1938-1943	1943-1991	1994-Date

The Medal "For Courage" was the highest military medal

Medal

A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...

 that could be awarded to a soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

 of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 for bravery on the field of battle

Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...

. It was created on 17 October, 1938 by the decision of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, to be awarded for "acts of bravery during a battle, during the defence of the state borders or during military duties associated with risk for life.". The tank on this medal is T-35

T-35

The T-35 was a Soviet multi-turreted heavy tank of the interwar period and early Second World War that saw limited production and service with the Red Army. It was the only five-turreted heavy tank in the world to reach production but proved to be slow and mechanically unreliable...

.
The first three Medals "For Courage" were awarded only three days later to three border guards for acts of bravery during the Battle of Lake Khasan

Battle of Lake Khasan

The Battle of Lake Khasan and also known as the Changkufeng Incident in China and Japan, was an attempted military incursion of Manchukuo into the territory claimed by the Soviet Union...

.

Its status was revised in 1980 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. Overall, 4,569,893 medals were awarded during the medal's existence from 1938 to 1991, with more than 4,200,000 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

The medal was retained by the Russian Federation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with the same design save for the caption "СССР" (Russian for U.S.S.R.).

See also

• Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
  Awards and decorations of the Russian Federation
  The award system of the Russian Federation has varied and distinct origins. The first being pre-1917 orders of the Russian Empire re-established after 1991. The second is from former Soviet orders that were slightly modified and kept after the USSR's collapse...
  
  
• Awards and decorations of the Soviet Union
  Awards and decorations of the Soviet Union
  Awards and decorations of the Soviet Union are decorations from the Former Soviet Union that recognised achievements and personal accomplishments, both military and civilian. Some of the awards, decorations and orders were discontinued after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, while others still...