imported>Cutlass: Reverted edits by 2003:DC:8F1F:B800:5C75:DEC6:41BB:FBB0 (talk) (AV)

2025-05-02T20:26:41Z

Reverted edits by 2003:DC:8F1F:B800:5C75:DEC6:41BB:FBB0 (talk) (AV)

New page

{{Short description|Romanian military award}}
{{More citations needed|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox award
| name = Medal ''Crusade against Communism'' Medalia ''Cruciada împotriva comunismului''
| image = {{nowrap|[[File:Medalia Cruciada Impotriva Comunismului 1.JPG|150px]] [[File:Medalia Cruciada Impotriva Comunismului 2.JPG|150px]]}}
| alt =
| caption =
| presenter =
| country = [[Kingdom of Romania]]
| type =
| eligibility = Military and civilian personnel of Romania and its allies
| awarded_for =
| campaign = [[World War II]]
| status = Obsolete
| description =
| motto =
| clasps = [[Battle of the Sea of Azov|Azov]] [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Basarabia]] [[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Bucovina]] Southern Bug Calmucia [[Battle of the Caucasus|Caucaz]] [[Crimean Campaign|Crimeea]] Dobrogea [[Second Battle of Kharkov|Doneţ]] [[Black Sea campaigns (1941–44)|Marea Neagră]] [[Battle of the Dnieper|Nipru]] Nistru [[Siege of Odessa (1941)|Odessa]] Prut [[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]] Don Traditia
| post-nominals =
| established = April 1, 1942
| firstawarded = 1942
| lastawarded = 1944
| total_awarded =
| total_awarded_posthumously =
| total_recipients =
| precedence_label =
| individual =
| higher =
| same =
| lower =
| related =
| image2 =
| alt2 =
| caption2 = Reverse of the Medal ''Crusade against Communism''
}}
The '''Medalia ''Cruciada împotriva comunismului''''' ("[[Crusade]] Against [[Communism]] medal", in reference to [[Operation Barbarossa]]) was a [[Kingdom of Romania|Romanian]] [[Military awards and decorations|military award]] of [[World War II]]. It was instituted on April 1, 1942, by the Royal Decree No. 1014, of [[King of Romania|King]] [[Michael I of Romania]].<ref name="Câlția 2022 p. 282">{{cite book | last=Câlția | first=S. | title=Decoraţiile României : legi, decrete, hotărâri şi alte acte normative: Vol. 2 : 1930-1947 | publisher=Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti | series=Științe umaniste | year=2022 | isbn=978-606-16-1341-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vz2XEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA282 | language=ro | access-date=2024-02-16 | page=282}}</ref> It was commissioned to recognise the distinguished service of Romanian and other [[Axis Powers]] military and civilian personnel operating on both the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern]] and [[Battle of Romania (1944)|Home]] fronts.

==Medal==
The medal, of 31.5 mm in diameter and of [[brass]] construction features on the front side a clenched fist holding a sword representative of the campaign. The same side also displays the date 1941 and around its circumference is written ''CRUCIADA ÎMPOTRIVA COMUNISMULUI''. The reverse side features the Romanian liberty symbol and the phrase ''ROMÂNIA RECUNOSCĂTOARE'', translated in English as "Romania is Grateful". The reverse sometimes features the name "P. GRANT" under the liberty symbol. The medal is suspended by medal ribbon which is of primarily of red, bordered by white and the centre featuring the national [[Flag of Romania|colours of Romania]], red, yellow and blue.

==Bars==
When issued to the recipients operating on the front lines one of 15 bars was included indicative of area of service. Like the medal, these were brass-made and worn over the ribbon bar. The bars stood for:

*''[[Battle of the Sea of Azov|Azov]]''
*''[[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Basarabia]]''
*''[[Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina|Bucovina]]''
*''[[Southern Bug]]''
*''[[Kalmyk Steppe|Calmucia]]''
*''[[Battle of the Caucasus|Caucaz]]''
*''[[Crimean Campaign|Crimeea]]'' (occasionally spelled ''Crimeia'')
*''[[Dobruja|Dobrogea]]''
*''[[Second Battle of Kharkov|Doneţ]]''
*''[[Black Sea campaigns (1941–44)|Marea Neagră]]'' (occasionally spelled ''Mare Negru'')
*''[[Battle of the Dnieper|Nipru]]''
*''[[Dniester|Nistru]]''
*''[[Siege of Odessa (1941)|Odessa]]''
*''[[Prut River|Prut]]''
*''[[Battle of Stalingrad|Stalingrad]]''
*''[[Don River (Russia)|Don]]''
*''[[Traditia]]''

Bars awarded subsequently were worn below the original one on the medal ribbon, and all of the additional bars were silver. The rarest of all bars is the Stalingrad one, due largely to the fact that very few Axis survived the [[Battle of Stalingrad|1943 battle]] (those recipients who were captured often lost or discarded their awards, or had these confiscated).

==Other characteristics==
The medal continued to be awarded until its disestablishment in October 1944, after Romania joined the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]], and issued retrospectively to the starting date of Operation Barbarossa (the Axis invasion of the [[Soviet Union]]). ''Cruciada împotriva comunismului'' was produced by a number of firms within Romania, and was also made under licence by the [[Nazi Germany|German]] maker C. E. Junker of [[Berlin]]. The number of medals made and awarded is unknown, but believed to be in excess of 1,250,000.

Whilst not rare today, following the war, many awards were discarded by their owners for fear of prosecution and reprisal by the Soviet occupiers and later by [[Communist Romania|Communist authorities]].

==See also==
*[[List of military decorations#Romania]]
*[[Eastern Front (World War II)]]
*[[Romania during World War II]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070106032430/http://www.marksmedals.com/romanian_medals_files/crusade.html Crusade Against Communism Medal (1942-1944)]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruciada impotriva comunismului}}
[[Category:Military history of Romania during World War II]]
[[Category:Military awards and decorations of Romania]]
[[Category:Romania–Soviet Union relations]]

Crusade Against Communism Medal - Revision history

imported>Cutlass: Reverted edits by 2003:DC:8F1F:B800:5C75:DEC6:41BB:FBB0 (talk) (AV)