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Events from the year 1918 in Italy .
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Events from the year 1918 in Italy .
In the autumn of 1917 at the Battle of Caporetto, the Germans and Austrians had defeated the Italians who fell back to the Piave. The Royal Italian Army lost over 300,000 men. Italy reorganizes the army under the new commander General Armando Diaz and receives reinforcements of the Allied powers.
The Battle of Caporetto took place on the Italian front of World War I.
The Battle of San Matteo took place in the late summer of 1918 on the Punta San Matteo during World War I. It was regarded as the highest battle in history until it was surpassed in 1999 by the Kargil Conflict at 5,600 m.
The Battle of the Piave River, fought between 15 and 23 June 1918, was a decisive victory for the Italian Army against the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I, as Italy was part of the Allied Forces, while Austria-Hungary was part of the Central Powers. Though the battle proved to be a decisive blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and by extension the Central Powers, its full significance was not initially appreciated in Italy. Yet Erich Ludendorff, on hearing the news, is reported to have said he 'had the sensation of defeat for the first time'. It would later become clear that the battle was in fact the beginning of the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Austrian Empire and its predecessor, the Archduchy of Austria, was one of the most prevalent states in Europe throughout its history. The following is Austria's military history from the 18th century.
The 10th Army was a field army of the Royal Italian Army, which fought in World War I and in Italian North Africa during World War II.
The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought from 24 October to 3 November 1918 near Vittorio Veneto on the Italian Front during World War I. After having thoroughly defeated Austro-Hungarian troops during the defensive Battle of the Piave River, the Italian army launched a great counter-offensive: the Italian victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and contributed to the end of the First World War just one week later. On 1 November, the new Hungarian government of Count Mihály Károlyi decided to recall all of the troops, who were conscripted from the territory of Kingdom of Hungary, which was a major blow for the Habsburgs' armies. The battle led to the capture of over 5,000 artillery pieces and over 350,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, including 120,000 Germans, 83,000 Czechs and Slovaks, 60,000 South Slavs, 40,000 Poles, several tens of thousands of Romanians and Ukrainians, and 7,000 Austro-Hungarian loyalist Italians and Friulians.
Armando Diaz, 1st Duke della Vittoria, was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy. He is mostly known for his role as Chief of Staff of the Regio Esercito during World War I from November 1917. He managed to stop the Austro-Hungarian advance along the Piave River in the First Battle of Monte Grappa. In June 1918, he led the Italian forces to a major victory at the Second Battle of the Piave River. A few months later, he achieved a decisive victory in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, which ended the war on the Italian Front. He is celebrated as one of the greatest generals of the war.
San Biagio di Callalta is a comune (municipality) in the province of Treviso, Veneto, north-eastern Italy.
The Armistice of Villa Giusti or Padua Armistice was an armistice convention with Austria-Hungary which de facto ended warfare between Allies and Associated Powers and Austria-Hungary during World War I. Allies and Associated Powers were represented by Italy. The armistice protocol together with a supplementary protocol was signed on 3 November 1918 in the Villa Giusti, outside Padua in the Veneto, Northern Italy, and took effect 24 hours later. This armistice applied only on Austria because Hungary later signed the separate Belgrade armistice.
Enrico Caviglia was a distinguished officer in the Italian Army. Victorious on the bloody battlefields of the Great War, notably the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, he rose in time to the highest rank in his country, Marshal of Italy; he was also a Senator of the kingdom.
Although a member of the Triple Alliance, Italy did not join the Central Powers – Germany and Austria-Hungary – when the war started with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. In fact, the two Central Powers had taken the offensive while the Triple Alliance was supposed to be a defensive alliance. Moreover the Triple Alliance recognized that both Italy and Austria-Hungary were interested in the Balkans and required both to consult each other before changing the status quo and to provide compensation for whatever advantage in that area: Austria-Hungary did consult Germany but not Italy before issuing the ultimatum to Serbia, and refused any compensation before the end of the war.
The Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare was formed as part of the Regio Esercito on 7 January 1915, incorporating the Aviators Flights Battalion (airplanes), the Specialists Battalion (airships) and the Ballonists Battalion. Prior to World War I, Italy had pioneered military aviation in the Italo-Turkish War during 1911–1912. Its army also contained one of the world's foremost theorists about the future of military aviation, Giulio Douhet; Douhet also had a practical side, as he was largely responsible for the development of Italy's Caproni bombers starting in 1913. Italy also had the advantage of a delayed entry into World War I, not starting the fight until 24 May 1915, but took no advantage of it so far as aviation was concerned.
Gaetano Giardino was an Italian soldier that rose to the rank of Marshal of Italy and Italian Representative to the Allied War Council during World War I.
In the aftermath of the First World War, the Adriatic question or Adriatic problem concerned the fate of the territories along the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea that formerly belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The roots of the dispute lay in the secret Treaty of London, signed during the war, and in growing nationalism, especially Italian irredentism and Yugoslavism, which led ultimately to the creation of Yugoslavia. The question was a major barrier to agreement at the Paris Peace Conference, but was partially resolved by the Treaty of Rapallo between Italy and Yugoslavia on 12 November 1920.
National Unity and Armed Forces Day is an Italian national day since 1919 which commemorates the victory in World War I, a war event considered the completion of the process of unification of Italy. It is celebrated every 4 November, which is the anniversary of the armistice of Villa Giusti becoming effective in 1918 declaring Austria-Hungary's surrender.
Wenzel Freiherr von Wurm was a Colonel General in the Austro-Hungarian Army.
The 11th Bersaglieri Battalion "Caprera" is an inactive Italian Army Bersaglieri unit. Originally formed in 1910 by the 11th Bersaglieri Regiment as a cyclists battalion, the battalion fought separate from the regiment on the Italian front during World War I. With three Silver Medals of Military Valor the battalion was the most decorated Bersaglieri unit of the war.
The 152nd Infantry Regiment "Sassari" is an active unit of the Italian Army based in Sassari in Sardinia. The regiment is named for the city of Sassari and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm. As of 2023 the regiment is assigned to the Mechanized Brigade "Sassari".
Ludwig Goiginger was an Austro-Hungarian Lieutenant Field Marshal who notably served in World War I.
The 114th Infantry Regiment "Mantova" is an inactive unit of the Italian Army last based in Tricesimo. The regiment is named for the city of Mantova and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm.
... Ludendorff wrote: In Vittorio Veneto, Austria did not lose a battle, but lose the war and itself, dragging Germany in its fall. Without the destructive battle of Vittorio Veneto, we would have been able, in a military union with the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, to continue the desperate resistance through the whole winter, in order to obtain a less harsh peace, because the Allies were very fatigued.