All of us in the history school went through a topic that was dedicated to the military order for military distinction - the Order of St. George. It was the only military order awarded to people solely for their services to the motherland in terms of military operations.
The Order of St. George has four degrees. Awards were inconsistent. That is, if a person received the Order of St. George of the fourth degree, then it is not a fact that the next time he will receive the order of the third degree. It is likely that he will be awarded the second or first degree. The fact is that Catherine II awarded for the quality of military merit to the motherland, and not for quantity.
As already mentioned, the Order of St. George does not imply the consistent rewarding of man. But it must be taken into account that it was very difficult to obtain any degree of recognition. The statute states that in order to receive the third or fourth degree of merit, first you need to collect all the evidence of the heroic deed, as well as describe the whole process in detail. After this, the application was submitted to the monarch, and he already decided whether the person was worthy of such an award or not.
It should also be said that the Order of St. George has the highest degrees of rewarding - this is the first and second. The statute clearly spells out what orders are given for, as well as for what merits. I would like to note that the monarch himself personally congratulated him on this recognition, and the order was awarded at his personal discretion.
In order to receive the first and second degree of reward, a person had to win a war, or an important battle, respectively. That is why the Order of St. George already has not so many people who have the highest degree of reward.
I would definitely like to note that the statute of the order says that the number of people who can be awarded is not limited. Thus, any military man, of any rank, could receive an order of any degree according to his military and military merits.
The Order of St. George was absolutely free. That is, the gentlemen did not make any monetary contributions. But, nevertheless, they received a monetary reward in the form of an annual pension. That is, the country helped its heroes, and also took care of them. It is also noteworthy that the holder of the order granted the right to hereditary nobility. Of course, this is only if the person had not previously had it.
In the end, I would like to say that there are not so many full cavaliers of the order. There are four in total in the Russian Empire. For those who do not know, the full cavaliers of the Order of St. George are those people who received the order of all four degrees. It is very prestigious, and these people are real heroes. Among them are Prince Smolensky, as well as Kutuzov. Just remember the merits of these people to our homeland, and you will understand that they really deserve this award, as well as its highest degree. Therefore, we all must respect these people and be grateful for their merits, because who knows what would be with us now, if not for them.
