Commemorative Medal of the Fiume Expedition

Background

On 26 April 1915, the Kingdom of Italy signed the Treaty of London with France, the Russian Empire, and the United Kingdom, agreeing to enter World War I on the Allied side in exchange for postwar control of the Austrian Littoral except Fiume. Austria-Hungary disintegrated in October 1918, and the war ended in Allied victory the following month. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Italy received the Austrian Littoral but Fiume was incorporated into the new Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

Considering Fiume an Italian city and angered by Italy's agreement to surrender it, the nationalist Gabriele D'Annunzio led 2,600 legionaries from Ronchi di Monfalcone to Fiume on 12 September 1919, seizing the city and announcing Italy's annexation. The Kingdom of Italy opposed these actions, demanded surrender, and instituted a blockade. In December 1919, a plebiscite approved a modus vivendi recognizing Fiume's desire for Italian annexation, but D'Annunzio rejected it and declared the Italian Regency of Carnaro with himself as Duce.

History

The Commemorative Medal of the Fiume Expedition began as the Commemorative Medal of the Ronchi March, an unofficial award created by Gabriele D'Annunzio right after his forces took Fiume on September 12, 1919. Painter and illustrator Adolfo De Carolis designed the medal based on D'Annunzio's exact directions, and it was minted by S. Johnson of Milan. A royal decree on January 31, 1926 made it an official decoration of the Kingdom of Italy. The first run of 200 medals went to the legionaries who entered Fiume with D'Annunzio in 1919 and 1920.

A second edition was issued between 1919 and 1936, and a third from 1937 to 1945, for a total of 11,165 medals. More copies were produced after World War II. In 1935, D'Annunzio gave his own medal, complete with three clasps, to the Italian state. A gold version once owned by conductor Arturo Toscanini now resides at the La Scala Theater Museum in Milan.

Eligibility

Initial eligibility extended to legionaries who arrived in Fiume in 1919 after the Ronchi march; the crew of the troopship Cortellazzo who arrived on 22 September 1919; personnel who fought in the Bloody Christmas clashes from 24 to 28 December 1920; and well-known personalities who contributed to the Fiume cause. Under the royal decree of 31 January 1926, eligibility was extended to members of the Voluntary Militia for National Security. By royal decree of 15 July 1938, members of the Italian Armed Forces also became eligible.

Appearance

The medal is a bronze disc 39 mm in diameter with an inverted U-shaped ribbon attachment. The obverse shows arms raising daggers below a Roman vexillum supporting an eagle with spread wings. On either side of the vexillum is the Latin inscription HIC MANEBIMUS OPTIME, written on two lines as HIC – MANE and BIMUS – OPTIME with the vexillum between the words. The reverse bears the inscription AI / LIBERATORI / XII-SETTEMBRE/MCMXIX above a laurel wreath, and the bottom edge has FIUME D'ITALIA on an unrolled parchment.

No signatures or manufacturer marks appear. First-edition medals varied in weight from 36 to 41.5 g and were minted with a green-black patina. Second-edition medals are dark bronze, brown or black, weighing 34 to 35 g. Third-edition medals are dark bronze, dark brown to almost black, weighing 30 to 33 g. Post-World War II copies weigh 25 to 29 g. Seven gold medals were awarded, including to the legionaries' pennon, Gabriele D'Annunzio, pilot Captain Ernesto Cabruna, Giovanni Host-Venturi, Antonio Masperi, Arturo Toscanini, and Guglielmo Marconi.