After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, in which the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, the first Socialist Orders of Merit were founded. After World War II,

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

came to power in many other countries and this type of order spread all over the world. In many new African nations this type of decoration was instituted, probably because they were so different from the Orders of Knighthood of the former colonial masters.Václav Měřička, ''The book of orders and decorations'', London: Hamlyn 1975. Having abolished the orders of the Czar, the first order of the Soviet Union, called the "

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

", was founded on 16 September 1918. World War II would see the addition of several more military and civil orders and a few more were added in the 1970s.

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

always chose to follow its own policy in creating decorations.

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

stuck to elements of the traditional orders like grand-crosses, commanders and knights but countries like

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, occupied

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

dutifully copied all the models and names of Soviet decorations. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation, the newly independent former Soviet republics, and many of the former socialist nations of eastern Europe established their own state orders, some of which are a continuance, revival, or model of orders pre-dating the Communist era. The totalitarian regime depicted in

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitari ...

's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final ...

'' is mentioned as having an "Order of Conspicuous Merit", divided into at least two classes.

References

Literature

* Václav Měřička, ''The book of orders and decorations'', London: Hamlyn 1975. {{ISBN, 0600367312 * Paul Hieronymussen, ''Europaeiske ordner i farver'', Kopenhagen 1967 * Paul Hieronymussen, ''Orders, medals and decorations of Britain and Europe in colour'' London: Blandford Press, 1967. Leninism Civil awards and decorations of the Soviet Union Orders of merit

See also

References

Literature