Republic of Dahomey Republic of Dahomey The Republic of Dahomey ( ) was established on December 11, 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Prior to attaining autonomy it had been French Dahomey, part of the French Union. On August 1, 1960, it attained full independence from France. In 1975, the country was renamed Benin after the Bight of Benin (which was in turn named after the Benin Empire which had its seat of power in Benin City, modern-day Nigeria), since "Benin" was deemed politically neutral for all ethnic groups in the state, whereas "Dahomey" recalled the Fon-dominated Kingdom of Dahomey.
Dahomey Expedition commemorative medal 1892 Dahomey Expedition commemorative medal 1892 The Dahomey Expedition commemorative medal () was a French campaign commemorative medal. It was bestowed to the participants of the First Franco-Dahomean War (1890) and of the Second Franco-Dahomean War (1892–1894) in order to commemorate their feats of arms. In 1892, France decided to send an expeditionary force of 1,801 Europeans and 1,769 natives under the command of Marine Infantry Colonel Alfred Dodds in response to the harassment of the kingdom of Porto-Novo under its protectorate and its trading posts on the coast of Dahomey by the troops of Behanzin, the king of Abomey. The