Brazilian Inter-Allied Victory Medal 1916-1918

 

World War I.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

This medal was instituted in June 1923 following an international agreement at the Inter-allied Peace Conference immediately preceding the Treaty of Versailles which was signed in June 1919.

 

The basic design - a ‘Winged Victory’ - and ‘rainbow’ ribbon was adopted by Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Union of South Africa and the USA. Siam and Japan also issued the medal but with a different design - although the ribbon matched that of the others.

 

The Brazilian medal was awarded for a minimum of three month’s active service during World War I.

 

Approximately 2,500 medals were awarded.

 

 

The medal is circular, 36mm in diameter and was struck in bronze. The obverse of this medal depicts a winged figure of Victory within a palm wreath.

 

The reverse depicts the arms of the Allied nations, those of Brazil are found in the centre. Above this, within a palm wreath, is the inscription; ‘GRANDE GUERRA PELA CIVILISACAO’, (Great War for Civilisation).

 

The medal was suspended by a small ring mounted to the top of the medal.

 

This medal was issued un-named.

 

 

 

The ribbon is 37mm wide and is the silk moiré rainbow coloured design common to all the Inter-Allied Victory Medals issued by the First World War Allies.

 

 

None were authorised for this medal.

 

Further relevant historical context can be found at the foot of this entry.

 

 

 

* It should be noted that the values quoted above reflect the average price that a medal dealer may expect to sell this medal for - please see the ‘things you should know’ web page for more details about valuing medals.

 

 

This section contains information on:-

 

- Brazilian Forces During World War I.

- The Entente Powers.

 

Brazilian Forces During World War I - Brazil, during World War I (1914-1918), initially adopted a neutral position, in accordance with the Hague Convention, in an attempt to maintain the markets for its export products, mainly coffee, latex and industrial manufactured items.

 

However, following repeated sinking of Brazilian merchant ships by German submarines, in 1917 the Brazilian President Venceslau Brás declared war against the Central Powers, and was the only country of Latin America to be directly involved in the war. The major participation was the Navy's patrol of areas of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Brazilian participation in land operations was limited to a preparatory military mission of sergeants and officers, and medical units which were sent to Europe in mid-1918, and whose members were attached to allied units, mainly in the French Army, to gain awareness of modern techniques employed in organizing and fighting in Western Front.

 

The Navy also sent to the Western Front, as another preparatory military mission, a group of military aviators who served with the RAF.

 

Brazil's main military involvement in the war took place at sea. To fulfil this mission, the Secretary of Navy ordered the use of part of its naval power in the anti-submarine campaign, with Admiral Alexandre Faria de Alencar organising a task force that would allow the effective participation of the Brazilian Navy in World War I.

 

This force was initially tasked to patrol the Atlantic maritime area covered by the triangle between the city of Dakar on the African coast, the island of São Vicente, Cape Verde and Gibraltar at the entrance to the Mediterranean. The Division would remain under the orders of the British Admiralty, represented by Admiral Hischcot Grant.

 

The war at sea fought by Brazil's navy began on August 1, 1918 following the departure of the force from the port of Rio de Janeiro. On August 3, 1918, the Brazilian ship Maceió was torpedoed by the German submarine U-43. On August 9, 1918, the mission reached Freetown in Sierra Leone, staying 14 days, where the crew began falling ill with Spanish flu during a pandemic.

 

On the night of August 25, while sailing from Freetown to Dakar, the division suffered a torpedo attack made by German submarines, but no casualties or damage were suffered by the Brazilian vessels, the torpedoes passing harmlessly between the Brazilian ships. A successful counter-attack using depth charges was launched, the Royal Navy crediting the Brazilians with the destruction of a U-boat.

 

Subsequently, after anchoring in the port of Dakar, the crews were again severely hit by Spanish flu, which claimed the lives of over a hundred sailors and kept the Division restricted to port for almost two months.

 

Among the Allied naval command, there was debate about how the forces of the Brazilian fleet should be used. This indecision amongst the Allied command, combined with operational problems and the Spanish flu pandemic led to extended delays.

 

In the event, the fleet did not arrive at Gibraltar until the beginning of November 1918, only to see the armistice signed within days, ending to World War I.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.

 

The Entente Powers - The Entente Powers or Allies were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the French Republic, the British Empire and the Russian Empire; Italy ended its alliance with the Central Powers and entered the war on the side of the Entente in 1915. Japan, Belgium, Serbia, Greece, Montenegro, Romania and the Czechoslovak legions were secondary members of the Entente.

 

The United States declared war on Germany in 1917 on the grounds that Germany violated U.S. neutrality by attacking international shipping and because of the Zimmermann Telegram sent to Mexico.

 

The U.S. entered the war as an ‘associated power’, rather than a formal ally of France and the United Kingdom, in order to avoid ‘foreign entanglements’. Although the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria severed relations with the United States, neither declared war.

 

Although the Dominions and Crown Colonies of the British Empire made significant contributions to the Allied war effort, they did not have independent foreign policies during World War I. Operational control of British Empire forces was in the hands of the five-member British War Cabinet (BWC).

 

However, the Dominion governments controlled recruiting, and did remove personnel from front-line duties as they saw fit.

 

From early 1917 the BWC was superseded by the Imperial War Cabinet, which had Dominion representation. The Australian Corps and Canadian Corps were placed for the first time under the command of Australian and Canadian Lieutenant Generals John Monash and Arthur Currie, respectively, who reported in turn to British generals.

 

In April 1918, operational control of all Entente forces on the Western Front passed to the new supreme commander, Ferdinand Foch.

 

The only countries represented in the 1918 armistice which ended the combat were Britain, France and Germany.

 

This information was taken from ‘Wikipedia’. The original article and details of the authors can be found here. It is reproduced on this web-site under the ‘creative commons’ licence which can be found here.