Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,792
Prussia's army protests against a new - order!
On December 7, 1864, the Prussian King Wilhelm I. ...
... donates a new order!
The so-called "Alsenkreuz" commemorates the storming of the Danish island (and fortress) Alsen on June 29, 1864 during the German-Danish war ...:
The new award is a cross made of bronze with a laurel wreath under the cross arms.
The front of the medallion shows the image of the monarch with the inscription WILHELM KOENIG VON PRUSSEN.
On the reverse of the medallion the depiction of the Prussian eagle above a boat floating on the Alsensund. In the arms of the cross, from top to bottom, it says ALSEN 29 JUN. 1864.
And now the typically German bureaucracy comes into play:
A neat distinction is made between those directly and indirectly involved in the fighting:
Combatants (soldiers) receive the Alsencross on a blue ribbon with two orange stripes and a black and white border ...:
Non-combatants (civilians), on the other hand, wear the order on an orange-colored, blue-striped ribbon with a black and white border ...:
Within the Prussian army, open resentment soon arose - less against the new order itself than against its award regulations!
After that, non-combatants (diplomats, officials, etc.) are awarded, but not combat units that were in reserve during the attack!
King Wilhelm shows understanding and orders the reserve troops also to be awarded with the non-combatant variant.
With this decision, the king hopes to have alleviated the displeasure of his soldiers - but far from it! Now the protests are all the louder!
The army claims that the military never counts among the non-combatants and is extremely offended when it is now put on a par with ordinary officials!
So what to do
The award for combatants can hardly be given to reserve troops who had only stood rifles at their feet during the storming of the island.
I can well imagine how the bureaucracy must have rotated at court and in the war ministry (and all other bodies involved and to be involved) ...
After some back and forth, Wilhelm I ordered (presumably sighing) on April 18, 1865, to put on a third variant of the Alsenkreuz - a hybrid version, so to speak, which is neither a combat decoration nor a decoration for non-combatants.
It is this variant ...:
The members of the reserve units now quickly receive the medal.
The country is quiet again.
On December 7, 1864, the Prussian King Wilhelm I. ...
... donates a new order!
The so-called "Alsenkreuz" commemorates the storming of the Danish island (and fortress) Alsen on June 29, 1864 during the German-Danish war ...:
The new award is a cross made of bronze with a laurel wreath under the cross arms.
The front of the medallion shows the image of the monarch with the inscription WILHELM KOENIG VON PRUSSEN.
On the reverse of the medallion the depiction of the Prussian eagle above a boat floating on the Alsensund. In the arms of the cross, from top to bottom, it says ALSEN 29 JUN. 1864.
And now the typically German bureaucracy comes into play:
A neat distinction is made between those directly and indirectly involved in the fighting:
Combatants (soldiers) receive the Alsencross on a blue ribbon with two orange stripes and a black and white border ...:
Non-combatants (civilians), on the other hand, wear the order on an orange-colored, blue-striped ribbon with a black and white border ...:
Within the Prussian army, open resentment soon arose - less against the new order itself than against its award regulations!
After that, non-combatants (diplomats, officials, etc.) are awarded, but not combat units that were in reserve during the attack!
King Wilhelm shows understanding and orders the reserve troops also to be awarded with the non-combatant variant.
With this decision, the king hopes to have alleviated the displeasure of his soldiers - but far from it! Now the protests are all the louder!
The army claims that the military never counts among the non-combatants and is extremely offended when it is now put on a par with ordinary officials!
So what to do
The award for combatants can hardly be given to reserve troops who had only stood rifles at their feet during the storming of the island.
I can well imagine how the bureaucracy must have rotated at court and in the war ministry (and all other bodies involved and to be involved) ...
After some back and forth, Wilhelm I ordered (presumably sighing) on April 18, 1865, to put on a third variant of the Alsenkreuz - a hybrid version, so to speak, which is neither a combat decoration nor a decoration for non-combatants.
It is this variant ...:
The members of the reserve units now quickly receive the medal.
The country is quiet again.
