# Has a nation ever given an enemy combatant a medal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 25, 2022, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174 "2022-09-25T00:05:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/61 "2022-10-10T15:46:21Z")
The German Empire viewed the Russian Empire as a greater threat than the Ottoman Empire. So they made nice with the Sultan, in order to hamper the Tsar’s influence in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/62 "2022-10-10T15:52:39Z")
Thanks for the additional info. I knew that the German Reich and the Ottoman Empire were allies in WWI, a connection that still goes on til today with the modern state of Turkey (though that connection has been enormously stressed since Erdogan has been president), but I tend to forget that the Ottomans in the late 19th century still controlled much of what we now call the Middle East. I read a little further about the sarcophagus on a German site and learned that it happened during an extended Middle East visit in 1898 by Willhelm II who was on a political good will tour. [http://www.eslam.de/begriffe/t/trauerkranz\_fuer\_saladin.htm](http://www.eslam.de/begriffe/t/trauerkranz_fuer_saladin.htm) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/63 "2022-10-10T16:27:52Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > ETA: I have t to dig deeper into that matter. I wonder why Willhelm II gave that sarcophagus to Syria. I probably was a political gesture/maneuver to make allies, but I’m not sure about German politics in the Middle East at that time in history. German politics everywhere in the Muslim world during and before WW1 were heavily influenced by the fact that most powerful “Muslim” power in the world was the British empire. So they did everything possible to be seen as a supporter of Islam (against the British colonial overlords who ruled a vast percentage of the world’s Muslims) Edit: As mentioned above, the other large swath of the Islamic world that was either ruled over, or in direct conflict with, another of Germany’s enemies: Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/64 "2022-10-10T16:30:11Z")
British empire and _not_ the Ottoman empire? ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/65 "2022-10-10T16:42:24Z")
Yes, by 1914, Egypt, Malaya and the Indian subcontinent were under British rule. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/66 "2022-10-10T16:43:16Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > British empire and _not_ the Ottoman empire? Yup not even close. At the start of WW1 the Muslim population of the British empire was [94 million](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_British_Empire). The entire Ottoman empire was only [25 million](https://www.britannica.com/place/Ottoman-Empire/Dissolution-of-the-empire). ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/67 "2022-10-10T18:21:34Z")
Also many native Americans served in the Spanish-American war which happened less than a decade after the last of the wars between the Native American tribes and the US government. I can’t find any examples with a quick google but there is a chance some of them that received medals (fewer than their white counterparts of course) had actually fought against the US government in those earlier conflicts. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2022, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/68 "2022-10-10T18:43:25Z")
I’m pretty sure a number of “Indian Peace Medals” were given to Native leaders who fought the encroachment of the white man. > **[Indian peace medal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_peace_medal)** > > Indian peace medals refer to ovular or circular medals awarded to tribal leaders throughout colonial America and early United States history, primarily made of silver or brass and ranging in diameter from about one to six inches. Medals were often perforated and worn suspended around the neck of the recipient. Controversy remains surrounding the use and impact of peace medals in furthering diplomatic relationships between Native Americans and the federal government. Many Indian peace medals > Du... ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174/69 "2022-10-12T03:30:53Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Also many native Americans served in the Spanish-American war which happened less than a decade after the last of the wars between the Native American tribes and the US government. I can’t find any examples with a quick google but there is a chance some of them that received medals (fewer than their white counterparts of course) had actually fought against the US government in those earlier conflicts. Nitpick: Those awards (if any), as well as the medals given to Americans by France after WW II, were awards to _former_ enemies, not to enemies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-nation-ever-given-an-enemy-combatant-a-medal/972174.md?page=3)