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Second Battle of the Isonzo | |||||||
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Part of the Italian Front (World War I) | |||||||
Cavalry Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Roma" (20th) soldiers during the Second Battle of the Isonzo | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Italy | Austria-Hungary | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Luigi Cadorna (Chief of Staff of the Italian Army) Pietro Frugoni (Commander of Second Army) Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia (Commander of Third Army) | Archduke Friedrich (Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army) Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (Chief of the General Staff) Archduke Eugen of Austria-Teschen (Commander of Southwest Front) Svetozar Boroević von Bojna (Commander of Fifth Army) Colonel Richter (Commander of Richter Group) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
250,000 [1] | 78,000 [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
41,800 losses [1] | 46,600 losses [1] |
The Second Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary in the Italian Front in World War I, between 18 July and 3 August 1915.
After the failure of the First Battle of the Isonzo, two weeks earlier, Luigi Cadorna, commander-in-chief of the Italian forces, decided for a new thrust against the Austro-Hungarian lines with heavier artillery support.
The overall plans of the Italian offensive were barely changed by the outcomes of the previous fight, besides the role of general Frugoni's Second Army, which this time had, on paper, to carry out only demonstrative attacks all over his front. The major role, assigned to the Duke of Aosta's Third Army, was to conquer Mount San Michele and Mount Cosich, cutting the enemy line and opening the way to Gorizia.
General Cadorna's tactics were as simple as they were harsh: after a heavy artillery bombardment his troops were to advance in a frontal assault against the Austro-Hungarian line, overcome the enemy's barbed-wire fences, and take the trenches. The insufficiency of war materiel – from rifles, to artillery shells, to shears to cut barbed wire – nullified the Italians' numerical superiority.
The Karst Plateau was the site of an exhausting series of hand-to-hand fights involving the Italian Second and Third Armies, with severe casualties on both sides. Bayonets, swords, knives, and various scrap metal and debris were all used in the terrifying melee. The Austro-Hungarian 20th Honvéd Infantry Division lost two-thirds of its effective strength and was routed due to a combination of the successive Italian Army attacks and the unfavorable terrain.
On 25 July the Italians occupied the Cappuccio Wood, a position west of Mount San Michele, which was not very steep but dominated quite a large area including the Austro-Hungarian bridgehead of Gorizia from the South. Mount San Michele was briefly held by Italian forces, but was recaptured during a desperate counterattack by Colonel Richter, who commanded a group of elite regiments.
In the northern section of the front, the Julian Alps, the Italians managed to overrun Mount Batognica over Kobarid (Caporetto), which would have an important strategic value in future battles.
The battle wore down when both sides ran out of ammunition. The total casualties during the three-week battle were about 91,000 men, of which 43,000 Italians and 48,000 Austro-Hungarians.
The Soča or Isonzo is a 138-kilometre (86 mi) long river that flows through western Slovenia and northeastern Italy.
The Battle of Caporetto took place on the Italian front of World War I.
The Italian front was one of the main theatres of war of World War I. It involved a series of military engagements in Northern Italy between the Central Powers and the Entente powers from 1915 to 1918. Following secret promises made by the Allies in the 1915 Treaty of London, the Kingdom of Italy entered the war on the Allied side, aiming to annex the Austrian Littoral, northern Dalmatia and the territories of present-day Trentino and South Tyrol.
Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna, was an Italian general, Marshal of Italy and Count, most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from 1914 until 1917 during World War I. During this period, commanding the Italian army on the Alpine front and along the Isonzo river, he acquired a reputation for rigid discipline and the harsh treatment of his troops. Cadorna achieved successes in containing the Strafexpedition and capturing Gorizia but, following a major defeat at the Battle of Caporetto in late 1917, he was relieved as Chief of Staff.
The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, better known as the Battle of Gorizia, was the most successful Italian offensive along the Soča (Isonzo) River during World War I.
The First Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Italy and Austria-Hungary on the northeastern Italian Front in World War I, between 23 June and 7 July 1915.
The Third Battle of the Isonzo was fought from 18 October through 4 November 1915 between the armies of Italy and Austria-Hungary.
The Battle of Doberdò took place in August 1916, fought by the Kingdom of Italy and Austria-Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian army was primarily made up of regiments filled with Hungarians and Slovenians. The battle was a part of the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, and occurred in a strategic area: the most western edge of the Karst Plateau. The Italians had already conquered the lowland area surrounding Monfalcone and Ronchi, and attempted to push over the Karst Plateau to seize control of the major road that linked the city of Trieste, with its important port, to Gorizia. After fierce combat, and sustaining heavy casualties, the Italian forces secured victory, forcing the Austro-Hungarian forces to retreat, and capturing Gorizia.
Luigi Capello was an Italian general, distinguished in both the Italo-Turkish War (1911–12) and World War I.
The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between 18 August and 12 September 1917.
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 Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front in World War I, between 10 November and 2 December 1915.
The Fifth Battle of the Isonzo was fought from March 9–15, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary. The Italians had decided to launch another offensive on the Soča (Isonzo) River.
The Seventh Battle of the Isonzo was fought from September 14–17, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary. It followed the Italian successes during the Trentino Offensive and the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo in the spring of 1916.
The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo was fought October 10–12, 1916 between Italy and Austria-Hungary.
The Ninth Battle of the Isonzo was an Italian offensive against Austria-Hungary in the course World War I. Including a triumvirate of battles launched after the Italians' successful seizure of Gorizia in August 1916 to extend their bridgehead to the left of the town, it ended in further failure for the Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna.
The Tenth Battle of the Isonzo was an Italian offensive against Austria-Hungary during World War I.
The Battles of the Isonzo were a series of twelve battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and the remainder in Italy along the Isonzo River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917.
Events from the year 1917 in Italy.
Monte San Michele (Italian) or Debela griža (Slovene) is a hill on the Karst Plateau, in the Italian province of Gorizia, on the border between the municipalities of Sagrado and Savogna d'Isonzo. It is located eight kilometres southwest of Gorizia, on the left bank of the Isonzo, and has four peaks, the highest two of which have an elevation of 275 meters above sea level, while the lowest has an elevation of 237 meters, and Cima Quattro stands at 264 meters.