Freedom Cross (Estonia)

Executions of the Estonian Cross of Freedom

Freedom Cross, 2nd Division, 2nd (sic!) Class

Freedom Cross, III. Department, 3rd grade

The Freedom Cross ( Estonian Vabadusrist ) is an Estonian order that was awarded from 1919 to 1925.

history

On February 24, 1919, one year after Estonian independence was declared , the Estonian Prime Minister Konstantin Päts donated the Freedom Cross.

The Freedom Cross was awarded for special achievements during the Estonian War of Freedom (1918–1920). In addition, ten people who participated in the suppression of the attempted communist coup in Estonia in 1924 were honored with the Freedom Cross .

The last bearer of the Freedom Cross was awarded in 1925. By law of the Estonian Parliament of June 19, 1925, the award was stopped. The Freedom Cross can still be awarded in the event of war for the defense of Estonian freedom.

In many cases, the award of the Freedom Cross was combined with a monetary bonus, the allocation of a piece of land or a training grant.

Divisions and degrees

The Freedom Cross has three sections:

• I. Department (white) for military services
• II. Division (black) for bravery in combat
• III. Department (blue) for civil services

Each department knows three order classes. The first class of the second division was never awarded.

The order is indicated with the abbreviation VR , the division in Roman numerals and the class in Arabic numerals .

The orders themselves were designed by the Estonian artist Peet Aren (1889–1970). They are based on the Finnish Order of the Freedom Cross and the Cross of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order . The blue-black-white national colors of Estonia are incorporated.

Award

The Freedom Cross has been awarded 3224 times in its history, to a total of 3130 people.

Country	I / 1	II / 1	III / 1	I / 2	II / 2	III / 2	I / 3	II / 3	III / 3	total
Estonia	11	-	18th	51	29	8th	339	1672	22nd	2150
Finland	5	-	13	30th	-	7th	128	495	-	678
Great Britain	14th	-	18th	19th	-	10	45	21st	2	129
Latvia	1	-	6th	12	-	2	5	21st	3	50
Denmark	1	-	1	1	-	1	17th	27	-	48
Poland	1	-	11	13	-	4th	15th	-	1	45
United States	1	-	2	8th	-	2	27	-	3	43
France	6th	-	20th	1	-	3	5	-	-	35
Sweden	-	-	3	-	-	1	1	11	2	18th
Italy	2	-	10	-	-	1	-	-	-	13
Bulgaria	1	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	3
Japan	-	-	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	3
Hungary	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	2
Lithuania	-	-	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	2
Argentina	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	2
Portugal	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
Colombia	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
India	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
total	43	-	111	136	29	41	582	2247	35	3224

Well-known medal bearers

• The unknown British soldier VR I / 1
• The unknown French soldier VR I / 1
• The unknown Italian soldier VR I / 1
• The city of Verdun VR I / 1
• King Albert I of Belgium VR I / 1
• David Beatty VR I / 1
• Stanley Baldwin VR III / 1
• Arthur Balfour VR III / 1
• Aristide Briand VR III / 1
• Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood VR III / 1
• Austen Chamberlain VR III / 1
• King Christian X of Denmark VR I / 1
• Georges Clemenceau VR III / 1
• Gaston Doumergue VR III / 1
• Ferdinand Foch VR I / 1
• Pietro Gasparri VR III / 1
• King George V. VR I / 1
• King Gustav V of Sweden VR III / 1
• Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig VR I / 1
• Miklós Horthy VR III / 1
• Kyösti Kallio VR III / 1 and I / 2
• Julius Kuperjanov VR II / 2 and II / 3
• Johan Laidoner VR I / 1 and III / 1
• David Lloyd George VR III / 1
• Benito Mussolini VR III / 1
• Karl Parts VR I / 1, II / 2 and II / 3
• Philippe Pétain VR I / 1
• Józef Piłsudski VR I / 1 and III / 1
• Johan Pitka VR I / 1
• Jaan Poska VR III / 1
• Konstantin Päts VR I / 1 and III / 1
• Nikolai Reek VR II
• August Rei VR III / 1
• Carlo Sforza VR III / 1
• Władysław Sikorski VR III / 1
• Otto Strandman VR III / 1
• Kārlis Ulmanis VR III / 1
• King Victor Emanuel III. of Italy VR III / 1
• Aleksander Warma VR I / 3
• Maxime Weygand VR I / 1

Web links

Commons : Freedom Cross (Estonia)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pictures of the orders and description (Estonian)
• Law on Medals of Honor (Estonian)
• Complete list of medal winners (.doc; 5.4 MB)