After the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia, the first Socialist Orders of Merit were founded. After World War II, communists 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.[1]
Socialist Orders differ from the old European Orders in having just one grade where the old orders had Grand-Crosses , commanders and Knights. This scheme was ill at place in the egalitarian nations that would be the promised result of socialism. Because there were no grades, swords on the cross or crowns in silver or gold to differentiate between grades of merit or position in society the communist states chose to create dozens of orders of merit.
Having abolished the orders of the Czar, the first order of the Soviet Union, called "the Order of the Red Flag" (Russian:" Orden Krasnoe Znamja"), was founded on 16 September 1918. In 1940, there were relatively few orders, but in 1941, after the German invasion, the Soviet authorities quickly established dozens of new orders and medals.
There are three types of decorations:
The Russian Order of Lenin and the Golden Medal of the Hamer and Sickle gave the recipients the titles of "Hero of the Soviet Union" en "Hero of Socialist Labour". These titles were copied in many other countries in the communist bloc.
Yugoslavia always chose to follow its own policy in creating decorations. Poland and Czechoslovakia stuck to elements of the traditional orders like grand-crosses, commanders and knights but countries like Angola, occupied Afghanistan and North-Korea dutifully copied all the models and names of Soviet decorations.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union many of the former socialist nations of eastern Europe and some of the newly independent Soviet republics (re)established orders of knighthood in the European fashion.
The totaliarian regime depicted in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is mentioned as having an "Order of Conspicuous Merit", divided into at least two classes.