history of the knights is unclear, but there are some considerations.
During the Civil War, there were dark side fanatics among the people insensitive to the Force, who considered the Sith to be liberators, going against the current of life. Back then, their self-designation was Acolytes of the Otherworld. Their leader was Yup Tashu, a former adviser to the Emperor himself and an expert on the dark side of the force - he believed that the Empire could not be built without a powerful Sith at the head. The Acolytes hunted for Sith artifacts, hoping to bring their presence back into the galaxy. Their visions related to the Dark Side of the Force pointed to a certain place in the Unknown Regions - and after all, shortly before his death, Palpatine himself observed these visions and prepared for the expedition, but died earlier.
The only ones who were able to settle in the Unknown Regions were the harsh Chiss, who arrived there thousands of years before the founding of the Old Republic. The Chiss Dominion at one time asked the Empire for help to fight a mysterious enemy, and it is not very clear if that enemy is connected with Supreme Leader Snoke.
Apparently, the Acolytes got their way and found that place from the visions. Perhaps they found Snoke there, for some reason locked away from civilization. Or Snoke was one of the Acolytes chosen by an unknown dark side entity to be their host. In addition, the Acolytes had a particular passion for collecting Sith masks, whose influence can be extremely strong. At the same time, the Knights of Ren wear masks, and Kylo, in addition, worships the charred helmet of his grandfather, Darth Vader. It's all going pretty well!
The new trilogy is unwilling to deviate from the pattern we saw in the original epic. If this continues, then the First Order will not fit into it. It is one thing - the rebels and their oppressors, and quite another - two approximately equal states. Yes, and the Order was created in a completely different way, not by decree of the usurper of power, but in remote lands, gathering new strength from the fragments of the former power. But their role in history is the same: evil militarists who don't know how to shoot.
In 1917, the Bolsheviks abolished all types of awards and distinctions that existed in the Russian Empire. Awards that mark any merits to the Fatherland were replaced by nominal gifts, such as watches, weapons, cigarette cases. But the need for real awards, marking the peculiarity and even the need for confirmed merits in front of a new country, became more relevant every day. New orders and commemorative signs began to be established, corresponding to the new time. Some, such as the "Order of the Red Banner", having undergone some changes, survived for decades. And many that were relevant at the time of the establishment have gone down in history and have become very, very rare rarities. About which you will not hear today. Who can now remember that there were, for example, such orders and commemorative signs as: The sign "To the Honorable Warrior of the Karelian Front" - an award for participating in the defeat of the White Finns in late 1921 - early 1922. Or "Sign "For an excellent felling" ... About such awards in this post.
In September 1918, on the initiative of Ya. The commission was headed by Yenukidze Avel Safronovich. Work on the creation of a sketch of a new order was entrusted to the artist V. I. Denisov, and his son, also an artist, V. V. Denisov. A few days later, the sketches were ready and offered for consideration. Of several proposed options, one was chosen, the image of which included all the elements characteristic of new government. This is an unfolded red banner, a red star, as well as a hammer, a sickle, a plow and a bayonet, as symbols of the unity of workers, peasants and soldiers. In October 1918, this design sketch of the order was approved by the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
The statute of the Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR was initially very short and did not contain specifics regarding the actions for which this order was awarded. This was due to the fact that this award was at that time the only one of its kind and the only one in the award system of the Soviet state in general. This fact was mentioned in a special explanation, which said that the Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR is the only award that soldiers of the revolutionary Red Army can receive for their military exploits.
They were awarded for courage, courage and dedication shown in the defense of the young socialist fatherland. Not only specific people were to be awarded, but also various military units and formations, as well as public organizations. Cavaliers at the same time bore the title of "Krasnoznamenets", and military units, awarded with the order Red Banner of the RSFSR were called "Red Banner".
Each of the first orders was accompanied by a letter, which indicated to whom, when and for what deeds it was awarded. This diploma was a necessary attribute, certifying the right of the recipient to wear the award.
According to the statute, the commissars and commanders of the Red Army had the right to present for the award. And only the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the RSFSR had the right to approve and award the award.
The first awards of the Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR were to take place in October 1918. But from that moment on, various misunderstandings associated with these awards began. The cavalier number 1, as well as the first recipient, was to be Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher. But the award did not take place, since the orders already made, according to L. Trotsky, did not have sufficient workmanship. Therefore, the entire batch was rejected, and new ones were ordered instead. As a result, Blucher received his award only in May 1919, but already under the serial number one hundred and fourteen.
In addition to Blyukher V.K., among the first awarded are: the head of the security of the Smolny Palace Panyushkin V.L. (Order No. 2); hero of the Civil War Mironov F.K. (Order No. 3). With regard to the awards and numbers of the orders of these first holders of the Red Banner of the RSFSR, there are also many opinions and disagreements. It is known, for example, that badge No. 3 is Stalin's award I.V., received by him for the defense of the city of Tsaritsyn, and badge number two was received by Iona Yakir. There is no consensus on these issues, and they are still waiting for their researchers.
It will be possible to make a separate post about the first order of the young Soviet republic. He deserves it. And the history of its creation and the first awards is quite interesting. Information about really very rare and forgotten awards will also be given here. Among them are rare orders of individual Soviet republics, which were awarded in a short period of the 20-30s of the twentieth century. The State Historical Museum has one of the largest collections of Soviet awards. These are half-forgotten testimonies of history that are not shown in the permanent exhibition of the museum. There are very rare awards. For example, the Order of the Red Banner of the Azerbaijan SSR. A total of 60 people were awarded. Their names are engraved on the orders.
Until the mid-30s, each union republic and some autonomous ones had their own award systems. Republican awards were made locally. Jewelers made them in accordance with national traditions, which is why they differ in design. And from the end of the 30s they began to do it already at the Leningrad Mint
Khorezm Folk Soviet Republic also awarded her military orders - the Red Military Order and the Order of the Red Banner. The Red Military Order No. 1 was received by the squadron commander of the 1st Khorezm cavalry regiment F.K. Kalzafarov. The sign of the order and the Diploma to it are kept in the Historical Museum.
In October 1923, during the Fourth All-Khorezm Congress of Soviets, Khorezm became the Soviet Socialist Republic. But this did not solve the problem of the Basmachi. Large groups of bandits continued to invade the country. To reward citizens and military formations of the republic for military achievements in battles against the Basmachi, the Order of the Red Banner of the Khorezm SSR was established.
Badge for the fight against the Basmachis 1923
Quite interesting are the orders of the Bukhara Republic. The stars are almost 10 centimeters in diameter, moreover, in three degrees - gold, silver and just made of metal. The local flavor and the influence of the East have an effect: the stars are bright and large - half a breast. He hung two orders - they will occupy the entire chest. Even Stalin was awarded such a star. But Lenin had the Order of the Khorezm Republic.
Order of the Red Star of the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic.
Badge "To an honest warrior of the Karelian Front" - an award for participating in the defeat of the White Finns in late 1921 - early 1922
Sign "For an excellent felling"
Badge "Fighter of OKDVA" - an award to the fighters and commanders of the Special Red Banner Far Eastern District, commanded by Blucher, who distinguished themselves in the defeat of the White Chinese adventure. 1929
Sign "Hasan" - an award for participation in repelling the attack of Japanese militarists in the area of Lake Hasan in 1938
Sign "To the Hero of the January Events of 1918" at the Arsenal plant in Kyiv, which was awarded to workers who rebelled against the nationalist government
Sign "To the Warrior of the Red Guard and the Red Partisan", which was awarded to active participants in the revolution and civil war in connection with the 15th anniversary of October
Silver Star of Armenia - an award for excellence in the fight against counter-revolution in the territory of Soviet Armenia
Insignia of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - an award for participating in the defeat of the Basmachi in the territory of Tajikistan.
Sign "For excellent shooting"
The badge "Excellent Worker of the Red Army" was established by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR No. 1889 of November 14, 1939 for the rank and file and commanding staff of the Red Army.
Badge of graduation from the Aeronautical School
badge of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (UzSSR) "To a participant in the Stalinist campaign for a high cotton harvest."
The sign is not unique and rare, it is often held at auctions, and is also found for sale in collectors' hangouts. The sign is also present in the catalogs-determinants. But! Materials about the "Stalinist campaign" for a high cotton harvest were not found on the Internet, in all catalogs where this sign is present, there is not even an exact year of issue. On the other hand, the sign is not a fake, as it appeared even before the mass distribution of fakes, and the opinion of manufacturing technology experts refers it to the 30s of the XX century.
The following is known for certain about this sign. On February 17, 1930, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Uzbek SSR adopted a resolution "On the collectivization and liquidation of kulak farms." In February 1933, the First All-Union Congress of Collective Farmers-Shock Workers was held in Moscow, at which the slogan "campaign for a high harvest" was put forward. The congress adopted an appeal to all peasant collective farmers of the USSR to develop an all-Union socialist competition between state farms and collective farms for a high harvest, exemplary preparation and conduct of spring sowing. After the congress of collective farmers-drummers, movements are unfolding in the country - "Stalin's campaign for a high harvest", "Kaganovich's campaign for a harvest", etc.
It is logical to assume that the party organs of the Uzbek SSR in the 30s also decided to organize their own "Stalin campaign for the harvest." But a more accurate answer must be sought either in the archives or in local newspapers of that time ...
Another well-known sign “To the participant in the construction of the Great Fergana Canal named after comrade. Stalin in the Uzbek SSR.
The sign was approved on December 22, 1939 by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Uzbek SSR. The award was made by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Uzbek SSR on the proposal of the district and city executive committees, people's commissariats and central institutions of Uzbekistan.
On December 29, 1939, the first presentations took place. Among those awarded were: First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Uzbekistan U. Yusupov (in 1966 the channel was given his name); Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR A. Abdurakhmanov; Academician A.N. Kostyakov, Chairman of the Government Commission for Channel Reception; chief design engineer A.N. Askochensky; project author VV Poslavsky and others.
Thanks to the researcher of the history of the Leningrad Mint, M.M.Gleizer, it is known that the sign was issued in Leningrad in 1939 and 1940, the total circulation is about 170 thousand copies.
It can be added that in March 1940 a similar sign was established in the Tajik SSR.
And more about channels. In 1939-41, work was carried out to expand and lengthen the irrigation canal in the Hungry Steppe. The length of the canal in the Uzbek SSR is 68 kilometers, on the territory of the Kazakh SSR - 5 km. In 1940, awards began with the badge "Builder of canals in the Hungry Steppe of the Kazakh SSR." Why only Kazakh? Where is the logic?..
The badge was issued at the Leningrad Mint in 1940-41. total circulation - about 15 thousand copies.
Of particular interest may be the signs of various voluntary societies, reflecting the political aspects of that era. In the twenties and thirties, voluntary societies were created at the all-Russian level, and then their subdivisions arose in the republics. Here are some examples.
Membership badge of the Red Crescent Society, which was established in the Uzbek SSR in 1925.
Characteristically, these signs have inscriptions both in Arabic script and in Russian. Another curious document of the era is the charter of this society.
There were other departmental awards and commemorative signs of the USSR and Union republics.