THE COLONIAL EXPEDITIONS OF THE IIIrd REPUBLIC - Lot 171

Lot 171
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THE COLONIAL EXPEDITIONS OF THE IIIrd REPUBLIC - Lot 171
THE COLONIAL EXPEDITIONS OF THE IIIrd REPUBLIC Mission Marchand - Official commemorative silver medal, obverse with the profile of the Republic by Daniel Dupuis, reverse with the legend "MISSION MARCHAND DE L'ATLANTIQUE À LA MER ROUGE 1897-1899", Monnaie de Paris hallmark 'corne argent' (tiny bump on the edge). 50.4 mm France, late 19th century. TTB to SUP The Marchand Mission was set up to establish a foothold on the banks of the Nile from the Congo, thus linking the French possessions in Africa from west to east. Commanded by Captain Jean-Baptiste Marchand (1863-1934), it was made up of twelve European officers and non-commissioned officers, including the future General Mangin, one hundred and fifty Senegalese riflemen and several thousand native porters. Leaving Louango in the Congo on July 24, 1896, after a terrible journey through the rainforest and swamps of the Bahr el-Ghazal, the mission reached its goal two years later by capturing Fachoda. A small strategic garrison controlling access to the Bahr el-Ghazal, a tributary of the White Nile, it had been abandoned in 1885 by the British in the face of the Mahadists. But this occupation was intolerable for the British, who also wanted to link their African possessions, but from north to south. Thus broke out the Fachoda crisis, which, fuelled by exacerbated nationalism, almost ended in open war. Diplomacy prevailed, and the tug-of-war ended with the French abandoning the post. Returning to France via Djibouti, the Marchand column was triumphantly welcomed and paraded at Longchamps on July 14, 1899. This medal was awarded to all members of the Marchand Mission, in gold, vermeil and silver according to their respective ranks.
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