The practice of awarding maternal awards in the USSR: based on the materials of the Smolensk region

Semenov Sergey Evgenievich

The presented article examines the history of the Institute of maternal awards in the USSR, the practice of awarding and awarding maternal orders and medals, documentary support of the presentation and awarding process. The author has set a goal - on the basis of regional documents to identify mothers with many children who have been awarded maternal awards; to study the practice of awarding them; to identify the impact of maternal awards as a method of non-material incentives on the demographic situation in the country. The source base consisted mainly of documents of the State Archive of the Smolensk region (the Smolensk Regional Executive Committee Foundation), materials of the award group of the Smolensk Regional Executive Committee. Documents on awards and medal awards, official documents, correspondence on awarding issues, questionnaires were examined. The names of award-winning mothers with many children were revealed, and statistical data were obtained. The course of awards up to the collapse of the USSR is analyzed, the regularities of the development of the award institute are established. An array of archival documents in the regional archive has been installed and analyzed. The author believes that maternal awards were not the main, but an essential tool of non-material incentives in the USSR, which had a considerable impact on improving the demographic situation. It is concluded that the Soviet experience of maternal awards is of great importance in stimulating fertility today, which is confirmed by the presence of similar orders and medals in the countries of the former USSR.

Keywords:awards, orders, medals, USSR, heroine mother, motherhood, mothers with many children.