WORLD WAR I MEDALS. France - Germany. "What is That? It is the Night" Bronze Plaque, 1915. Paris Mint. CHOICE ALMOST UNCIRCULATED. <em>The Art of Devastation</em>-45. 80x60mm. By Leon Chavalliaud. Obverse: Marianne (personification of France) and personification of Justice flying right, pursuing Kaiser Wilhelm II, who tramples upon fallen French family; in background, Reims Cathedral engulfed in flames; Reverse: Marianne (as the Dawn) looming over the horizon, sowing seeds; Place Royal at Reims in foreground. Mostly even brown surfaces, with a few light marks on the obverse.<p><em>The quote by Victor Hugo on the obverse and reverse of this piece, dating to 1871, references the loss by the French in the Franco-Prussian War. With the fighting back by the French against Germany during World War I, the capitulation from the past is seen to be avenged.</em> From the Richard Jewell Collection.
