The ltalian Army in the first world war

Foreseeing the intervention in the war the ltal ian Chief of Staff, Generai Cadorna had given instructions to stand on the defensive in the Trentine front, while a thorough offensive should have been launched in the Julian front in the direction of Ljubljana and Zagreb, together w ith poss ible concurrent attacks from Cadore and Carnia.

This planning was apparently ambitious. but it was just ified by the main assumption that there would have been the support of the Serbian and Russian armies, the first from the low Sava toward Ljubljana and the second from the Carpathians toward the Hungarian plain.

Theretore the ltalian army, having a lready assembled (June 13th. 1915) 569 batta lions, 173 squadrons, 512 troops, was so deployed: 40 % to defend the border between Stelvio and Mt. Canin (560 Km) , 40 % in the Julian front (70 Km) and the remaining 20% kept in reserve .

In t he ltal i an front the Austro - Hungarian army was composed of 234 battalions, 21 squadrons and 155 troops. In addition there was the Bavarian « Alpenkorps », deployed in the Trentino area. although the war between ltaly and Germany was not yet formaly declared.

These troops, numerica ly inferior, had the advantage to fight from tortified positions. naturally strong and very well settled with field works

The first year of war

When lta ly began the war (May 24th, 1915) the above - mentioned p lanning was already unfeas ible. The Russians. hard defeated in Galicia, were compel l ed to such a dangerous and deep retreat. that th e Austrians could recover from that front some divisions, immediately dep l oyed in ltaly Strangely, by th e same time , the Serbians were completely inert.

Therefore, falling the in dispensable indirect support of the Allies, ltalian operat i ons had initially t he more limited aim of seizing good starting positions, suitable tor making easy further operational developments

However the first fights were not able to get the desired offensive outputs beyond the Isonzo, so inducing Generai Cadorna to choose tor the moment closer ob jectives as the acquisition of Gorizia and Tolm in o

As a matter of fact it was clear that also in ltaly, as tor months in France and in F l anders, the continuity of a front l in e saturateci w it h troops and a balance between the appos i te armies were i mposing a stat i c war.

The 23rd of June the f irst Isonzo battle began and the fighting lasted XX violent and relentless tor f i fteen days running

However, the attempt to conquer Tolmino fai l ed , while the enemy held out the Podgora efficaciously More to the south , the first bridgeheads were established beyond the Isonzo

This was the first very hard and bloody test tor the ltalian army: 15.000 losses .

After only a fift e en day truce, the 18th ot July, the battle starte d aga in all over the Isonzo This second battle was actually the prosecution ot the first one, with very heavy losses : 42 000 men, equal to those ot the Austro - Hungarians

From the 18th of October to the 4th of November and from the 10th of November to the 2nd of December th e third and th e fourth Isonzo battles took piace , aiming at the achievement of the middle part of the river

These operations, similar to those carried out in the French front , were decided by Cadorna to relieve the pressure of the Austro - Germans on the Russian and Serbian armies .

In almost two months of b l oody combats (116.000 wer e the ltalian losses and 70.000 those of the Austrians) the 2nd and 3rd Armies were able only to damage the enemy defensive system, with no break at all.

Th e years 1916 an d 1917 .

The 1916 large operations were six : the 5th Isonzo battle , fought in support of the French army engaged at Verdun; the Austrian offensiv e in Trentino and the following ltalian counteroffensive; the 6th, 7th. 8th , and 9th Isonzo battles

The Trentino and the 6th Isonzo battles , with the taking of Gorizia , were very important events

The decision to attack ltaly from th e Altipiani, in arder to go down to the Vicenza plain and catch in the rear the armies deployed in the Venetia Julia front. carried out an old pian of the austrian Chief of Staff , Marshal Conrad To perform this pian with a high chance of success the best Austrian troops were withdrawn from the eastern front, an opportunity immediately taken by Russia to attack the Austro - Germans and inflict a heavy defeat (Lutsk, June - July 1916) on them lmmediately after the Trentino defensive victory, the 6th Isonzo batt l e began (4th - 17th of August). the Gor i zia battle, which cost serious lcsses, compensateci however by the seizure of positions regarded as s t ormproof: Calvario , Mt. San Michele, Sabotino and Gor i zia.

The 15th of May two hundred Austro - Hungarian battalions hurled themse lves on the ltalian positions between Adige and Brenta.

Under the furious v i olence of the attack the defensive line bended, but it stiffened on backward pos i t i ons, so enabling Genera i Cadorna to declare that the Austrian offensive was stopped ali over the front.

The lta l ian troops took then the counteroffensive, driving back the Austrians well inside the Tridentine mountains.

In the short course of two months, trom the 14th of September to the 4th of November, three battles in a row occ u red in order to wear out the enemy more and more and to seize suitable positions for outflanking Gorizia eastern hills from the south and the Hermada from the north.

The 1916 so ended without gett i ng any dec i sive result, so that everyth ing was defe r red to 1917. According to conc lusions of the 2nd Conterence XXI of Chanti lly, held in November 1916, contemporary violent offensives should have been launched during this year all over the fronts of the Entente.

In May of 1917, in fact. wh ile the large spring offens ive was stili going on in Fra nce , the Sup r eme ltalian Headquarters decided to attack all along the Ison z o line.

The operation develop ed from 1he 12th to the 28th of May (10th Isonzo battle) leading to the ltalian conquest of Kuk and Vodic e

Subsequently , from the 10th to the 29th of June , the l ta lian army carried out the Ortigara batt l e in t he Altipiani sector without any positive result. but with very h e avy l osses (26.000 men) , mainly within the a lpine troops

A new offensive action (11th Isonzo batt l e) was dec ided right away, aiming simultaneously at the occupat i on of Bainsizza and Comen Plateaus

This offensive lasted from the 17th to the 31 st of August and got some results

The 2nd Army was able to penetrate tor about 8 Km in t o the Ba ins i zza Pl ateau, wit hout drivi n g complete l y out the Aust r ians

The 3rd Army , on the con t rary, got on ly very few successes , moving the front line only a little forward in the v i c inity of Hermada.

And th i s was the last l talian offensive battle in t he Isonzo front.

So the l ta lian army was wearing more and more and among the fighting troops the hope of getting rid ot the enemy rocky and iron barrier was weakening . The distrust. nourished also by neutra list trends never appeased with in the country, caused a natura l enfeeblement of moral courage with consequences on the discipl i ne

But a lso the enemy was ser i ously fee ling the weigh t of blows he had received, so that he was obliged to ask the allied Germany tor support.

The in activity in the French theatre, after t h e fai lure of the Nivelle offensive. and the a lmost total co llapse of t he Russian ar my al l owed seven German div i sions to crowd in ltaly , forming together with 8 Austrian divisions the 14th Army

At dawn of the 24th of October the 12th German divis i on, com ing out fr o m Tolmino, broke through the ltalian l ine and. going along th e Isonzo vailey. o n the back of the forward defe n ce. reac hed Caporetto at 3 p m Followi ng this div i sion , in the same d ay the German alpine troops seized ali the east ern region of Kolovrat. key point of the ltalian second l ine of defence.

The moveme n t of the f irst two German units was immediately fol l owed by 5 more divis i ons.

At nighttal l of the 24th of October t he right of both first and second l ines of defence was ou tfl anked. from To l m in o to f<olovrat, wh ile the center of the t h ird line was overco me at Caporetto.

The next day the A us t ro - Germans developed a large manoeuvre go ing beyond the Isonzo at Saga and push ing on as fa r as Mt. Maggiore.

In the n orthern s ide t he 10th Austr ian Army moved towards t h e Tag l iamento; in the c e ntre the troops fol l owi ng t he 12th German div i sion r eached t h e lateral r idge of Mt. Ma t aj u r from Caporetto; t h e left wing of attacking formations directed from Kolovrat to t h e roads of Cormo ns and Civ i dale

The 26th, the 14th Army , once al l the defensive mountain positions had been overcome , broke into the plain and directed to Cividale whi l e the 10th, to the north, reached t he Fella valley A l so Boroevic Army Group XXII started the offensive in t he Carso

At 2 a.m of the 27th of October the lta lian Supreme Headquarters ordered the generai retreat.

The river Tagliame nto was selected as the first line of resistance, but later on i t was recognised the need to retire as far as the Piave

The 9th of November all the remaining troops had reached the r i ght side of the river Piave. where part of th e army was already deployed to tace the enemy.

The Austrian Headquarters decided to pursue further on the offensive aiming at the tota! destruction of the ltal i an army

The defe n sive batt l e was conducted in two phases : from the 10th to the 26th of Novembe r and from the 4th to the 30th of December

In the first phase the Austro - Hungarians. attacklng along the river Piave . succeeded in penetrat ing into the bend of Zenson. pulling back the defensive line to the south of Musile, al ong Piave Vecch i a and Sile In spite of these loca l successes the offensive fai l ed and the 26th of November the Austro - Hunga r ian Headquarters ordered to stop the attack.

In the meanwhile other ltal i an divisions had been reorganized and. from the 4th to the 5th of December, French and British divis i ons reached the front line between Mt. Tomba and Montello .

The 4th of December the 11th Austro - Hungarian Army began the second phase with the successfu l attack and the conquest of Le Melette , but it was stopped on the line Co l d'Echele, Col del Rosso, Mt. Va lbella.

The 1 1th of December also the 14th Austro - Ge r man Army took to the offensive again on Mt. Grappa, but w i th very l imited successes.

Fig hti ng very hard , it was on ly ab l e t o set foot on Co l Della Berretta. Co l Caprile. Mt. Asolone, Mt. Spinoncia. A last offensive start the Christmas· battle, took piace in the Altip i ano.

The 25th of December the 3rd Austro - Hungarian Army Corps attacked and seized Mt. Valbella and Col d'Echele, but the defence conso l idateci along the li n e at the back. Cima Echar, Mt. Me l ago. Pizzo Razea

The hard battle ended with the first Austro - Hungarian failures : the 30th of December the 47th Frenc h division reconquered the ridgeline between Mt. Tomba and Monfenera and the 31st the lta lian troops eliminated in the bend of Zenson t he enemy penetration

Caporet to battle was u ndoubted l y tor the l talian army a pain f ul failu r e . but two circumstances s hould be pointed out :

- on l y the geograp h ica l course o f t h e lta lian border changed a tactica l failure in a strategie de f eat;

- Caporetto was to r t h e l ta lians only al" un l ucky event w h ich they struggled by themselves to rapidly overcome.

The ret reat at t h e rive r Piave, in fact. deliberately direc t ed by Ge n erai Cadorna with calmness and clearness (he was rep l aced by Gene rai Di az on t he 9 t h of Novembe r ). was a pu r ely l talian action as well as the fol l owi ng v i ctorious defence ba tt le.

O n ce t h i s ba tt le w as o v e r an d wh ile all t he co un try suppor t ed the Supreme Headquarters in carrying on the overa ll reorganization o f military s t ructu r es. the l talian army did no t stay inacti v e.

From the 28t h to the 30th of January a successful offensive operation o n the Altipia n o Dei Sette Comun i led t o reco nquer t he line M t. Va lbel l a. Col del Rosso, Pizzo Razea. A sim ilar co rr ec t ion of the co n tac t line was made in May, at M t. Adamello. XX II I

In March. when the large German offensive was launched in F ra nce, 4 French divisions out of 6 and 2 British out of 5 cou ld be withdrawn from the italian front without any problem .

The last battles.

With the offensive of autumn 1917 the Centrai Powers did not succeed in breaking down ltaly. Therefore, being time in favour of the Entente, they were loc king necessarily tor a rapid solution of the war by means of large strategie offensives.

This was the main reason of the Austrian offensive of June 1918

The operational pian foresaw: a main effort along the river Brenta , intended to break quickly through the mountain front, reach the plain and outflank the units engaged in the defence of the river Piave; contemporary an action of the Isonzo Army Group towards Treviso - Mestre, having as first objective the Bacchiglione line. Another attack to Tonale , together with divers ions to the Giud i carie and Val Lagarina, had to precede the other operations in order to fix l talian forces

Altogether Austro - Hungarian troops amounted to 60 divisions, 50 of which, from the Astico to the sea, ass igned to the attack and 7.500 artillery guns of ali calibers.

Against these forces the ltalian army set 56 intantry div isi ons (50 ltalian , 3 British, 2 French. 1 Czechoslovak), 19 of which in reserve, 3 cavalry divisions and 7.053 artillery guns .

At dawn of the 12th of June. a vio l ent artillery fire broke out. lt was the beginning of that demonstration to the west of the Astico , by which the enemy intended to fix ltalian torces

The efficacious counterpreparation fi re and the intense machinegun reaction immediately broke down every Austrian foolish ambit ion The diverting attack turned so into a clear failure

At 3 a.m of the 15th of June the Austro - Hungarian artillery began to bcmb the front from the Astico to the sea, but the ltalian counterpreparation f ire had a lready broken out with intens e violence.

In the mountain sector the attacks exhausted almost immed i ately, while in the area of the Piave the Austr i ans succeeded in going to the right s i de of the river, in spite of the strong ltalian reaction.

The attacking troops could get ho ld of the salient of Montello through the opened breach and establish on the right side of the river two bridge - heads, at Fagarè and Musile

Notwithstanding the desperate Austro - Hungarian efforts, the situation d id not change in the follow ing two days, either on the Altipiani or between Brenta and Piave; on the l ow Piave a powerful Austrian attack was able to join the two bridge - heads at Ponte di Piave and S Donà, but it d id not succeed in advancing further on.

The reiterated and obstinate attacks of the Austro - Hungarian divis i ons were only cutting down their forces more and more In the even in g of the 17th. the pressure of the attacking troops was stopped everywhere. In t he followi ng days, the fina l deteat of the Austrian troops was evident: during the n ight to the 23rd ot June, they began retreating beyond the river Piave .

The river Pi ave battle. which cost the Austr i ans 150.000 men, was XXIV a great ltalian victory, the first achieved in 1918 by an army of the Entente .

During the summer Generai Foch renewed to Generai Diaz more than once th e request to carry out an offensive . Diaz temporized because it was right to wait for the appropriate moment to engage a decisive battle

Sinc e mid July the German Supreme Headquarters had Jost the initiativ e in th e French theatr e and its army was f orced to withdraw , without losing however its unity

From the 16th to the 19th of September the « Armée d'Orient » caused the German - Bulgarian front in the Balkans to collaps e and the 29th of September the armistice between the Allies and Bulgaria was signed

The lta lian Supreme Headquarters saw then the possibility to break through the enemy front along the connection line between the two Austrian armies (5th and 6th) of the river Piave , moving then towards Vittorio Veneto

This operation had to start on the 16th of October but it was deferred to the 24th in consequence of the flood of the river

The 4th · Army began the battle and pro l onged its attack up to the 27th , reaching the aim of recalling and taking up Austrian reserves.

During the night to the 27th ltalian armies (8th, 12th and 10th) bridged and crossed the river Pi ave

On the 28th the violence of the attack ob liged the Austro - Hungarian 6th Army ' s Headquarters to command the retreat to Monticano

On the 30th, the 8th Army took possession of Vittorio Veneto with the vanguards ; th e 12th Army got aver the pass of Ouero towards Feltre ; the 10th crossed the Monticano in direction of Sacile

In the evening of the same day, Austrian Generai Weber presented himself to our Supreme Headquarters to discuss the terms of surrender

The negotiations were not however so fast be cause the Austrian Governement did not want to sign an unconditional surrender but only a truce in the combat.

During these discussions operations went on and on the 31st the Austrian troops of Mt Grappa yielded fina lly to the violence of the 4th Army's attack which moved then to Arsiè; the 8th Army broke into the Piave valley at Ponte delle Alp i ; the 10th , together with the 3rd, reached the river Livenza and the cavalry the river Tagliamento ; the 6th army moved also along the Valsugana , to get the road towards Trento - Egna

On the 3rd to November the 1st Army was in Trento, al i the other Armies reached their objectives and, w h ile the cavalry pushed on as far as Palmanova Udine and Stazione per la Carnia. a specia l detachment l anded at Trieste .

In the even ing of the 3rd of November the armistice was finally signed in Vi lla Giusti : at 3 p m of the 4th of November 1918 hosti lities were suspended all aver the ltalian front.

Pushed by an age - o l d hate, staunch discipl ine and military honour se nse, the imper i al army fought ve ry bravely even in the l ast battle, so that losses were serious : 36.498 ltalians and 2.498 tor the Allies

With the battle of V ittorio Veneto ltaly did not defeat on ly « one of the most powerfull armies in the world ». but caused the tota I collapse o f the Hapsburg Empire

The effort was enormous - 5 millions men mobi lized, 900.000 militarized in the war industry, 680 .000 fa llen . more than one mi llion wounded XXV and cr ippled - but the historical cycle of the italian Risorgimento was finally aver with the reaching of natural borders .

The other fronts.

The contribut i on to the common victory given by ltaly out of the country must be mentioned to provide an overall picture of the war situation.

In Albania, after the outbreak of the war, ltaly took possession of the small island of Saseno and then (December 29th, 1914) of Valona, as a protection of ltalian interests in the Adriatic sea.

On the 8th of October 1915 the Austro - Germans, supported by the Bulgarians, began the decisive offensive against the Serbians .

The landing at Salonika of a first Franco - British unit dici not help the withdrawal of the Serbians, who had to f ind safety in the Albanian ports.

ltaly then took upon herse l f the protection of the withdrawal and embarking of the remnants of Serbian army.

A special Corps of occupation of A lbania was organized, with a division tailored in three brigades, one of which had to move to Durazzo. while the other two would have assured the possession of Valona.

The brigade << Savona » reached then Durazzo, where it settled down the defence to protect the embarcatio n of the Serbians, compieteci by the 9th of February 1916; the brigade kept the Austrians far two more weeks, before embarking under the protection of the f l eet, from the 23rd to 26th. Valona bay was still in the italian hands.

Troops in Albania were gradually increased, reaching the level of an Army Corps (XVI) of about 100.000 men, tailored in three divis i ons

In the meanwhile the allied expeditionary torce of Salonika (Eastern Army} pushed on towards west. ltalian troops of Albania carne in contact with that torce at Erseke, so estab lish ing a continous front from the Adriatic sea to the Aegean.

In May 1918 a comb ined French and ltalian operation on the right of Ossum and towards Tomoritza succeeded in making safer the road Erseke - Salonika and, in July, an ltalian attack, supported on the right by French forces, was carried on against the two wings of Malakastra

At the end of September, in connection with Eastern Army offensive the XVI Army Corps took to the advance again, reaching Durazzo on the 14th of October, Tirana on the 15th, Scutari on the 31st and, finally, Dulcigno and Antivari on the 3rd of November.

At the end of 1915 the 35th Eastern Army was organized and the ltalian Governement was asked by the Allies to send troops to Macedonia.

On the 9th of August 1916 the 35th division began to embark at Taranto, to be deployed the 25th of August along the line Krusa - Balcan, on a 48 Km front.

In September of the same year the division took part in a counteroffensive operation; then it was removed to the Monast ir (Bitola) sector where on the 16th of November it opened the way to the Franco - Serbian troops toward Monastir.

At the begining of 1918, the 35th division went to the Crna sector, XXVI replacing in the front two French and one Serbian divisions.

After eight German attacks in two months there was in May an Allied offensive attempt : it was not successful and only the ltalian losses were about 3.000 men.

On the 15th of September the Eastern Army took the offensive and broke throught the enemy front.

The 35th division drove the Germans out of Kalabach mountains. reached Kruscevo across the Baba Planina and the 29th attacked Sop, where 8.000 Bulgarians and 11 guns fell into our hands

In November 1917 the ltalian Governement sent to Paris Generai Dal lolio to negotiate the transfer of war materiai. The French Governement agreed asking however as a compensation the sending of 10 .000 ltalian workers to be assigned to artillery ammunition loading

Afterwards the French Governement asked far other 60.000 men. as workers in the defensive forti fications. In January 1918 these workers left tor France . so originating the T.A.I.F. (Auxiliary ltalian Troops in France)

In Aprii the Il Army Corps (two infantry divisions with minor units) was sent to France.

From the 11th to the 19th of June the Il Army Corps drew up west of Reims to bar the straightest penetrating way to Epernay.

From the end of June to early July first encounters with the Germans took piace in the zone of Bl igny. On the 15th of July the Germa n s launched their fast offensive, attacking west of Reims between Vrigny and Jaulgonne against the ltalian Il Corps and the V French Corps

At the end of this operation. where the Il Corps l ost more than 9.000 men, the 5th French Army's Commander, Genera i Berthelot wrote : « (the ltalian Army Corps) completed successfully its missions. barring to the enemy the way of the Ardre »

In August the Il Corps was sent to the Argonne but in September it was back again under the 5th French Army in the offensive against the salient of Laon lt was drawn up in the Aisne sector, east of Soissons

On the 26th of September the Allied offensive began and on the 14th of October the Il l ta lian Army Corps, co nquering the strong position of Chemin des Dames and getting aver Ailette. reached the Sissonne marsh

On the 4th of November the Il Corps began again to advance against the Germans. reaching the river Mosa by the 11th of November

During the war the Nations of the Entente attained a community of ideals and ends that originated. as we saw , a real military brotherhood lt is then a fair conclusion to this historical synthesis of events to report In two append i xes the l ta l ian losse s on t he various f r onts of the Entente and those of the Allied armies in ltaly

ITALIAN UNITS DEPLO V ED OUT OF THE COUNTR Y (*)

· 1 6 divisions (from November 1917 to March 1918) : 120.000

2 divisions (from Aprii 1918): 32.000

British 5 divisions (from November 1917 to February 1918): 110.000

3 divisions (from March 1918): 62.000

Czechoslovak 1 div ision: 15.000 (from May 1918)