When Brezhnev received his first hero star. Military awards of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev: review, history and interesting facts

On November 10, 1982, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Presidium, passed away Supreme Council Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.

Brezhnev became famous for his suppression of dissent, the fight against so-called parasitism, the accumulation of an unprecedented military arsenal of the country (which led to a depressing shortage of consumer goods), a permanent leadership apparatus (which caused large-scale corruption and depressing political stagnation), and also an addiction to awards and passionate kisses with comrades.

Before stagnation and shortages, there was a short period of developed socialism - in the absence of abundance, citizens received goods and affordable entertainment and recreation low prices, and medical services, education, public housing are completely free to use. How such extravagance was ensured is a separate pressing question, but the mass of ordinary citizens were extremely pleased.

Leonid Ilyich was born on December 19, 1906, graduated from labor school, Kursk Land Management and Reclamation College, and Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. His career progressed stubbornly: from an ordinary land surveyor to election to the central committee of the CPSU (1956), membership in the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, chairmanship of the Presidium of the Supreme Council, active participation in the conspiracy to remove General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev and taking his post in 1964. However, the ongoing farce of planting the cult of the new leader of socialism rather shows the puppet nature of such a ruler; many historians talk about the virtual omnipotence of the party apparatus, the KGB and the army elite.

Under Brezhnev, who served as Secretary General for 18 years, it was mothballed political life country, confirmed by the unshakable stability of the unusually conservative leadership of the USSR. Then they abandoned the rapid construction of communism in favor of the idea of ​​​​developed socialism. The result of some Brezhnev reforms was a temporary increase in the standard of living of the population. Almost 50 percent of the housing stock of the USSR was built, and people received apartments for free, albeit uncomfortable and very cramped ones. The aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and military industries developed well.

By the mid-70s of the 20th century, stagnation became obvious: the party nomenklatura grew unimaginably due to the constant composition, few dissidents appeared and the party members’ obsession with full control over the intelligentsia. Dissent was suppressed by Brezhnev both in the USSR and in all states of the socialist camp. Was it really for this that Leonid Ilyich received prestigious medals from the governments of all socialist countries?

The dialogue with the West continued to develop, which became tense after the USSR’s participation in African military events and the direct invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. In those years, defense capability Soviet Union reached such a level that armed forces countries could single-handedly resist the united armies of the entire NATO bloc. But having gotten involved in the arms race in the 1980s, the USSR began to spend enormous amounts of money on it to the detriment of the civilian sectors of the economy, and a total deficit began.

Leonid Ilyich fell ill long before his death and suffered coma, strokes and heart attacks. Then they started talking openly about the eccentricities of the Secretary General - his love of hotly kissing political figures and “hanging orders on himself.” Rumor exaggerated the facts: Brezhnev was awarded all the orders of the USSR, except for the Order of Mother Heroine; his jacket with awards weighed six kg (I wonder who weighed it). On November 26, 1986, Leonid Ilyich’s awards were transported from his dacha to the order’s storeroom of the Presidium of the Supreme Council.

Having a list of awards deposited, an entry from the Guinness Book of Records (Progress publishing house, 1991) and the results of investigations by amateur historians, Vecherka compiled a list of Leonid Ilyich’s awards.

1. Soviet orders

On September 21, 1989, signed by the Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, Mikhail Gorbachev, a Decree was issued “On the abolition of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 20, 1978 “On awarding Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Chairman of the Defense Council of the USSR, Marshal of the Soviet Union Brezhnev L.I. with the Order of Victory. After all, they were awarded by status only to commanders for major victories on the scale of the front, to which Brezhnev had nothing to do, although in peacetime he was listed as a marshal. During his lifetime, Leonid Ilyich had 16 Soviet orders:

Eight Orders of Lenin, the Order of Victory (the award was canceled after death), two Orders of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky 2nd degree, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree, the Order of the Red Star.

It is a mistake to believe the myth that Leonid Brezhnev is the owner the largest number Orders of Lenin. In the USSR, several military leaders and political figures also had 8 orders, and some - 9 Orders of Lenin.

2. Gold Soviet Hero medals

Gold medals along with the Order of Lenin supported the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Socialist Labor. Only Marshal Georgy Zhukov and Marshal Brezhnev were four times Heroes of the Soviet Union. But only Leonid Ilyich was the owner of five Hero Gold Medals - along with four titles of Hero of the Soviet Union and one - Hero of Socialist Labor.

4 Gold Hero Stars and 1 Gold Hammer and Sickle.

3. Soviet medals

In the inventory before the awards were transferred to the order treasury of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, only 18 medals are listed. However, in the photographs, meticulous researchers discovered several medals that were not taken into account during the act of delivery. If you count them, you get 22 medals in total, and minus the five Gold medals - 17:

Full list of Soviet Brezhnev medals:

“For military merits”, “For the defense of Odessa”, “For the defense of the Caucasus”, “For the liberation of Warsaw”, “For the capture of Vienna”, “For valiant labor in the Great Patriotic War” Patriotic War 1941 - 1945", "For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945", "For the restoration of the iron and steel enterprises of the South", "For the development of virgin lands", "In memory of the 250th anniversary of Leningrad", "In memory of the 1500th anniversary Kiev", "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", "20 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945", "30 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945", "For valiant work. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"

4. Foreign awards.

It was not for nothing that Leonid Ilyich did not wear them on his jacket. Not only from convictions or political views - from such a pile of metal awards one would get chain mail, or even more than one. Let's arrange them according to alphabetical order awarding countries. We publish a list of orders and medals that were awarded to Leonid Ilyich during his lifetime. In 1990, Poland canceled the awarding of Brezhnev with one order and a star; perhaps other similar acts took place without publicity.

From Argentina Order of the May Revolution, 1st class; from the Republic of Afghanistan Order of the Sun of Freedom; from the People's Republic of Bulgaria: three Gold Stars of the Hero of the People's Republic of Belarus, three orders of Georgi Dimitrov, medal "100 years of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke", medal "30 years of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria", medal "90 years since the birth of G. Dimitrov", medal "100 years of birthday of G. Dimitrov"; from the Hungarian People's Republic two Orders of the Banner of Hungary with diamonds; from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Gold Medal of the Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Order of Ho Chi Minh 1st degree, Order of the Golden Star; from the Republic of Guinea Order of Independence; from the German Democratic Republic: three Gold Stars of the Hero of the GDR, three Orders of Karl Marx, the Order of the "Great Star of Friendship of Peoples" with diamonds, the medal "For Merit in Strengthening the GDR", from Indonesia two stars and two badges of the Order "Star of Indonesia" 1st class; from the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen Order of the Revolution on October 14, from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Order of the State Banner, 1st class; from the Republic of Cuba: Gold Star of the Hero of Cuba, Order of Jose Martí, Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes, Order of Playa Giron, medal "20 years of the storming of the Moncado barracks", medal "20 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces", from the People's Democratic Republic of Laos: Gold Star of the Hero of the PDRL, Gold Medal of the Nation; from the Mongolian People's Republic: Gold Star of the Hero of the MPR, Gold Star of the Hero of Labor of the MPR, four orders of Sukhbaatar, medal "30 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol", medal "40 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol", medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Revolution", medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Army", medal "30 years of Victory over Japan"; from the Republic of Peru: Order of the Sun of Peru, 1st degree; from the Polish People's Republic: star and badge of the Order of Virtuti Militari 1st class (award canceled in 1990), star and badge of the Order of the Renaissance of Poland 1st class, star and badge of the Order of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland 1st class, Grunwald Cross 2nd class, medal " For the Oder, Neisse, Baltic", medal "Victory and Freedom"; from the Socialist Republic of Romania: Order "Star of Romania" 1st class, Order "Victory of Socialism", from Finland: star and badge of the Order of the White Rose 1st class, Order of the White Rose with chain; from the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic: three Gold Stars of the Hero of Czechoslovakia, four Orders of Klement Gottwald, Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st degree, star and badge of the Order of the White Lion with a chain, two military crosses of 1939, medal "For courage before the enemy", military commemorative medal (1946), Dukel commemorative medal (1960), medal "20 years of the Slovak National Uprising", medal "50 years of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia", medal "30 years of the Slovak National Uprising", medal "For strengthening friendship in arms" 1st degree; from the Socialist Republic of Ethiopia: Order "Star of Honor"; from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia: Order of the Star of Yugoslavia, 1st class, Order of Liberty with diamonds

5. Awards of different classifications.

Leonid Brezhnev was awarded the Lenin Prize for Literature for three brochures: “Malaya Zemlya”, “Renaissance” and “Virgin Land”, published in more than 15 million copies each. They were written by professional authors and journalists. The brochures were recommended for compulsory study in the school curriculum.

BREZHNEV. I thank my comrades from the bottom of my heart for the trust placed in me by appropriation military rank Marshal of the Soviet Union. I will do everything to justify this high title and the trust that the Politburo places in me as General Secretary and as Chairman of the Defense Council. I just want to ask my comrades, how will this be from an international point of view, will it not cause any misunderstandings?
EVERYONE says that this is a completely normal thing, since you are the Chairman of the Defense Council and have the military rank of army general.
BREZHNEV. We will not publish this in the press, just as the decision to award me the rank of army general was not published.
DECISION to confer the military rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union T. L.I. Brezhnev was accepted unanimously.

An interesting fact: Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev is a record holder in the Guinness Book of Records. There he is recorded as "The most awarded person in the world." In the 1991 edition, his list includes 15 orders and 18 medals of the USSR, as well as 29 medals and 49 orders of foreign countries. At the same time, which is typical, Brezhnev was no longer awarded posthumously, and some insignia were completely taken away. During perestroika, in particular, Leonid Ilyich was deprived of the Order of Victory, the highest military award of the USSR, as well as the Polish Order of Military Valor.

The funny popular nickname of the second Ilyich is not the only reaction of the common people to the love of the medals and orders of the first person. According to one story, Brezhnev had to wear a jacket weighing 6 kilograms because of his awards. No one, of course, weighed his rewards. But such a jacket itself would really be more than weighty. It was physically impossible to wear it, so Leonid Ilyich did not wear all his medals at the same time. As a rule, it was limited to “Golden Stars”, “Hammer and Sickle”, Lenin Prize badges and sometimes order bars.

Brezhnev's awards presented at his funeral. Photo: Vladimir Akimov, RIA Novosti

Brezhnev also had awards that were established specifically for him. In October 1981, for the 50th anniversary of Leonid Ilyich’s stay in the CPSU, a sign was introduced with the name, as you might guess, “50 years of stay in the CPSU.” The Central Committee solemnly presented the sign to the Secretary General, which he himself commented as follows: “As for me, receiving this badge of honor, I experience understandable excitement. And not just excitement, but a feeling of deep gratitude to the great party of Lenin.” Two months later, by the way, a kind of record happened. Brezhnev celebrated his 75th birthday, and for this holiday he received thirteen different awards from eight states.

In addition to state awards, Brezhnev received many departmental awards. In 1977, he received a membership card of the Union of Journalists of the USSR. Along with it, Brezhnev also received another badge: Leonid Ilyich received the right to wear a badge confirming his membership. And Leonid Ilyich received a number of awards more than once, and noticeably more often than others. For example, besides Brezhnev, only Marshal Zhukov became a Hero of the Soviet Union four times. And along with the award of Hero of Socialist Labor, he turned out to be the owner of five “Golden Stars” at once, and no one else received such an honor except him.

The number of foreign awards of Leonid Brezhnev is impressive. According to various estimates, it ranges from five to seven dozen. Among them are orders and medals of Argentina, Afghanistan, Guinea, Vietnam, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, East Germany, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Yemen, Mongolia, Peru, Poland, Yugoslavia, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Romania. Some of them were established several centuries ago, many are still awarded today.

Many different independent sources write about the awards of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. And, oddly enough, every source calls different quantities orders and medals. It just seems that periodicals set themselves the goal of denigrating and trampling this medal lover into the dirt, but do not set themselves the goal of counting how many awards there really were.
In some articles there were mentions of more than 200 awards of the Secretary General, someone wrote that he was awarded all the USSR awards, except for a set of Mother Heroine awards.

Conventionally, Leonid Ilyich’s awards would be better divided into 3 categories: received during the war, received in the period between the end of the war and his ascension to the post of General Secretary, and received while serving as General Secretary. So let's start counting.

Military awards of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev:

1. Order of the Red Star

From the above list it is clear that the number of awards Leonid Brezhnev has is more than modest. Only 5 orders (of which 2 are Orders of the Red Banner) and 2 medals.
After L.I. Brezhnev took the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964, the flow of awards to him increased significantly. From the end of the war until he took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Leonid Brezhnev earned the following awards:

So, it is clear that from the end of the war until the beginning of 1964, when L.I. Brezhnev took the highest post in the country and his awards increased significantly. The result is this:
Orders – 4 pcs. (4 Orders of Lenin)
Medals – 10 pcs. (including the medal of the Hero of Social Labor)

In 1964 L.I. Brezhnev takes an active part in the removal of N.S. Khrushchev, the then leader of the country and heads the secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee. During this period, and until his death in 1982, he received a real stream of awards.

1. medal “Twenty years of victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (1965)
2. medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 11230 with the award of the Order of Lenin No. 382246 (Decree of the PVS of the USSR dated December 18, 1966)
3. Order October revolution- 2 pcs. (1967)
4. medal “50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR” (1967)
5. medal “For valiant work. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
6. medal “30 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (1975)
7. medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 97 with the award of the Order of Lenin No. 425869 (Decree of the PVS of the USSR dated December 18, 1976)
8. honorary weapon - a personalized saber with a gold image of the State Emblem of the USSR (12/18/1976)
9. medal “60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR” (1977)
10. Medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 5 with the presentation of the Order of Lenin No. 432408 (Decree of the USSR PVS dated 12/19/1978)
11. Order of “Victory” (Decree of the PVS of the USSR 02/20/1978).
12. Medal of the laureate of the All-Union Lenin Prize (04/20/1979)
13. medal “Gold Star” of the Hero of the Soviet Union No. 2 with the presentation of the Order of Lenin No. 458500 (Decree of the USSR PVS dated 12/18/1981)
14. medal “In memory of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv” (1982)

Argentina:
Order of the May Revolution, 1st class (1974)

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA):
Order of the Sun of Freedom (1981)

People's Republic Bulgaria (NRB):
Gold Star of the Hero of the People's Republic of Belarus - 3 awards (1973, 1976, 1981)
Order of Georgiy Dimitrov - 3 awards (1973, 1976, 1981)
medal "100 years of liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke" (1978)
medal "30 years of the Socialist Revolution in Bulgaria" (1974)
medal “90 years since the birth of G. Dimitrov” (1974)
medal "100 years since the birth of G. Dimitrov" (1982)

Hungarian People's Republic (HPR):
Order of the Banner of the Hungarian People's Republic with diamonds – 2 awards (1976, 1981)
honorary veteran of the Krasny Chepel plant

Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV):
Gold Medal of the Hero of Labor of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (1982)
Order of Ho Chi Minh, 1st class (1982)
Order of the Golden Star (1980)

Republic of Guinea:
Order of Independence (1961)

German Democratic Republic (GDR):
Gold Star of the Hero of the GDR - 3 awards (1976, 1979, 1981)
Order of Karl Marx – 3 awards (1974, 1979, 1981)
Order of the Great Star of Friendship of Peoples with diamonds (1976)
Medal "For Merit in Strengthening the GDR" (1979)

Indonesia:
star and badge of the Order "Star of Indonesia" 1st class - 2 awards (1961, 1976)

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (PRC):
Order of the State Banner, 1st class (1976)

Republic of Cuba:
Gold Star of the Hero of Cuba (1981)
Order of José Martí (1974)
Order of Carlos Manuel de Cespedes (1981)
Order of Playa Giron (1976)
medal "20 years of the assault on the Moncada barracks" (1973)
medal "20 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces" (1976)

Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR):
Golden Star of the Hero of the Lao PDR (1981)
Gold Medal of the Nation (1982)

Mongolian People's Republic (MPR):
Golden Star of the Hero of the MPR (1976)
Golden Star of the Hero of Labor of the MPR (1981)
Order of Sukhbaatar – 4 awards (1966, 1971, 1976, 1981)
medal "30 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol" (1969)
medal "40 years of Victory at Khalkhin Gol" (1979)
medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (1971)
medal "50 years of the Mongolian People's Army" (1971)
medal "30 years of Victory over Japan" (1975)

Republic of Peru:
Order of the Sun of Peru, 1st class (1978)

Polish People's Republic:
Grand Cross of the Order "Virtuti Militari" (21 July 1974)
Grand Cross of the Order of the Renaissance of Poland, 1st class (1976)
star and badge of the Order of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland, 1st class (1981)
Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class (1946)
medal "For the Oder, Neisse, Baltic" (1946)
medal "Victory and Freedom" (1946)
Honorary metallurgist of the Guta-Warsaw plant
Honorary builder of the Katowice Iron and Steel Works (1976)

Socialist Republic of Romania:
Order of the Star of Romania, 1st class (1976)
Order "Victory of Socialism" (1981)

Finland:
star and badge of the Order of the White Rose, 1st class (1976)
Order of the White Rose with chain (1976)

Czechoslovak People's Republic:
Golden Star of the Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic - 3 awards (05/5/1970, 10/26/1976, 12/16/1981)
Order of Klement Gottwald - 4 awards (1970, 1976, 1978, 1981)
Order of the White Lion "For Victory" 1st class (1946)
star and badge of the Order of the White Lion with chain (1973)
Military Cross 1939 – 2 awards (1945, 1947)
medal "For bravery in front of the enemy" (1945)
War Commemorative Medal (1946)
Dukela Commemorative Medal (1960)
medal "20 years of the Slovak National Uprising" (1964)
medal "50 years of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia" (1971)
medal "30 years of the Slovak National Uprising" (1975)
Medal "For Strengthening Friendship in Arms" 1st class (1980)

Socialist Ethiopia:
Order of the Star of Honor (1980)

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:
Order of the Star of Yugoslavia, 1st class (1962)
Order of Liberty (1976)

The result is a picture like this. L.I. Brezhnev had 44 orders, 22 medals and 14 Gold Stars of foreign countries. The total amount is exactly 80 awards.
The following must be added to this list:
Marshal's star with the rank of Army General
Marshall star with the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union (05/07/1976)

Prizes and other awards L.I. Brezhnev:
medal of the laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For strengthening peace between nations” (06/12/1973)
Gold Peace Medal named after F. Joliot-Curie (11/14/1975, from the World Peace Council)
UN Gold Peace Medal named after O. Gan (1977)
medal of the laureate of the G. Dimitrov Prize (11/23/1978)
Medal of the All-Union Lenin Prize Laureate (04/20/1979)
Gold medal of the International Peace Prize "Golden Mercury"
Gold medal named after Karl Marx (1977, from the USSR Academy of Sciences)
badge “50 years in the CPSU” (from the CPSU Central Committee)
Gold medal of the World Federation of Trade Unions (02/15/1982)

Honorary titles:
Honorary citizen of Dnepropetrovsk (08/21/1979);
Honorary citizen of Tbilisi (05/21/1981);
Honorary cadet of the 1st tank company of the armored school of the Trans-Baikal Military District (12/17/1981);
Honorary citizen of Kyiv (04/26/1982);
Honorary citizen of Baku (09/24/1982);

After the death of the Secretary General, his awards were handed over to the order storehouse of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. According to the inventory, the following number of awards were handed over:
five Gold Hero Stars,
16 orders of the USSR
18 USSR medals,
two marshal stars with diamonds - an army general and a marshal of the Soviet Union, an honorary weapon with a gold image of the State Emblem of the USSR,
42 orders and 29 medals of foreign countries.

Now let's do the math.
5 Gold Stars of Hero were handed over (4 Stars of Hero of the USSR and 1 Hero of Social Labor). The quantity is the same.
16 orders of the USSR - coincides with the number of awards presented
18 USSR medals - Brezhnev had 22 medals in total. What 4 medals were not returned by relatives?
Two marshal stars - coincides (stars of an army general and a Marshal of the Soviet Union)
There is an honorary weapon - a personalized saber, but the award Mauser, which Leonid Ilyich received in 1943, is missing. Maybe he handed it over immediately after the war, or maybe his relatives left it as a souvenir. It's not clear yet.
42 orders and 29 medals of foreign countries. This results in a total of 71 awards handed in. I counted 80. Some things were taken away from Brezhnev after his death. Order of Victory 21.09.1989 and Grand Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari 10 July 1990

If we count all the awards that Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, had, we will get the following figure. USSR awards - 38 awards; awards of foreign countries – 80 awards; awards – 8 awards; badge “50 years in the CPSU” - 1 award; Marshall Stars – 2 awards; honorary weapon - 2 awards. The total number of awards is 131 units.
True, after his death, 2 awards were canceled, so this moment the number of awards will be 129 units.
So the rumors about the supposedly 200 orders and medals have no basis in reality, although the true number of awards is very close to the indicated number.

The Russian edition of the Guinness Book of Records (Moscow, Progress, 1991) states that the most awarded person not only in the USSR, but in the world is the former Soviet leader L.I. Brezhnev. According to the publishers of the book, he “had 15 orders of the USSR and 18 Soviet medals, and in total, together with foreign awards, Brezhnev’s ceremonial jacket was decorated with 42 orders and 47 medals.” In a number of other publications one can glean information that Brezhnev allegedly had more than two hundred orders and medals. But none of these figures are correct, and the number of Brezhnev's awards poses one of the mysteries.

Indeed, the passion for “collecting” by a secular leader of orders, medals and titles, especially in last years life was generally known. Former assistant to USSR President M. Gorbachev Boldin writes in the book “The Collapse of the Pedestal”: “... Brezhnev’s passion for having awards turned into a mania. People who knew him well told me that in the last months of his life he cried when he learned that he was going to be awarded not the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union, since he had received such an award recently, but an order. And the tall men had to adapt on the fly.”

Meanwhile, during the Great Patriotic War, no “order rain” fell on Leonid Ilyich. When Major General L. Brezhnev (who started the war as a colonel) walked next to the front commander at the head of the combined front column at the Victory Parade on Red Square, there were much fewer orders and medals on his chest than other generals and even officers! In the post-war period, Brezhnev was also not particularly spoiled in terms of awards: two Orders of Lenin (in 1947 and 1956) and a couple of medals: “For the restoration of ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the south” and “For the development of virgin lands.” But after Brezhnev came to lead the country and the party, awards rained down on him like from a cornucopia.

It is clear that the overwhelming majority of L. Brezhnev’s awards of this period are of an “anniversary-political” nature, but from the point of view of history, he remains the most awarded person in the world. It is a fact. However, the question of how many official awards Brezhnev actually had and which ones he had is still actively debated. And different sources give different figures and describe regalia that Brezhnev did not possess. In short, there are a number of myths surrounding his awards, which we will try to understand.

However, before starting to count the official awards of L.I. Brezhnev needs to agree on the subject of the calculation. What awards are considered? Indeed, in addition to state orders and award medals, Brezhnev’s ceremonial jacket or military jacket was decorated with medals of the laureate of various international and union awards; he also wore various foreign honorary titles(for example, “Honorary metallurgist of the Guta-Warsaw plant”, “Honorary builder of the Katowice metallurgical plant”, etc.). Brezhnev was also awarded the Honorary Arms of the USSR, including the “Marshal’s” weapon, with the coat of arms of the USSR, and had a number of other “gifts” that could well be classified as official awards.

Since there are most ambiguities with orders and medals, we will count only Soviet and foreign state orders of Brezhnev, award medals of the USSR and foreign countries, as well as medals (badges) of international and union awards, leaving out of counting non-award badges, for example, “Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR” or a party award - the badge “50 years in the CPSU”. We will also not include in this list honorary weapons and numerous honorary titles, some of which also had their own phaleronyms: “Honorary Citizen”, “Honorary Veteran”, etc.

Another question: at what point should L. Brezhnev’s awards be counted? At the time of death? Or at this moment? It is known that after his death, Brezhnev was officially deprived of two orders - the highest Soviet military order of Victory and the Polish Order of Virtutti Militari, 1st class. The decision to award the Order of Victory was made already in the post-war period in 1978, when laudatory words addressed to Brezhnev in the USSR reached their peak. This award, 33 years after the victory in the Great Patriotic War, did not correspond to the true merits of the marshal - he did not possess any military leadership talents. In 1989, seven years after Brezhnev passed away, then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev rescinded the decree awarding him the Order of Victory on the grounds that “the recipient did not comply with the statute of the award.” Brezhnev was deprived of the highest Polish order “Virtuti Militari”, 1st class, for the same reasons, also after his death, by decree of the President of the Republic of Poland of July 10, 1990. We will also take these facts into account.

The most real historical document (of the widely known ones) about the number of awards of L.I. Brezhnev - a certificate of transfer of his regalia to the Order Storehouse of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. As biographers write L.I. Brezhnev, after the death of the Secretary General, his widow Victoria Petrovna called the reception of the Presidium of the Supreme Light of the USSR and asked to take ALL his awards from Leonid Ilyich’s dacha. Then, according to the inventory, “114 orders and medals, including two marshal stars with diamonds, 34 units of Soviet orders and medals and 71 awards from other states” were received from the widow from the widow. This inventory has been published. But, as a careful study of it shows, it cannot serve as a basis for calculating Brezhnev’s official awards! Since, firstly, not all of Brezhnev’s awards were included in this list and were handed over, and secondly, among the regalia handed over there were duplicates and, let’s say, awards presented to Brezhnev by friends in an unofficial setting.

Let us also draw attention to the fact that this list of awards includes two marshal stars with diamonds. But this is illegal. The stars were not an independent award, but were attached to Brezhnev’s ranks: army general and marshal of the Soviet Union. We will not take them into account when calculating state awards.

As for duplicates or so-called. “doublets”, i.e. copies of awards, primarily the Gold Stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Hero of Socialist Labor, then Brezhnev had 21 medals of the Hero of the Soviet Union and 13 Hammer and Sickle medals. Each of his tunics or jackets had its own separate, non-removable “iconostasis”. All doublets were made of gold and, naturally, were deposited in the storeroom after death. And there is a possibility that they were also “counted” as rewards. This also makes it difficult to study Brezhnev's official regalia.

In addition, the list of L. Brezhnev’s awards put into storage includes the Soviet medals “For the Capture of Vienna” and “For Military Merit.” The author carefully read many biographical publications about L. Brezhnev, the memoirs of military leaders and did not find any mention there of Brezhnev being awarded the medals “For the Capture of Vienna” and “For Military Merit.” Most likely, these medals were awarded to Brezhnev after the war, unofficially, and their inclusion in the list of official awards is hardly legal.

This is confirmed by the very rare publication at the author’s disposal “Marshals and Admirals of the Fleet of the Soviet Union (uniform, awards, weapons)”, published in a limited edition by the Aspect Publishing House in 2001, edited by Art. n. With. State Historical Museum of the Russian Federation Yuri Smirnov. The author and consultants of this richly illustrated reference book had direct access to the inner sanctum of the Soviet awards department. In this unique publication, each award of Marshal of the Soviet Union L. Brezhnev is photographed and documented: with the date of issue and number. This is the most reliable source of all that has so far fallen into the hands of the author.

First, let's count the state orders and medals of the USSR and foreign countries of L. Brezhnev. From this publication it is clear that he had: five Soviet Gold Star Hero medals (four Hero of the Soviet Union medals and one Hero of Socialist Labor “Hammer and Sickle” medal); 16 Soviet orders (including the Order of Victory) and 17 Soviet award medals. The book also provides a detailed list of 81 (!) awards (gold medals Star of Hero or Hero of Labor, orders and award medals) of foreign countries.

Thus, if you count all the Gold Stars of the Hero, orders and award medals of L. Brezhnev at the time of death, you end up with 119 state awards! If we subtract two orders: “Victory” and “Virtuti Military”, which Brezhnev was deprived of after his death, 117 Soviet and foreign state awards remain.

Among the Soviet orders of Brezhnev are eight Orders of Lenin, two Orders of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class, and the Order of the Red Star. It should be especially noted that five of these orders are military, i.e. received during the Great Patriotic War. These are two Orders of the Red Banner. The first, No. 23636, was awarded to Leonid Ilyich on March 27, 1942 “For exemplary performance of combat missions on the Southern Front during the Barvenkovo-Lozovsky operation.” And at that time they didn’t spoil us with awards at the front. Brezhnev received the second Order of the Red Banner for No. 8148 with the number 2 (re-award) already in 1944 (05/29/1944).

This is followed by the Order of the Red Star for No. 102567 dated March 16, 1943, the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree, for No. 11025, dated September 18, 1943 (according to other sources, it was awarded to Brezhnev after the war) and the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, II degree, for No. 1182, dated May 23, 1945. All other Brezhnev orders are mainly “anniversary” ones: these are 8 Orders of Lenin and 2 Orders of the October Revolution.

Of the 17 Soviet state award medals of the USSR L. Brezhnev - five are combat ones: “For the defense of Odessa”, “For the defense of the Caucasus”, “For the liberation of Warsaw”, “For the liberation of Prague” and “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” gg." However, not all of them were received by L. Brezhnev directly at the front. It is known for sure that during the war, Brezhnev was awarded only two medals: “For the Defense of Odessa” (December 22, 1942) and “For the Defense of the Caucasus” (May 1, 1944). It was with these two medals on his chest that he walked at the Victory Parade in Moscow on Red Square in 1945.

Other military medals: “For the liberation of Warsaw”, “For the liberation of Prague” were awarded to L. Brezhnev after the war. As well as the medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.” This was a common practice; many front-line soldiers received such awards at the military registration and enlistment offices at their place of residence. By the way, in the publication “Marshals and Admirals of the Fleet of the Soviet Union (uniform, awards, weapons)” published by the Aspect Publishing House in 2001, there is no data on the awarding of L. Brezhnev with medals “For the Capture of Vienna” and “For Military Merit”, about which are widely mentioned on the Internet and in a number of publications. But there is a medal that is not on any list - “For strengthening the military community.” It is a fact.

As for L. Brezhnev's foreign awards, their collection is simply amazing. Every leader of a socialist (and not only) state who came to Moscow considered it his duty to bring L. Brezhnev the highest awards of his country as a gift. And not only the highest ones - even ordinary medals were awarded to the Soviet leader, for example, the Cuban anniversary medal “20 years of the Revolutionary Armed Forces” or the Bulgarian “100 years of liberation from Bulgaria from the Ottoman yoke.”

Of the foreign countries of that time, Czechoslovakia (Czechoslovakia) became the champion in presenting awards to L. Brezhnev - 18 awards. These include three medals: the Golden Star of the Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, four highest orders of Klement Gottwald, the Order of the White Lion “For Victory”, by the way, dated 1946 and the Order of the White Lion with a chain (1973 is already an anniversary award), as well as others regalia.

But among these awards there are also curious ones. This is the Czechoslovakian “Military Cross of 1939”, which Brezhnev, according to documents, was awarded twice in 1945 and 1947. and the medal “For courage before the enemy” from 1945. Why funny? The fact is that these award medals were established after the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany by the Czech bourgeois government in exile. And only after 1948, when the Communist Party came to power in Prague, were they included in the list of official awards of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. And according to the data given in the publication, all these medals were awarded to Brezhnev in 1945 and 1947, i.e. practically on behalf of the Czech exile government.

Brezhnev was also the owner of 11 state awards of Mongolia (MPR), including two Gold Stars (Hero of the MPR and Hero of Labor of the MPR) and four highest orders of Sukhbaatar. The leaders of Bulgaria (NBR) did not lag behind in the awards marathon - 10 awards. Among other Bulgarian regalia of Brezhnev, three Gold Star medals of the Hero of the NBR and three highest orders of Georgi Dimitrov stand out.

The next largest number of regalia awarded to the Soviet leader is the GDR. Eight times the Germans honored L. Brezhnev with their state awards. He was three times Hero of the GDR and a holder of the three highest orders of Karl Marx, as well as the owner of the Order of the Great Star of Friendship of Peoples (with diamonds). The leaders of the then Poland (Poland) and Cuba presented L. Brezhnev with their national orders and medals six times each. Among the Polish awards of the Soviet leader are the highest: the Order of the Renaissance of Poland, 1st class, and the Order of Merit of the People's Republic of Poland, 1st class. The Cuban leader elevated L. Brezhnev to Hero of Cuba with the presentation of the Gold Star medal and awarded, among others, Jose Marti and Playa Giron with the highest state orders.

Three times L. Brezhnev was awarded Vietnamese awards (Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Socialist Republic of Vietnam). He is a Hero of Labor of Vietnam, a holder of the Order of Ho Chi Minh, 1st degree, and the Order of the Golden Star. Brezhnev also had two awards each from Hungary, Romania, Laos (NDRL) and Finland. Among the Finnish regalia of L. Brezhnev - highest award of this northern country - the Order of the White Rose with a gold chain, and the Laotians elevated him to the rank of Hero of the People's Democratic Republic of Laos.

They were clearly modest about awards for L.I. Brezhnev leaders North Korea(DPRK). They presented Leonid Ilyich with only one single, albeit highest, regalia - the Order of the State Banner, 1st degree. Even the Yugoslav leaders, who were on rather cool relations with the USSR, twice awarded Brezhnev with their highest orders: the “Star of Yugoslavia” of the first degree and the Order of Freedom with Diamonds. And finally, the collection of the Soviet leader includes quite exotic awards from Argentina (Order of the May Revolution), Afghanistan (Order of the Sun of Freedom), the Peruvian Order of the Sun of Peru, the Indonesian Order of the Star of Indonesia, 1st class (twice ), the highest Yemeni (NDRY) regalia “Order of the October 14 Revolution”, the Ethiopian Order of “Star of Honor” and the “Order of Independence” of the Republic of Guinea.

Total in the collection of L. Brezhnev at the time of death were listed state awards 21 countries of the world: 58 orders (16 Soviet and 42 foreign) and 42 award medals (17 Soviet and 25 foreign).

The Gold Star of Hero (Hero of Labor) medals can be placed in a separate category. Brezhnev had 19 such stars (five USSR and 14 other states). Brezhnev also became a laureate of various union and international awards eight times, which had their own medals (badges). Publicly L.I. Brezhnev wore only four of them: the medal of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Among Nations” (awarded in 1973), the gold medal of Peace named after F. Julio-Curie (awarded in 1975), the medal of the laureate of the Prize named after. G. Dimitrov (awarded in 1978) and the Lenin Prize Laureate Medal (awarded in 1979). If we sum up all the regalia that fall under the “medal” category (including the Gold Stars of the Hero and laureate badges), then there will be 69 of them.

Thus, at the time of death, the former Soviet leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union L.I. Brezhnev was the owner of 127 official awards: 58 state orders and 61 state medals from twenty-one countries of the world, as well as eight medals (badges) of the laureate of union and international awards. This is an absolute record. If we take the current moment (minus two orders, “Victory” and “Virtuti Military”, which Brezhnev was deprived of after his death), then the marshal will have 56 orders. Thus, the total number of official orders, medals and badges will be 125 units!

This myth also needs to be refuted. At one time, portraits (not photographs!) of Brezhnev in a military marshal uniform with a full “iconostasis” were widely published in the press. Someone even started a rumor that this jacket weighed so much that, having put it on, the Secretary General could only move with outside help. But according to the recollections of his secretaries, L. Brezhnev never put on a military jacket or civilian jacket with ALL his orders and medals. This was simply impossible to do! Well, tell me, where to hang only 19 (!) Gold Hero Stars?!

The Soviet leader had several suits, on each of which were attached doublets of four medals of the Hero of the USSR, one medal of the Hero of Socialist Labor “Hammer and Sickle” and medals of the winner of the four most prestigious awards. On special occasions, L. Brezhnev wore the military uniform of a Marshal of the Soviet Union with order bars, five Hero stars and four laureate badges (medals).