The Bollettino della Vittoria is the official document after the Armistice of Villa Giusti with which General Armando Diaz, the supreme commander of the Royal Italian Army, announced, on November 4, 1918, the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the victory of the Kingdom of Italy in World War I.
Its material author was, in reality, general Domenico Siciliani, head of the press office of the supreme command. [1] Every year, Italian institutions celebrate the event with National Unity and Armed Forces Day on November 4.
The Bollettino della Vittoria, together with the address to the navy by Paolo Thaon di Revel, is a symbol of the Italian victory in World War I. Commemorative plaques with the text are exposed in every town hall and military barracks of Italy that are fused using the bronze of enemy artillery pieces.
A similar bulletin was never drafted for the air forces since they were part of the Aeronautical Service, a department dedicated to Royal Italian Army aircraft: the Royal Air Force, the third armed force of the Kingdom of Italy, was established only in 1923, after the end of the war.
Comando Supremo, 4 Novembre 1918, ore 12
La guerra contro l'Austria-Ungheria che, sotto l'alta guida di S.M. il Re, duce supremo, l'Esercito Italiano, inferiore per numero e per mezzi, iniziò il 24 maggio 1915 e con fede incrollabile e tenace valore condusse ininterrotta ed asprissima per 41 mesi, è vinta.
La gigantesca battaglia ingaggiata il 24 dello scorso ottobre ed alla quale prendevano parte cinquantuno divisioni italiane, tre britanniche, due francesi, una cecoslovacca ed un reggimento americano, contro settantatré divisioni austroungariche, è finita.
La fulminea e arditissima avanzata del XXIX Corpo d'Armata su Trento, sbarrando le vie della ritirata alle armate nemiche del Trentino, travolte ad occidente dalle truppe della VII armata e ad oriente da quelle della I, VI e IV, ha determinato ieri lo sfacelo totale del fronte avversario. Dal Brenta al Torre l'irresistibile slancio della XII, della VIII, della X armata e delle divisioni di cavalleria, ricaccia sempre più indietro il nemico fuggente.
Nella pianura, S.A.R. il Duca d'Aosta avanza rapidamente alla testa della sua invitta III armata, anelante di ritornare sulle posizioni da essa già vittoriosamente conquistate, che mai aveva perdute.
L'Esercito Austro-Ungarico è annientato: esso ha subito perdite gravissime nell'accanita resistenza dei primi giorni e nell'inseguimento ha perdute quantità ingentissime di materiale di ogni sorta e pressoché per intero i suoi magazzini e i depositi. Ha lasciato finora nelle nostre mani circa trecentomila prigionieri con interi stati maggiori e non meno di cinquemila cannoni.
I resti di quello che fu uno dei più potenti eserciti del mondo risalgono in disordine e senza speranza le valli che avevano disceso con orgogliosa sicurezza.
Il capo di stato maggiore dell'esercito, il generale Diaz
From the Supreme Headquarters 12:00 hours, November 4, 1918
The war against Austria-Hungary, which the Italian Army, inferior in number and equipment, began on 24 May 1915 under the leadership of His Majesty and supreme leader the King and conducted with unwavering faith and tenacious bravery without rest for 41 months, is won.
The gigantic battle, which opened on the 24th of last October and in which fifty-one Italian divisions, three British, two French, one Czechoslovak and a US regiment joined against seventy-three Austrian divisions, is over.
The lightning-fast and most audacious advance of the XXIX Army Corps on Trento, blocking the retreat of the enemy armies from Trentino, as they were overwhelmed from the west by the troops of the VII army and from the east by those of the I, VI, and the IV armies, led to the utter collapse of the enemy's front. From the Brenta to the Torre, the fleeing enemy is pushed ever further back by the irresistible onslaught of the XII, VIII, X Armies and of the cavalry divisions.
In the plains, His Royal Highness the Duke of Aosta is advancing at the head of his undefeated III Army, eager to return to the previously successfully conquered positions, which they had never lost.
The Austro-Hungarian Army is vanquished: it suffered terrible losses in the dogged resistance of the early days, and during the pursuit it lost an enormous quantity of materials of every kind as well as almost all its stockpiles and supply depots. The Austro-Hungarian Army has so far left about 300,000 prisoners of war in our hands along with entire general staffs and at least 5,000 pieces of artillery.
The remnants of what was one of the world's most powerful armies are returning in hopelessness and chaos up the valleys from which they had descended with boastful confidence.
Chief of Staff of the Army, General Diaz
Arditi was the name adopted by a Royal Italian Army elite special force of World War I. They and the opposing German Stormtroopers were the first modern shock troops, and they have been called "the most feared corps by opposing armies".
The 1st Army was a Royal Italian Army field army, in World War I, facing Austro-Hungarian and German forces, and in World War II, fighting on the North African front.
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. 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.
The Südtirol Offensive, also known as the Battle of Asiago or Battle of the Plateaux, wrongly nicknamed Strafexpedition "Punitive expedition", was a major offensive launched by the Austro-Hungarians on the territory of Vicentine Alps in the Italian Front on 15 May 1916, during World War I. It was an "unexpected" attack that took place near Asiago in the province of Vicenza after the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo.
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.
Levico Terme is a comune (municipality) and a town in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. As of 30 June 2012, it had a population of 7,668 and an area of 62.9 square kilometres (24.3 sq mi).
The Italian Marxist–Leninist Party is a political party in Italy. Founded in Florence on 9 April 1977 as an anti-revisionist Communist party, the leading core of the PMLI began their political activity as they joined the Communist Party of Italy (Marxist–Leninist) in 1967. The group broke away from the PCd'I (ml) in 1969 and formed the Marxist–Leninist Italian Bolshevik Communist Organization. In 1977, the OCBIml was transformed into the PMLI. The party's general secretary is Giovanni Scuderi. Its official newspaper is called Il Bolscevico. During its history, the PMLI did not take part to any national, European, or local election.
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 Legione Redenta was an Italian military formation that participated in the Siberian intervention during the Russian Civil War. It was formed from 2500 prisoners of war who had been captured by the Russians from the Austro-Hungarian Army.
Štivor is a village near Prnjavor in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The settlement is almost exclusively inhabited by Italians whose origins are from the Sugana Valley (Italian-Valsugana) in present Trentino, a Northern Italian autonomous province.
Cima Tosa is a mountain in the Brenta group, a subgroup of the Rhaetian Alps in the Italian Region of Trentino-Alto Adige, with a reported height of 3,136 metres (10,289 ft). it is the second highest peak of the Brenta group in the southern limestone Alps after the Cima Brenta.
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.
Filippo Illuminato was an Italian partisan who died attacking Nazi German troops during the Four days of Naples in World War II. He was posthumously awarded the Gold Medal of Military Valour, Italy's highest award for gallantry.
The Bollettino della Vittoria Navale is the official document written after the armistice of Villa Giusti with which the admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, supreme commander of the Royal Italian Navy, announced, on 12 November 1918, the surrender on the seas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy's victory in the World War I.
The Alpini Battalion "Val Chiese" is an inactive mountain warfare battalion of the Italian Army based last in Sterzing in South Tyrol. The battalion belongs to the Italian Army's Alpini infantry speciality and was assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Orobica". In 1915, the Royal Italian Army's 5th Alpini Regiment formed the Alpini Battalion "Val Chiese", which fought in World War I in the alpine areas of the Italian front. The battalion was disbanded in 1919.
Campobase is a regionalist and centrist political party, in the Christian-democratic tradition, in Trentino, Italy. Its informal leader is Lorenzo Dellai, a former three-term president of Trentino (1999–2012). The party is the heir of the Daisy Civic List (1998–2008) and the Union for Trentino (2008–2022), and is part of the centre-left coalition both in Trentino and the Italian Parliament.
Antonio Satriano is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Serie C Group C club Casertana on loan from Eredivisie club Heracles Almelo.
Monte Cauriol is a mountain of Trentino, Italy, with an elevation of 2,494 metres (8,182 ft). Part of the Lagorai range, it is located in the eastern part of the Province of Trento, between the Val di Fiemme and the Val Vanoi.
The Alpini Battalion "Val Cismon" is an inactive mountain warfare battalion of the Italian Army based last in San Stefano di Cadore in Veneto. The battalion belongs to the Italian Army's Alpini infantry speciality and was assigned to the Alpine Brigade "Cadore". In 1915, the Royal Italian Army's 7th Alpini Regiment formed the Alpini Battalion "Val Cismon", which fought in World War I in the alpine areas of the Italian front. The battalion was disbanded in 1919.
