NOTRE 75 medal What is it?

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gambol1:
Friend of mine gave me this to Identify. It Has NOTRE 75 1914-1915 on one side and EN ALCACE on the other. A soldier is holding a woman to his chest on one side and on the obverse a WWI type field gun.???

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BitburgAggie_7377:
Gambol....preliminary.   That is Alsace, a French province in extreme north-eastern France, not Alcace.   Alsace and the adjacent province of Lorraine have been claimed at various times by both the French and the Germans and as such have been under the control of one group or another for generations.   The new Germany "won" Alsace-Lorraine from the French during the Franco-Prussian war (1870 - 1871) and forced all the residents to choose between vacating their homes and moving to France or becoming German citizens.   Most stayed, but that doesn't mean they considered themselves German. In 1915 (during WWI) the Germans cracked down on the French element and outlawed the use of any language other than German in Alsace Lorraine.  Most members of the German military from the Alsace Lorraine wound up on the Russian front in hopes they would be less likely to betray the rest of the German forces to the 'enemy'.  After World War I, Alsace-Lorraine experienced 11 days as an independent republic before the French marched back in and re-annexed it (and kicked all the resident Germans out).

I have a couple of leads on that particular medal that I'm working.   I can tell you that the field piece is a French 75 mm .

BA

Posted on: August 30, 2011, 11:29:15 PMFor their part, the French had five Armies deployed on their borders. The pre-war French offensive plan, Plan XVII, was intended to capture Alsace-Lorraine following the outbreak of hostilities.[16] On 7 August the VII Corps attacked Alsace with its objectives being to capture Mulhouse and Colmar. The main offensive was launched on 14 August with 1st and 2nd Armies attacking toward Sarrebourg-Morhange in Lorraine.[17] In keeping with the Schlieffen Plan, the Germans withdrew slowly while inflicting severe losses upon the French. The French advanced the 3rd and 4th army toward the Saar River and attempted to capture Saarburg, attacking Briey and Neufchateau, before being driven back.[18] The French VII Corps captured Mulhouse after a brief engagement on August 7, but German reserve forces engaged them in the Battle of Mulhouse and forced a French retreat.[19]

Your medal was designed to commemorate that French offensive at the very start of WWI before the war bogged down into the endless trench warfare we're used to being the WWI norm.


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gambol1:
B.A., That is an interesting bit of history. Thank you and I took a second look and it is Alsace as you said. gambol.

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