Medal for Battle Merit

Medal for Battle Merit
Medal for Battle Merit and its ribbon (obverse)
Awarded by  USSR
Type	Military medal
Eligibility	Citizens of the Soviet Union
Awarded for	"Combat action resulting in a military success, courageous defense of the state borders, or successful military and political training and preparation"
Status	No longer awarded
Statistics
Established	October 17, 1938
Total awarded	5,210,000
Precedence
Next (higher)	Ushakov Medal
Next (lower)	Nakhimov Medal
Ribbon of the Medal for Battle Merit

The USSR Medal for Battle Merit (Russian: Медаль "За боевые заслуги") was a Soviet military medal awarded for "combat action resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military and political training and preparation".

It was created on October 17, 1938 by the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Like the Medal "For Courage", its status was revised to prevent the medal from being given for years of service (a practice that was rampant in USSR) rather than actual bravery during a battle. More than 5,210,000 medals were awarded between 1938 and 1991.

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Soviet Union

References

• Great Soviet Encyclopedia
• Kolesnikov G.A. & Rozhkov A.M., Orders and medals of USSR, Moscow, Mil. lib., 1983.

Orders, decorations, and medals of the Soviet Union
Highest grade of distinction	Hero of the Soviet Union Hero of Socialist Labour Mother Heroine
Honorary titles	Honoured Military Pilot of the USSR Honoured Military Navigator of the USSR Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR Honoured Test Navigator of the USSR Honoured Pilot of the USSR Honoured Navigator of the USSR Honoured Inventor of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR People's Doctor of the USSR People's Architect of the USSR People's Teacher of the USSR
Civil and military orders	Order of Victory Order of Lenin Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Order of Ushakov Order of Kutuzov Order of Nakhimov Order of the Red Star Order of the Patriotic War Order of Alexander Nevsky Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Order of Glory Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR Order of the Red Banner of Labour Order of Friendship of Peoples Order of the Badge of Honour Order of Maternal Glory Order of Labour Glory Order of Honour Order "For Personal Courage"
Military medals	Medal "For Courage" Medal for Battle Merit Medal of Ushakov Medal of Nakhimov Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR" Medal "For Distinction in the Protection of Public Order" Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" 1st class Medal "For Distinction in Military Service" 2nd class Medal "For Strengthening Military Cooperation" Medal "For Impeccable Service" Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Second World War medals	Medal "For the Defence of Leningrad" Medal "For the Defence of Odessa" Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol" Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad" Medal "For the Defence of Moscow" Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" Medal "For the Defence of the Soviet Transarctic" Medal "For the Defence of Kiev" Medal "For the Capture of Berlin" Medal "For the Capture of Budapest" Medal "For the Capture of Königsberg" Medal "For the Capture of Vienna" Medal "For the Liberation of Prague" Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" Medal "For the Liberation of Belgrade" Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Medal "For the Victory over Japan" Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 1st class Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War" 2nd class Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
Civil medals	Medal "For Labour Valour" Medal "For Distinguished Labour" Medal "For the Salvation of the Drowning" Medal "For Courage in a Fire" Medal "Veteran of Labour" Medal "For the Restoration of the Donbass Coal Mines" Medal "For the Restoration of the Black Metallurgy Enterprises of the South" Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands" Medal "For Construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway" Medal "For Transforming the Non-Black Earth of the RSFSR" Medal "For the Tapping of the Subsoil and Expansion of the Petrochemical Complex of Western Siberia"
Jubilee medals	Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy" Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad" Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kiev" Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Soviet Militia" Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"