Medal for the Italian-German campaign in Africa

Benito Mussolini, dictator of Fascist Italy, donated the “Medal for the Italian-German Campaign in Africa” in 1942. It was intended to represent Italy’s claim to its colonies on the African continent and its alliance with the German Reich. Italian and German soldiers could receive it if they had fought in North Africa for at least six months from 1940 or 1941 to 1943. It exists in bronze and silver-plated versions.

The obverse of the medal shows the triumphal arch erected by the Italian colonial power in Italian Libya in 1937. It is flanked on the left by the fasces, the symbol of Italian fascism, and on the right by the swastika; the Savoyard knot at the bottom literally shows the bond that unites the two powers. The inscription “Italian-German campaign in Africa” can be read in both languages. Italians and Germans also appear together on the reverse: In ancient armor, two soldiers with steel helmets shut the mouth of a crocodile, which stands for the common enemy Great Britain.

Next to it is the name of the manufacturer “Lorioli Milano” and below it “de Marchi”, who created the design. The ribbon shows the colors of both countries, sharing the red color in the middle. German soldiers attached the ribbon flush left with the black stripe, Italian soldiers with the green stripe, so that their own national flag appears at the front in the reading direction.

With this highly charged symbolism, the medal was intended to symbolize the unity of the two Axis powers, Germany and Italy, against their common enemy, Great Britain. However, the cooperation between the two powers was already fraught with tension following Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939. Mussolini donated the medal at a time when cooperation between the two powers in the North African theater of war still looked promising. However, by the time the medal was issued in 1943, the failure of the alliance and defeat in North Africa were already inevitable. With Italy’s declaration of war on the German Reich on October 13, 1943, German soldiers were no longer allowed to wear the medal. The decree revoking the right to wear it did not appear until March of the following year. As a result, the medal was only issued for a few months and wearing it was banned again within a very short time.

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(short) stories from the depot

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