With nine largely unsuccessful Isonzo battles conducted within an eighteen-month period to date, Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna – responsible for launching all nine – became increasingly uncomfortable at the prospect of German intervention to aid their weakening Austro-Hungarian ally on the Italian Front.
For while it was clear that the Austro-Hungarian Army was suffering in what had become a war of attrition, the same could be said of Cadorna's army. Casualties suffered to date were tremendous and with each renewed battle tended to be higher on the Italian attackers' side.
The UK's new Prime Minister, David Lloyd George, had long believed that the war could not be won on the Western Front alone. Dubbed an "easterner" at home Lloyd George was nevertheless in favour of diverting British and French resources from the Western Front to the Italians along the Soča (Isonzo), to "knock the props out" from under the Central Powers.
However Lloyd George's own field commanders, including Commander in Chief Douglas Haig – along with the French – disagreed, arguing that resources could not be spared from the Western Front, particularly with French Commander-in-Chief Robert Nivelle's upcoming offensive, aimed at ending the war in the west within 48 hours.
Consequently, Nivelle dispatched Ferdinand Foch to meet with Cadorna and discuss their possible options. In the event the British and French agreed to rush aid to the Italians only in the event of an emergency – for example, large-scale German military assistance to the Austro-Hungarians; a contingency plan was thus developed to meet with such an eventuality.
With the contingency plan arranged the French pressed Cadorna to launch a major offensive of his own along the Soča (Isonzo) to generally co-ordinate with their own large-scale Aisne Offensive (deployed in April 1917). Cadorna agreed and the tenth Isonzo offensive was launched with a preliminary artillery bombardment lasting two days on 12 May 1917.
The offensive
The Italians, deploying 38 divisions – against 14 Austro-Hungarian divisions – switched tactics once again. The previous three Isonzo battles had seen Cadorna concentrate short, sharp initiatives against closely defined targets, generally aimed at extending their sole bridgehead east of Gorizia. This time the Italians returned to the Karst Plateau south-east of Gorizia, setting in train an infantry advance along a 40km front in order to achieve a breakthrough towards Trieste. The second aim of the offensive was to conquer Mount Škabrijel, thus opening the way to the Vipava Valley.
The Italian offensive started the 12 May, with an artillery barrage along the front held by the newly formed Comando della Zona di Gorizia. Bad visibility - there was fog in the early morning - hampered observation and the rate of fire was low at first, only to rise as the fog cleared away. On the sectors garrisoned by the Third Army, the barrage opened at noon, and along the whole frontline lasted until evening. During the night, the Italian artillery fired for interdiction on the Austro-Hungarian supply and ammo depots and on the communication lines. On the morning of the 13th, while the Italian artillery resumed its destruction fire, the Austro-Hungarian artillery reacted for the first time, starting counter-battery fire.
Austro-Hungarian soldiers during the Battle of the Isonzo
The infantry attack was launched at noon on 14 May. In the area of operations of Plave, the II Corps of Badoglio was met by initial successes: the Udine Brigade took quote 383, while the Firenze Brigade reached quote 535 on the Kuk and the Avellino Brigade, going beyond the Sagora barrier, partly occupied the blockhouses of Zagomila, on the road to Mount Vodice. Units of the Campobasso Brigade managed to reach the summit of Mount Sveta Gora, but an Austro-Hungarian night counterattack forced them to abandon it. To the north-east of Gorizia, the Italian troops reached quote 126 and quote 174, near Rožna Dolina, but were not able to maintain those positions. The following day, the II Corps secured the Kuk summit, and gained the saddle of the Vodice, notwithstanding the stubborn Austro-Hungarian resistance.
While the main thrust was underway in the Gorizia sector, the Third Army's XI Corps started its diversionary attacks, employing the 21st and 22nd Division. During these attacks, on 14 May the Pisa, Regina, Brescia and Ferrara Brigades suffered heavy losses. Furthermore, at night a heavy bombardment by Austro-Hungarian artillery forced the survivors to fall back to their starting positions.
In the area between Kostanjevica and Jamiano, the 26 and 27 May the Italian XIII Army Corps managed, after a series of bloody attacks and counterattacks, to gain some ground. The Italian VII Corps slowly advanced on the hills west of Medeazza, reaching the sources of the Timavo. The last significant action of the offensive took place on the 28th, when the Italian Toscana Brigade briefly captured quote 28 (Villaggio del Pescatore), south of the Timavo, but was not able to hold it for long. The operations slowly came to a stop the following day, with only minor actions fought on small portions of the frontline.
Over fifteen days, the Italian forces had advanced within 15 miles (23 kilometers) of Trieste, almost reaching the coastal town of Duino. However, casualties has been, as in previous offensives, high: the Italians lost about 160,000 men (36,000 dead), while the Austro-Hungarians - fighting defensively with the terrain advantage - lost about 125,000 men (17,000 dead).
Aftermath
The Italian gains were short-lived. A major Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive launched on 3 June reclaimed virtually all lost ground.
Some fighting also took place in the northern sections of the front in the Julian Alps, where the Austro-Hungarians strengthened their positions along the Vršič mountain ridge.
With morale in the Italian army plunging Cadorna planned one further breakthrough attempt as he massed the greatest number of divisions and artillery yet along the Soča (Isonzo) river. Accordingly, the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was initiated some two months later on 19 August 1917.
The Soča or Isonzo is a 138-kilometre (86 mi) long river that flows through western Slovenia and northeastern Italy.
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 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 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.
The Third Battle of the Isonzo was fought from 18 October through 4 November 1915 between the armies of Italy and Austria-Hungary.
The Südtirol Offensive, also known as the Battle of Asiago or Battle of the Plateaux, nicknamed Strafexpedition by the Austro-Hungarian forces, 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.
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 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 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 1916 in Italy.
Ludwig Goiginger was an Austro-Hungarian Lieutenant Field Marshal who notably served in World War I.
The Battle of Flondar, also known as the defeat of Flondar took place during the First World War, consisting of a counterattack launched by selected Austrian units under the command of General Svetozar Borojević against the Italian positions around the Monte Ermada. Although outnumbered, the Austro-Hungarians surprised the Italian defenses and, using new assault tactics, managed to reconquer some important positions, thus giving relief to their front lines.
References
↑ Thompson, Mark (2008) The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919, Faber and Faber, London P251
↑ Thompson, Mark (2008) The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919, Faber and Faber, London P251
↑ Ministero della Guerra - l'Esercito Italiano Nella Grande Guerra - Volume IV le operazioni del 1917. Roma, 1940 - pag 318
Further reading
Schindler, John R. (2001). Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War. Praeger. ISBN0275972046. OCLC44681903.
The Walks of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation. The Foundation preserves, restores and presents the historical and cultural heritage of the First World War in the area of the Isonzo Front for the study, tourist and educational purposes.
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