Carol I

Thanks!

What did this guy do for a living? He had quite a collection of awards. The photo had been for sale on eBay.

Thanks. You have compiled an impressive compendium on the awards of the Republic of Moldavia (even though I cannot use all the information there since I do not read Russian; but the images are great).

This badge was in a royal palace in Copenhagen.

Is this the same alloy as Tombac?

I am afraid I do not understand your comment. As far as I know irredentism refers to a doctrine of annexation of lands on the basis of ethnic and/or historical links, but this far I have not seen anything like this on this thread. I have provided some historical details (that may only be known to professional historians), while others have posted images. Would you please care to detail where have you seen irredentism in this thread? Were any posts deleted? Thanks.

I think "gratitude" would be a better translation of "recunoştinţă".

You're welcome. "Moldova" is the Romanian form of "Moldavia", so either way it could lead to confusions in my opinion. I would suggest the use of the full name, either "Republic of Moldavia" or "Republic of Moldova" to identify the young state. Even more so since the first attempts to establish a Romanian order in the 19th century came from the Moldavian side of the Romanian state. In the first months after the 1859 union, before the establishment of a central authority, the Moldavian authorities in Iasi prepared the draft of a law aiming to establish the Order of the Golden Wreath, with insignia inspired by the French Order of the Legion of Honour (the law did not pass through parliament and the order was thus not established).

Medalia Mihai Eminescu - Mihai Eminescu Medal

Medalia Meritul Civic - The Medal for Civic Merit

Medalia Pentru Vitejie - The Medal for Bravery

Here are some images from some old online auctions. Ordinul Meritul Militar - The Order for Military Merit

Some images of the awards of the Republic of Moldavia can be found on the site soviet-medals-orders.com. Click on "Other Countries" and there choose one of the four options related to the Republic of Moldavia.

Nice of you James to bring up this topic. Before we get more into it, I would like to point out that you refer to the awards of the Republic of Moldavia, not of Moldavia. Moldavia has been a Romanian principality that had united in 1859 with Wallachia to make the modern state of Romania. Moldavia extended between the Carpathians in the West and the Dniester in the East for most of its existence. In 1812 however, the Russian Empire had occupied the eastern part between the Pruth and Dniester and renamed it Bessarabia (the name born only by the southernmost counties that had once been under the rule of the Wallachian ruler Bessarab). After the return to Romanian rule between 1918 and 1940, the region was occupied by the soviets and became a soviet state until 1992 when it declared independence and assumed the name Republic of Moldavia.

I have no idea. You may have to ask Kevin how often do they appear at fairs.

By the way, there is an anniversary medal for collectivization, "25 years since the finishing of the collectivization of agriculture in the Socialist Republic of Romania", established in 1987. I think it was the last medal of the regime.

It was declared completed in 1962. It started in the end of 1940s after some reforms that distributed land to the peasants (in order to gain their support). It then occured in several steps. Apparently there were several rebellions during the time which even interrupted the process. There was not much publicity around them for obvious reasons and only in the past years information started to surface. I do not have the text of the decree, so I cannot help. :(

This medal did not have the word "commemorative" in the name. It was established as the medal "In honour of finishing the collectivization of agriculture" through decree no. 290 published in Buletinul Oficial no. 10 of 12.05.1962.

Regarding the dramatic WWI battles on the Western and Eastern fronts, here is a piece of news from the French press. La Meuse veut faire classer par l'Unesco les champs de bataille de 14-18 The idea is that there is a proposal to include on the UNESCO World Heritage List the prominent battlefields of WWI: Verdun (France), Isonzo (Italy) and Mărăşeşti (Romania).

As far as I know Aviatia Sportiva was linked to the glider and light airplane aeroclubs around the country. Could the badge be the pilot wings for a sport pilot (not military or commercial aviation)?

Thanks, Kevin. I thought it is nearly impossible for some remains to last that long, but spotted the piece of news on the BBC site. It seems however that the team of investigators was already on site by the time the news were published.

'It seemed to be a body from WWII' A team of Australian investigators is preparing an expedition to the arduous Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, after a hiker spotted what is believed to be the body of a World War II airman hanging from a tree. The BBC's Becky Branford found out more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7595869.stm

Here is my contribution, a Romanian general (post-WWI). It's my first attempt, so I apologise for errors. If someone would like to have a try for a better result, I could send the B/W photo.

Dragoş Traian Alexandrescu was posthumously promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and awarded the Order of the Star of Romania with wartime insignia. Source: Ministry of Defense

There here is some more. The Order for Merit (also known as the Honour Sign for Merit) had indeed 5 classes, but not those on your site (that were usual for other orders). They were: Grand Cross, Commander, Officer, Knight and Cross (not to be confounded with the Honour Cross ). It had only two types or divisions (peacetime and wartime) identifiable by the crossed swords on the badges and the gold stripes on the edges of the ribbons. Similarly, the Honour Cross for Merit had two classes and two types or divisions, peacetime and wartime. Again the types could be told apart by the crossed swords on the badges and the gold stripes on the edges of the ribbons.