By Vestnik Kavkaza
A book by Sergei Karpov, an academician of the RAS, the dean of the History Department of MSU, headlined “World Award Systems”, was presented at the History Department of the MSU on December 1st. The book touches on questions of development, formation and influence of historical traditions and the aesthetics of awards. Phaleristics is the science of awards, insignia, medals etc. It is thought to be one of the most difficult disciplines. Sometimes lack of knowledge in the sphere has led to historic misunderstanding.
“The modern award system is characterized by eclectics. This is inevitable, as the society inherits various traditions on the transitional stage. We should respect the traditions, evaluate them in the right way, and create the right system. For instance, there was the Order of Zhukov and the Medal of Zhukov. At first, the Order of Zhukov was awarded to participants in the war, prominent commanders. Later it was awarded to military men for various deeds. But on the Order of Zhukov, Zhukov is depicted in his uniform of 1946 and 1945, in which he inspected the Victory Parade – with four Stars of a Hero of the Soviet Union. Zhukov had never worn four Stars on the uniform, as he was awarded the fourth Star by Khrushchev. So Zhukov is depicted on the Order of Zhukov with four stars, but it couldn’t have been; only three stars could have been there,” Sergei Karpov says.
The book is a unique publication. It presents studies of award systems of Russian regions for the first time, materials on departmental awards and the Russian Federation's constituents’ awards. There are very beautiful examples of them. For example, the Order of Ahmat Kadyrov is decorated with gems, gold and gilt.
The illustrations in the book demonstrate orders, medals, decorations, documents which are collected by museums of the Kremlin, the State History Museum, the Hermitage, and private collections.
Sergei Karpov told Vestnik Kavkaza that “moreover, the book has materials on the award systems of the South Caucasus countries – all of them, their traditions, general principles of instituting an award, their ties with old traditions and creating new ones. The book contains evaluations of numerous and many-sided activities.”
Speaking about Turkish awards, Karpov pointed out: “Turkey doesn’t award orders at the moment. It was a tradition of the Ottoman Empire. But the awards of the sultan’s Turkey are presented and described. There are many of them and they are very interesting, including awards for the Crimean War and the War of 1877-1878. They are very interesting. It is curious that some Russian commanders were awarded with Turkish decorations, as well as many prominent Turkish people awarded by the Russian Emperor, and later by the Soviet Union.”
