Miniature circular light bronze medal with loop for ribbon suspension; the face with the head of King Vittorio Emanuele III facing left, circumscribed ‘VITT • EM • III • RE • D’ITALIA • E • DI • ALBANIA • IMP • D’ETIOPIA’ (Vittorio Emanuele III, King of Italy and of Albania, Emperor of Ethiopia); the reverse with an Italian eagle with a shield with the arms of Savoy on its chest perched on a fasces above a double-headed Albanian eagle, the words ‘ITALIA’ and ‘ALBANIA’ inscribed between the two separated by a knot, circumscribed ‘12-16 APRILE 1939 XVII E.F.’; diameter 16.62mm (0.65 inch); on replaced correct ribbon. The medal was instituted on 7 March 1940 to be awarded to military and civilian participants in the Italian occupation of Albania. By 1939 Italy dominated all aspects of Albania life but in the minds of Mussolini and Ciano, German triumphs in Austria and Czechoslovakia demanded an Italian response. This came in the form of the invasion of Albania by an overwhelming Italian force that met no resistance and suffered negligible casualties, the Italians having bribed the tribal chieftains in advance. The year ‘XVII’ (17) refers to the number of years of fascist rule in Italy. This example is of type ‘A’ of the medal and is quite rare in miniature.
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