{"product_id":"original-polish-pre-wwii-war-order-of-virtuti-militari-3rd-class-with-full-brooch","title":"Original Polish Pre-WWII War Order of Virtuti Militari 3rd Class with Full Brooch","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginal Item. Only One Available. This is a very scarce Pre-WWII example of the Polish War Order of Virtuti Militari 3rd Class with its original faded brooch. The color of the blue was once darker, but this example was likely worn for a time and faded. The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: \"For Military Virtue\", Polish: Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stanislaus II Augustus and is the oldest military decoration in the world still in use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is awarded in five classes either for personal heroism or, to commanders, for leadership. Some of the heroic actions recognized by an award of the Virtuti Militari are equivalent to those meriting the British Victoria Cross and the American Medal of Honor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoon after its introduction, however, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was destroyed in the partitions of Poland (1795), and the partitioning powers abolished the decoration and prohibited its wearing. Since then, the award has been reintroduced, renamed and banned several times, with its fate closely reflecting the vicissitudes of the Polish people. Throughout the decoration's existence, thousands of soldiers and officers, Polish and foreign, several cities and one ship have been awarded the Virtuti Militari for valor or outstanding leadership in war. There have been no new awards since 1989.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a scarce Polish medal, ready for further research and display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the Polish Defensive War of 1939, the fast German and Soviet advance (Polish territory was overrun by its enemies in five weeks from the beginning of the invasion) prevented the Chapter from awarding the medals. Instead, commanders of divisions and brigades usually rewarded the bravery of their soldiers with their own crosses received before the war. This was the case of the 18th Pomeranian Uhlan Regiment, awarded the Virtuti Militari of General Stanisław Grzmot-Skotnicki after the battle of Krojanty, where elements of the regiment successfully delayed the advance of the German infantry on 1 September, the first day of the Second World War. Following the fall of Poland in 1939, much of the Polish Army was evacuated to France, where it was reconstructed under the command of General Władysław Sikorski. In January 1941, the Polish Government in Exile introduced the Virtuti Militari as the highest military decoration of the Polish Army in exile. The legal basis for the election of a new Chapter was the Act of 1933. During the Second World War, the Virtuti Militari was also often bestowed to senior military officers of allied armies, including British General Bernard Montgomery; the American Supreme Commander of the Allied forces, Dwight D. Eisenhower; French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny; Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov; and Serbian guerrilla leader Draža Mihailović.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmong the most famous recipients of the medal during this period were Tadeusz Kutrzeba, creator of the Bzura counterattack plan and participant in the defence of Warsaw during the Invasion of Poland; Władysław Anders, commander of the 2nd Polish Corps; Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, commander of the large Armia Krajowa resistance movement and leader of the Warsaw Uprising; and Stanisław Maczek, one of the best armor commanders of the war, who devised the first anti-blitzkrieg strategy as early as 1940 and was the commander of the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade, considered to be the only Polish unit not to have lost a single battle in 1939, and from 1942 the commander of the First Polish Armoured Division.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"Original Items","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41927359725637,"sku":"ONJRWH240002","price":295.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1524\/1342\/files\/ONJRWH240002__01.jpg?v=1726256956","url":"https:\/\/www.ima-usa.com\/products\/original-polish-pre-wwii-war-order-of-virtuti-militari-3rd-class-with-full-brooch","provider":"International Military Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}