Austria, Empire/Croatia. A Rare First War Croatian Diaspora Medal, Made in Chicago

A  very rare, unofficial decoration, in bronze, the obverse featuring the bust of Francis Joseph I, surrounded by the inscription FRANCJO JOSIP I KRALJ HRVATSKE SLAVONIJE I DALMACIJE (Francis Joseph I, King of Croatian Slavonia and Dalmatia), the reverse bears the inscription USPOMENA NA SVIJETSKI RAT 1914-1915 (MEMORIAL OF THE WORLD WAR 1914-1915), the reverse marked G.D.CHI[?]DS. & CO CHICAGO, measures 30.6 mm (w) x 47.2 mm (h), weighs 19.5 grams (inclusive of ribbon), light contact marks, very fine. 

Footnote: During the First World War, Chicago was home to one of the largest Croatian immigrant communities in the United States. Many Croatians, then subjects of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were industrial workers concentrated in the city’s steel mills, railroads, and packinghouses. The outbreak of war placed the community in a difficult position, as loyalties were divided between their homeland and their adopted country. Croatian fraternal societies, newspapers, and parish organizations became centers of political debate and relief work, raising funds for civilians in the Balkans while also promoting South Slav unity. After the United States entered the war in 1917, increasing numbers of Croatian Americans supported the Allied cause and the idea of an independent Yugoslav state, a stance that helped reshape the community’s identity and public role in Chicago during and after the war.