The Military Virtue Medal ( ro, Medalia "Virtutea Militară") is a

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n military decoration, instituted on April 8, 1872, by

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

Carol I Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

. A previous version, called ''Pro Virtute Militari'', was established by

Alexandru Ioan Cuza Alexandru Ioan Cuza (, or Alexandru Ioan I, also anglicised as Alexander John Cuza; 20 March 1820 – 15 May 1873) was the first ''domnitor'' (Ruler) of the Romanian Principalities through his double election as prince of Moldavia on 5 Januar ...

in 1860 for the veterans of the

Dealul Spirii Dealul Spirii (, ''Spirea's Hill'') is a hill in Bucharest, Romania, upon which the Palace of the Parliament (formerly known as ''House of the People'') is now located. Spirii Hill Initially a vineyard known as ''Dealul Lupeștilor'', the hil ...

battle (1848) between the revolutionaries and the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

, but it was issued to the recipients later, in 1866, due to political reasons (Romania was still under Ottoman

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

). The medal had 2 classes, the 1st class (in gold) being awarded to the officers, and the 2nd class (in silver) to non-commissioned officers and the other enlisted ranks. After the

Order of Michael the Brave The Order of Michael the Brave ( ro, Ordinul Mihai Viteazul) is Romania's highest military decoration, instituted by King Ferdinand I during the early stages of the Romanian Campaign of the First World War, and was again awarded in the Second Wor ...

was instituted (1916), the Military Virtue Medal was issued only to the NCO's and soldiers.

Data

*Requirements: Awarded to NCOs and other enlisted ranks for exceptional deeds on the battlefield *Classes: 2nd and 1st *Date Instituted: April 1872

War Medal of Military Virtue

In 1880

Carol I of Romania Carol I or Charles I of Romania (20 April 1839 – ), born Prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, was the monarch of Romania from 1866 to his death in 1914, ruling as Prince (''Domnitor'') from 1866 to 1881, and as King from 1881 to 1914. He w ...

, the first ruler of the

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ( en, Nothing without God) , national_anthem = , common_languages = German , religion = Roman Catholic , currency = , title_leader = Prince , leader1 ...

dynasty, instituted a new ''Medal of Military Virtue''. This one was given for bravery only during wartime. Soldiers who had earned the medal during wartime were able to trade in their old medal for a new wartime version, the ''War Medal of Military Virtue'' (''Medalia Virtutea Militara de Razboi'').

External links

*
Military Virtue Medal at worldwar2.ro
*

{{Romanian National Decorations System Military awards and decorations of Romania

Data

War Medal of Military Virtue

See also

External links