Symbols of Independence and Sovereignty: The Emergence of Systems of Honours and Awards in Eastern Europe, 1918–1920 (the cases of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, and Czechoslovakia)

Abstract

In the countries of Western Europe, honours and awards have a long-established tradition going back centuries. The picture is different in Eastern Europe, where national decorations of merit are much younger. In most countries of the region, the birth of their own systems of honours and awards dates to the period of 1918–1920 and is directly related to the course and outcomes of the First World War. This process had similarities and differences across countries. The political results of the First World War were extremely significant. The largest empires ceased to exist. On their ruins, new independent states emerged, mostly in Eastern Europe. Literally from the first days of their existence, the young states were involved in a series of armed conflicts, both internal and external. In the course of these wars, national armies with their own symbols and insignia emerged. In this regard, it is not surprising that military decorations were the first to appear in all countries of Eastern Europe, and it was with them that the formation of national systems of honours and awards began. For a long time, military awards remained the only decorations of merit. They were occasionally granted to civilians, as well as used for diplomatic purposes, being conferred on foreign statesmen and military leaders. Some countries (Poland, Estonia) tried to overcome the deficit of awards by dividing them into many classes and degrees. All countries in the region, except Poland, lacked their own distinct traditions of awards and decorations. As they wished to avoid copying already known patterns, and even more so imitating former empires, the new states turned to their own mythology, history, and heraldry in search of originality. So, the swastika appeared in the phaleristics of Latvia, the cross of the Jagiellonians in Lithuania, the cross of the Master of the Teutonic Order in Estonia, and linden leaves, branches, and wreaths in Czechoslovakia.