Similar Awards in Other Countries
A number of other countries awarded their highest military decorations to cities or other territorial units as well in commemoration of the heroic deeds of the local residents and troops fighting in the area during World War II.
In Italy, a number of cities have been awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valor during and after the war (see Città decorate al valor militare per la guerra di liberazione).
In the British Empire, George Cross was awarded to Malta in 1942.
The Communist Yugoslavian government awarded the Order of the National Hero to a number of cities in 1974-75. There were the total of eight Hero Cities in Yugoslavia (grad heroj in Serbian/Croatian): Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Novi Sad, Prilep, Pristina, Titov Drvar, Cetinje.
The Cuban Republic awards the title of Hero City to those cities with recognized military history, either in the 19th or 20th centuries. The most prominent example of this is the Hero City of Santiago de Cuba, awarded as such for its part in both Independence Wars against the Spanish, The Spanish–American War and the Cuban Revolution.
By the end of the World War I, by the way after the Liberation War of Turkey, several cities had been honoured by the Parliament. The names of those cities had been changed:
- from Urfa to Şanlıurfa (Urfa the Glorious),
- from Antep to Gaziantep (Antep the Ghazi),
- from Maraş to Kahramanmaraş (Maraş the Hero)
- from Koçhisar to Şereflikoçhisar (Koçhisar the honorable).
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