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Mint:
Prague
State:
Czechoslovakia
When the Great War of 1914-1918 had ended, there was a genuine feeling among the victorious Allies that their military efforts had been instrumental in preserving modern civilization, and this and the united spirit of the Alliance were commemorated in a combined issue of medals to those who had seen active service during the conflict. 13 nations in all issued a variety of this medal; all shared the rainbow ribbon and suspension, and all but the Japanese, who lacked a comparable symbolic figure, used a form of Victory on the obverse and a legend on the reverse.
This is the issue by the then-new Czecho-Slovak Republic, freshly constituted from territories of the dismantled Austro-Hungarian Empire; it was created later than many of the other versions, due to the lead time involved in establishing the new government, and in the interim some Czech soldiers were awarded the Belgian version of the medal.
As a new state in 1918, Czechoslovakia had not technically had any soldiers under arms during the Great War, but a Provisional Government had existed in Paris throughout hostilities and Czech and Slovakian troops had served alongside the French, Russian and Italian armies. These troops were those eligible for the medal, and the different fronts of engagement generated 10 different campaign clasps, none of which however this example bears. The medal was also awarded to those who had done `political' service towards the independence of Czechoslovakia however, and it is presumably one of these awards, unnamed, that Lester Watson purchased from the London dealers Baldwin at some point before 1928.
History note: Gift of L. Hoyt Watson; ex Lester Watson Collection, bt Baldwin before 1928
Given by Lester Watson through Cambridge in America, 2009
Diameter: 36.3 mm
Weight: 23.09 g
Method of acquisition: Given (2009) by Watson, Lester
1919 CE - 1920 CE
Inscription present: Victory with shortsword & olive branch
Inscription present: Heraldic lion rampant with crown and two tails in shield, across banner bearing design inscription, all in border
Accession number: CM.1467-2009
Primary reference Number: 141561
Watson Catalogue: K
Ordering: M-0350
Previous object number: LW.0350
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Coins and Medals
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Allied Victory Medal, 1914-18" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141561 Accessed: 2024-11-02 20:14:18
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/141561
|title=Allied Victory Medal, 1914-18
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-02 20:14:18|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-141561
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/cm/cm59/CM_1467_2009_281_29.jpg"
alt="Allied Victory Medal, 1914-18"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Allied Victory Medal, 1914-18</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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