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Admission to the Order Criteria for admission Article 1 of the edict of November of 1940 specifies, "This Order is meant to reward individuals, military and civilian organizations for outstanding service in the effort to procure the liberation of France and the French Empire." There are no criteria regarding sex, rank, origin or even nationality. What counts is valor and the exceptional quality of the services rendered, which are not limited to combat. The Order became a reality when the first Companions were nominated. From January 29th, 1941, they were five, forming the first Council of the Order : Captain Thierry d'Argenlieu, Governor Félix Eboué, Lieutenant Emmanuel d'Harcourt, Edmond Popieul an officer of the Merchant Marine, Henry Bouquillard Warrant Officer of the Free French Air Forces. A monk, a man from French Guyana, a nobleman, a navy officer, a non-commissioned officer: all are representative of the combatants without distinction of class or origin brought together by General De Gaulle to liberate France. A handwritten note from General De Gaulle for the Council of the Order dated 3 December 1945 attests to the exceptional character of attributing the Cross of the Liberation. To this respect the General wrote: "The candidates that are being proposed to me, although indeed worthy and valiant combatants, do not respond to the absolutely exceptional conditions that justify admission to the Order". This is why only 1,036 individuals,
5 communities and 18 combat units have been awarded this prestigious
decoration between January of 1941 and January of 1946.
Ex officio members The only ex officio members of the Order of the Liberation are the members of the Defense Council of the Empire, instituted on October 27th, 1940 in Brazzaville. It is the Defense Council of the Empire's duty to assist the Leader of the Free French movement in accomplishing his task, and its members are Admiral Muselier, Generals Catroux and Larminat, Colonel Leclerc, Governors Eboué and Sautot, Chief Medical Officer Sicé, Professor Cassin and Captain Thierry d'Argenlieu. The nomination procedure Nominations to the Order of the Liberation punctuate the great epic of the Resistance and the Free France movements throughout the long and difficult years of war. They were made by decree, either directly by the Leader of the Free French movement (as was the case for the first nominations), or by means of a written proposal, which was first submitted to the corps commander (or the head of a Resistance network), then made its way up the hierarchical ladder, and was finally submitted for review by the Council of the Order of the Liberation before General De Gaulle signed it. Until the end of 1944, the conditions under which the Cross of the Liberation was awarded were subject to the particular circumstances brought about by the occupation and the underground movement. This explains why the medal was often awarded under a pseudonym or a wartime identity. This was the case for Jean Moulin, for example, who was named Companion of the Liberation on October 17th, 1942, under the name "Corporal Mercier".
Deactivation of the Order When he stepped down in January of 1946, General De Gaulle signed a decree that suspended the nominations to be awarded the Cross of the Liberation (decree of 23 January 1946). Since the goal of liberation had been achieved, the Order was deactivated. It was only reactivated by the Grand Master on two exceptional occasions: in 1958 for Winston Churchill and in 1960 for King George VI posthumously.
Last updated: October 28th, 2001 |
