Original Pre Second World War Italian Risorgimento Medal, or Commemoration of the Italian Wars of independence medal. Established in January of 1922, the medal was awarded for participation in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th Italian Wars of Independence.
After the end of the First World War with the conquest of Trentino and Trieste, King Vittorio Emanuele III considered the reunification of the peninsula under the Kingdom of Italy complete and decided to "refound" the unification medal. It was thus promulgated the Royal Decree 19 January 1922, n. 1229, with which he extended the authorization to bear the medal established by King Umberto I with the Royal Decree 26 April 1883, n. 1294, to all the fighters who were or would have been granted the commemorative medal of the war 1915-1918 for the accomplishment of the Unification of Italy (the one "minted in enemy bronze"), referred to in Royal Decree no. 1241 of 29 July 1920.
The new medal therefore had characteristics similar to that of 1883, also with regard to the founding concept; the effigy of King Umberto I was changed with that of King Vittorio Emanuele III, the dating of the period of the years of the unification of Italy, "1848-1918" instead of "1848-1870" and metal, bronze instead of silver.
The authorization took the form of a sort of stamp, printed by casa Benvenuto Cellini (C B C), which was sent by the Ministry of War and which, to be valid, had to be "(...) applied on the patent of the medal of the 1915-1918 campaign'.
