Cross of Liberty (Estonia)

The Cross of Liberty (Estonian: Vabadusrist) was a medal established by then Prime Minister of Estonia, Konstantin Päts, on 24 February 1919 to honor people for their services during the Estonian War of Independence and conferred in three grades, each in three classes. Grade I was for military leadership, Grade II for personal courage, and Grade III for civilian service. Grade and class is attached to the name of recipient in the form of post-nominal letters. The 1st class of II grade was never conferred. Bestowal of the Cross of Liberty was terminated on 19 June 1925.[2]

Cross of Liberty
Illustration of the three grades with each of the three classes
Awarded by  Estonia
Type	Three grade order, of three classes each
Awarded for	Recognition for services during the Estonian War of Independence
Status	No longer awarded
Post-nominals	VR I/1 VR I/2 VR I/3 Military Leadership VR II/1 VR II/2 VR II/3 Personal Courage VR III/1 VR III/2 VR III/3 Civilian Service
Statistics
Established	Estonian War of Independence
First awarded	24 February 1919
Last awarded	19 June 1925
Total awarded	3156[1]
Precedence
Next (higher)	Highest
Next (lower)	Order of the National Coat of Arms
Cross of Liberty for Military Leadership, Grade I Cross of Liberty for Personal Courage, Grade II Cross of Liberty for Civilian Service, Grade III

The last surviving recipient of the Cross of Liberty was Karl Jaanus VR II/3, who died on 6 October 2000.

The War of Independence Victory Column in Tallinn, opened in 2009, is modelled after the Cross of Liberty.

Design

The designer of the Cross of Liberty was the famous Estonian artist Peet Aren. He used Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (hochmeister's) cross as the basis for the shape of the Cross of Liberty.[3]

Notable recipients of the Cross of Liberty

• The British Unknown Warrior VR I/1
• The French Unknown Soldier VR I/1
• The Italian Unknown Soldier VR I/1
• The city of Verdun VR I/1
• Carl Aejemelaeus VR III/2
• Eduard Ahman VR I/3
• Albert I of Belgium VR I/1
• Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair VR I/1
• Jānis Balodis VR I/1
• David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty VR I/1
• Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley VR III/1
• Arthur Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour VR III/1
• Krišjānis Berķis VR I/2
• Richard Gustav Borgelin, VR I/2 and II/3
• Herbert Brede VR I/2
• Aristide Briand VR III/1
• William Clive Bridgeman, 1st Viscount Bridgeman VR III/1
• Rudolph Lambart, 10th Earl of Cavan VR I/1
• Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood VR III/1
• Sir Austen Chamberlain VR III/1
• Christian X of Denmark VR I/1
• Sir Winston Churchill VR I/1
• Georges Clemenceau VR III/1
• Walter Cowan VR I/1
• Armando Diaz, 1st Duke of the Victory VR I/1
• Józef Dowbor-Muśnicki VR I/2
• Gaston Doumergue VR III/1
• Eric Drummond, 16th Earl of Perth VR III/1
• Martin Ekström VR I/1 and VR II/3
• Carl Enckell VR III/1
• Rafael Erich VR III/1
• The Rt. Hon. Herbert Fisher VR III/1
• Ferdinand Foch VR I/1
• Pietro Gasparri VR III/1
• George V of the United Kingdom VR I/1
• Sir Hubert Gough VR I/1
• Gustaf V of Sweden VR III/1
• Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig VR I/1
• Józef Haller VR I/2
• Sir John Hanbury-Williams VR III/1
• Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst VR III/1
• Otto Heinze VR I/2, VR II/3
• Miklós Horthy VR III/1
• Esme Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Penrith VR III/1
• Anton Irv VR I/2, VR II/2 and VR II/3
• Karl Jaanus VR II/3
• Kyösti Kallio VR III/1 and I/2
• Hans Kalm VR I/1 and VR II/3
• Hugo Kauler VR I/2
• Max Kennedy Horton VR I/2
• Lauri Kettunen VR III/2
• Julius Kuperjanov VR I/2, VR II/2 and II/3
• Ants Kurvits VR I/2
• Johan Laidoner VR I/1 and III/1
• Andres Larka VR I/1
• Eduards Kalniņš I/2
• Hans Leesment VR III/2
• David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George of Dwyfor VR III/1
• Harri Moora VR II/3
• Johannes Orasmaa VR I/2 and II/3
• Anton Õunapuu VR II/3
• Benito Mussolini VR III/1
• Paul Painlevé VR III/1
• Karl Parts VR I/1, II/2 and II/3
• Konstantin Päts VR I/1 and III/1
• Philippe Pétain VR I/1
• Józef Piłsudski VR I/1 and III/1
• Johan Pitka VR I/1
• Jaan Poska VR III/1
• Ernst Põdder VR I/1
• Konstantin Päts VR I/1 and III/1
• Viktor Puskar VR I/1
• Nikolai Reek VR I/2, II/2 and II/3
• August Rei VR III/1
• Tõnis Rotberg VR I/2
• Count Tadeusz Rozwadowski VR I/2
• Edward Ryan VR I/2
• Conte Carlo Sforza VR III/1
• Władysław Sikorski VR III/1
• Jaan Soots VR I/1
• Kazimierz Sosnkowski VR I/2
• Otto Strandman VR III/1
• Stanisław Szeptycki VR I/2
• Otto Tief VR II/3
• Aleksander Tõnisson VR I/2
• William George Tyrrell, 1st Baron Tyrrell VR III/1
• Kārlis Ulmanis VR III/1
• Victor Emmanuel III of Italy VR III/1
• Aleksander Warma VR I/3
• Rosslyn Erskine-Wemyss, 1st Baron Wester Wemyss VR I/1
• Maxime Weygand VR I/1
• Werner Zoege von Manteuffel VR I/2

References

1. Estonian State Decorations, President of the Republic of Estonia. Retrieved 2011-01-22
2. Estonian State Decorations, President of the Republic of Estonia. Retrieved 2011-01-22
3. Hannes Walter. Eesti teenetemärgid. Tallinn 1998.