Medal "Two Peoples One War"

The “Due Popoli una Guerra” Medal is a reproduction of the Rome-Berlin Axis commemorative medal catalogued under the Fascist calendar year XIX. The historical type belongs to a wider group of medals and badges created to represent the wartime alliance between Italy and Germany during the Second World War, using a direct and highly symbolic propaganda language.  

The obverse shows a strongly narrative composition: winged Victory, the classical allegory of triumph, points the way to two soldiers, one Italian and one German, shown with helmets and rifles. In the field appears the word “VINCERE”, set against a large V that dominates the background. The design turns a political slogan into a visual scene, presenting the conflict as a shared path toward victory. Near the rim are the names Affer and Lorioli, important references for the artistic and manufacturing attribution of the original medal.  

The reverse carries the inscription “DVE POPOLI VNA GVERRA”, written in a Romanizing style where V replaces U. At the centre are the fasces, the eagle and the swastika, arranged as symbols of the Rome-Berlin Axis. In historical terms, the piece was not an award for individual military merit, but a commemorative and propaganda medal, intended to materialize the idea of an Italo-German brotherhood-in-arms during the war.  

Curiosity: this medal was part of a broader group of Axis-themed objects. Closely related variants include “Due rivoluzioni Due Popoli”, “Pace con giustizia”, “Vincere” and “Siegen-Vincere”, showing how the same propaganda vocabulary was adapted across medals and badges with different designs but a shared political message.