Forgotten French Troops
1930 French Rhineland, Ruhr & Tyrol Medal
The story of this medal tells us a lot about the tumult of Europe in the immediate years after the first world war. Following the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany's initial failure to pay their agreed reparations led to allied troops - predominantly French - invading and occupying the Rhineland region and the industrial Ruhr valley. Regarded as a peacekeeping project it nonetheless was a hazardous mission for soldiers who had already survived the Great War, who faced disgruntled locals who were often armed in a country that was suffering severe depravation, hyperflation and food shortages.
One of the major consequences of World War 1 was the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In order to preserve the peace and keep key European transport links open French troops were sent into the Tyrol region to the west of Austria to undertake a similar peacekeeping mission. French and allied troops were on operations in Germany and Austria until the mid-1920's.
Because these were regarded as peacetime operations there was no official recognition of the veterans by the French state. Frustrated by the situation the French Prime Minister Poincare Colonel Gilbert Levy set up the FNAFFAA to progress their cause. After failing to persuade the French State to issue a medal the organisation decided to take responsibility themselves and in 1930 commissioned reknown French sculptor Maurice Delannoy to design a medal to initially recognise the service of veterans in the Rhineland and Ruhr regions, this became medal type 1.
Type 2 was produced in 1931 to include a reference to Tyrol on the reverse of the medal, the obverse remained the same effigy of the French mythical figure of La Marianne.
The medal was initially produced through the 1930's by Paris mints such as Arthur Bertrand and Adrien Chaubillion. Originals can be detected by the presence of a triangle and the word BRONZE on the rim as required by french law.
