VINTAGE WW2 BELGIUM COMMEMORATIVE MEDAL 100TH ANNIVERSARY INDEPENDENCE

41mm high octagonal silvered bronze medal with integral crown suspension; the face with the heads (left to right) of Kings Leopold I, Leopold II and Albert I facing left, signed ‘G DEVREESE’ (for Godefroy Devreese, 1861-1941); the reverse with the dates ‘1830 1930’ on a bed of oak and laurel leaves; on original ribbon.

The medal was instituted 20 July 1930 to mark the hundredth anniversary of Belgian independence and awarded to those who had spent at least 20 years in military or civilian public service. At the Congress of Vienna in 1815 at which the Great Powers laid out the post-Napoleonic European map, Belgium became part of the new Kingdom of the Netherlands. However, the French-speaking Catholic elements of the population became increasingly disenchanted with the rule of a Dutch-speaking Protestant King William I and a rebellion started in Brussels in 1830. Belgian independence was declared and Dutch forces invaded but withdrew at the insistence of France and Britain. The independence of Belgium with Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as king was ratified at the London Conference of 1830-1831. A nice example.