The Kingdom of Dahomey was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic coast which granted it unhindered access to the tricontinental Atlantic Slave Trade.
Gbehanzin also known as Béhanzin is considered the eleventh King of Dahomey, modern-day Republic of Benin. Upon taking the throne, he changed his name from Kondo.
Agoli-agbo is considered to have been the twelfth and final King of Dahomey. He was in power from 1894 to 1900.
The First Franco-Dahomean War was fought in 1890 between France, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and Dahomey under King Béhanzin.
The Second Franco-Dahomean War, which raged from 1892 to 1894, was a major conflict between France, led by General Alfred-Amédée Dodds, and Dahomey under King Béhanzin. The French emerged triumphant and incorporated Dahomey into their growing colonial territory of French West Africa.
The Franco-Dahomean Wars were a series of military conflicts including:
Alfred Amédée Dodds was the commander of French forces in Senegal from 1890, commander of French forces in the second expeditionary force to suppress the Boxer Rebellion, and commander of French forces during the First and Second Franco-Dahomean War.
French Dahomey, officially the Colony of Dahomey and Dependencies, was a French colony and part of French West Africa from 1894 to 1958. After World War II, by the establishment of the French Fourth Republic in 1947, Dahomey became part of the French Union with increased autonomy. On 4 October 1958 the French Fifth Republic was established, and the French Union became the French Community. The colony became the self-governing Republic of Dahomey within the Community, and two years later on 1 August 1960, it gained full independence, renamed to Benin in 1975.
The Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal was awarded to all the French soldiers and sailors who took part in the battles of the Tonkin campaign and the Sino-French War between 1883 and 1885. The medal, decreed by a law of 6 September 1885, was minted at the Monnaie de Paris and distributed shortly before the Bastille Day parade on 14 July 1886 to around 65,000 soldiers and sailors. The medal was later awarded to participants in a number of earlier and later campaigns in Indochina, bringing the total number of recipients to 97,300.
The Syria-Cilicia Medal was a French decoration awarded to military personnel engaged in the hostilities that erupted in the Middle East in the immediate aftermath of World War I.
The 1901 China expedition commemorative medal was a French military campaign medal established by the law of 15 April 1902 to recognize service in China in 1900 and 1901 during the Boxer Rebellion.
The Commemorative medal of the Mexico Expedition was a French commemorative campaign medal established by decree of French Emperor Napoleon III on 29 August 1863 to recognize military service during the 1862-1863 French intervention in Mexico.
The Commemorative medal of the 1859 Italian Campaign was a French commemorative medal established by Napoleon III, following the 1859 French campaign in Italy during the Second Italian War of Independence.
The Commemorative medal of the 1860 China Expedition was a military award of the Second French Empire to reward soldiers and sailors who participated in the Anglo-French expedition to China during the Second Opium War. It was created by imperial decree on 23 January 1861, by Napoleon III.
The Commemorative medal of the 1870–1871 War was a French military campaign medal awarded to those who served during the Franco-Prussian War.
The History of the Kingdom of Dahomey spans 400 years from around 1600 until 1904 with the rise of the Kingdom of Dahomey as a major power on the Atlantic coast of modern-day Benin until French conquest. The kingdom became a major regional power in the 1720s when it conquered the coastal kingdoms of Allada and Whydah. With control over these key coastal cities, Dahomey became a major center in the Atlantic Slave Trade until 1852 when the British imposed a naval blockade to stop the trade. War with the French began in 1892 and the French took over the Kingdom of Dahomey in 1894. The throne was vacated by the French in 1900, but the royal families and key administrative positions of the administration continued to have a large impact in the politics of the French administration and the post-independence Republic of Dahomey, renamed Benin in 1975. Historiography of the kingdom has had a significant impact on work far beyond African history and the history of the kingdom forms the backdrop for a number of novels and plays.
The Dardanelles campaign medal was a French military medal bestowed for participation in the Battle of the Dardanelles, also known as the Gallipoli campaign against the Central Powers by the Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient supported by the Royal Navy and French Navy between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916.
The Middle East operations commemorative medal was a French commemorative medal established on 22 May 1957 to recognize the participation of French nationals in the military operations conducted during the Suez Crisis of 1956.
During the war of 1914-1918, the populations of the invaded and occupied regions of France were put under severe strain. Thus, at the end of hostilities, it seemed necessary to pay tribute to the courage of these people by rewarding them with several medals such as the Medal for victims of the invasion, the Medal of French Fidelity and the Medal for civilian prisoners, deportees and hostages of the 1914-1918 Great War. It was on the proposal of the Minister for the Liberated Regions that the Medal for victims of the invasion was created on 30 June 1921 in three classes.
The Battle of Atchoukpa was fought on 20 April 1890 near the town of Atchoukpa during the First Franco-Dahomean War. A French force of 350 troops under Colonel Terrillon, briefly assisted by 500 of King Toffa I's warriors, fought off a force of 7,000 Dahomey warriors and 2,000 Dahomey Amazons under King Béhanzin who were set to march on Porto-Novo.
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