This original Hungarian medal was issued in 1938 to commemorate the peaceful return of Upper Hungary (Felvidék)—a historically Hungarian region that had been ceded to Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Trianon in 1920—back to the Kingdom of Hungary under Regent Miklós Horthy. Following the First Vienna Award on November 2, 1938, Hungary regained control of parts of southern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia, territories with significant ethnic Hungarian populations. This medal was awarded to those who had participated in or contributed to this nationally significant territorial restoration.

Struck in tombac (bronze alloy), the obverse of the medal features a right-facing bust of Regent Horthy in naval uniform, surrounded by the Hungarian inscription Vitéz Nagybányai Horthy Miklós Kormányzó (“Valiant Miklós Horthy of Nagybánya, Regent”). The reverse bears the Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen above a laurel wreath enclosing the inscription FELVIDÉK FELSZABADULÁSÁNAK EMLÉKÉRE 1938.XI.2 (“In Commemoration of the Liberation of Upper Hungary, 2 November 1938”). The ribbon features the national colors of Hungary—red, white, and green—arranged vertically.

This decoration was part of a broader series of “liberation” medals issued by the Horthy regime to celebrate Hungary’s revisionist efforts to reclaim lands lost after World War I. Though these gains were ultimately short-lived, the 1938 Felvidék campaign was seen at the time as a symbolic victory for Hungarian nationalism and a reversal of the perceived injustices of the postwar treaties. The medal represents not only a specific historical moment of geopolitical change but also the broader interwar revisionist ambitions of Hungary under Horthy’s rule.

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