His description of theIsonzo battles, of the battlefields and of the atrocious conditions in which the soldiers lived and fought is supported by a graphicselection of original photographs that record the terrible reality of the conflict.The impact of the intervention of British, French and German troops is covered, as are the parts played by famous individuals -among them Rommel, Mussolini, Badoglio and Cadorna, the notorious Italian commander in chief.
John Macdonald, in this accessible and highly illustrated account, aims to set the record straight. Yet this massive struggle is too often neglected in histories of the war which focus on the fighting on the Western and Eastern Fronts. The twelfth and final battle, Caporetto, resulted in a devastating defeat for Italy and led to one of the greatest breakthroughs achieved during the entire conflict. The campaign was fought in the most appalling terrain forcombat, with horrendous casualties on both sides, often exceeding those of the more famous battles of the Great War. Publisher's Summaryįrom May 1915 to October 1917 the armies of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian empire were locked into a series of twelve battlesalong the River Isonzo, a sixty-mile front from the Alps to the Adriatic. Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (p. Operations renewed afresh with the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo on. However with the ninth battle called off in failure on 4 November 1916 and the Italians undeniably weakened by continual offensive operations throughout the year - 1916 had seen five Isonzo operations on top of four undertaken the year before - a lengthy break was taken for the winter. When the Germans finally assented (sensing the potential collapse of the Austro-Hungarian position) and constructed a combined force in time for the Twelfth Battle of Isonzo, the results were dramatic. Realising this they continued to call upon their German ally to provide military assistance within the sector.
Neither side could particularly afford the casualties suffered but the Austro-Hungarians in particular were finding their defensive lines increasingly stretched. Cadorna had intended to ensure such a breakthrough in the wake of the capture of Gorizia during the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, but instead the war of attrition gathered pace. The Italians suffered 75,000 casualties and the Austro-Hungarians 63,000.Īs always along the Soča (Isonzo), the Austro-Hungarian Army's command of the mountainous terrain provided a formidable natural barrier to the Italians' attempts to achieve a breakthrough. With the ninth battle fought from 1–4 November 1916 the combined casualty total from the three linked battles proved sufficiently heavy to ensure that each attack was of short duration (each less than a week). The battle started with an attack on Vrtojba and the northern and central areas of the Karst Plateau. 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 Ninth Battle of the Isonzo was an Italian offensive against Austria-Hungary in the course World War I.
0 kommentar(er)
