battles of the Isonzo

In April 1915, in the secret Treaty of London, Italy was promised by the Allies some of the territories of Austro-Hungarian Empire which were mainly inhabited by ethnic Slovenes, Croats and Austrian Germans.

Italian commander Luigi Cadorna, a staunch proponent of the frontal assault who claimed the Western Front proved the ineffectiveness of machine guns,{{Sfn|Thompson|2009|p=58}} initially planned breaking onto the Slovenian plateau,{{clarify|date=November 2024}} taking Ljubljana and threatening Vienna.{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} The area between the northernmost part of the Adriatic Sea and the sources of the Isonzo River thus became the scene of twelve successive battles.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}.

As a result, the Austro-Hungarians were forced to move some of their forces from the Eastern Front and a war in the mountains around the Isonzo River began.A War in Words, p.147-148, Simon & Schuster, 2003

File:SpodnjeKluze1.jpg, an Austro-Hungarian fortification between Bovec and Log pod Mangrtom]]

The {{convert|138|km|mi}} long Soča River at the time ran entirely inside Austria-Hungary in parallel to the border with Italy, from the Vršič pass in the Julian Alps to the Adriatic Sea, widening dramatically a few kilometers north of Gorizia, thus opening a narrow corridor between Northern Italy and Central Europe, which goes through the Vipava Valley and the relatively low north-eastern edge of the Postojna Gate to Inner Carniola and Ljubljana.

Italian troops did not reach the port of Trieste, the Italian General Luigi Cadorna's initial target, until after the Armistice.A War in Words, p.163, Simon & Schuster, 2003 {{ISBN|0-7432-4831-7}}

File:WWI - Second Battle of the Isonzo - 20th Cavalleggeri di Roma Cavalry Regiment position in the Carso.jpg

With the rest of the mountainous {{convert|400|mi|adj=on|order=flip}} length of the front being almost everywhere dominated by Austro-Hungarian forces, the Soča (Isonzo) was the only practical area for Italian military operations during the war. The Austro-Hungarians had fortified the mountains{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} ahead of the Italians' entry into the war on 23 May 1915.

Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna judged that Italian gains (from Gorizia to Trieste) were most feasible at the coastal plain east of the lower end of the Soča (Isonzo) River. Cadorna had not expected operations in the Isonzo sector to be easy. He was well aware that the river was prone to flooding—and indeed there were record rainfalls during 1914–1918. Further, when attacking further north the Italian army was faced with something of a dilemma: in order to cross the Isonzo safely it needed to neutralise the Austro-Hungarian defenders on the mountains above, yet to neutralise these forces the Italian forces needed first to cross the river.{{opinion|date=November 2024}}

File:The Literary digest history of the world war, compiled from original and contemporary sources- American, British, French, German, and others (1919) (14804773203).jpg

File:WWI - Ninth Battle of the Isonzo - Italian infantry after leaving the trenches.jpg

File:Überschiffung von Truppen über den Jsonzo bei Canziano 31.11.17. (BildID 15608586).jpg

Despite the huge effort and resources poured into the continuing Isonzo struggle, the results were invariably disappointing and without real tactical merit, particularly given the geographical difficulties that were inherent in the campaign.

Cumulative casualties of the numerous battles of the Isonzo were enormous. Half of the entire Italian war death total — some 300,000 of 600,000 — were suffered along the Soča River. Austro-Hungarian losses, while by no means as numerous, were nevertheless high at around 200,000 (of an overall total of around 1.2 million casualties).[http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/isonzo.htm FirstWorldWar.Com The Battles of the Isonzo, 1915-17.]

More than 30,000 casualties were ethnic Slovenes, who at the time were citizens of Austria and thus, the majority of them served in the Austro-Hungarian Army, while Slovene civilian inhabitants from the Gorizia and Gradisca region also suffered in many thousands because they were resettled in refugee camps where Slovene refugees were treated as state enemies in Italian refugee camps, where thousands died of malnutrition.Petra Svoljšak, Slovenski begunci v Italiji med prvo svetovno vojno (Ljubljana 1991).

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1970-073-25, Isonzo-Schlacht, Trainkolonne am Moistroka-Pass.jpg. October 1917]]

With almost continuous combat in the area, the precise number of battles forming the Isonzo campaign is debatable.{{cn|date=November 2024}} Some historians have assigned distinct names to a couple of the Isonzo struggles, most notably at Kobarid ({{lang|it|Caporetto}}, {{lang|de|Karfreit}}) in October 1917, which would otherwise form the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo.

The fact that the battles were always named after the Isonzo River, even in Italy, was considered by some a propaganda success for Austria-Hungary: it highlighted the repeated Italian failure to breach this landmark frontier of the Empire.Isonzo 1917, Sivestri

The Isonzo campaign comprised the following battles:

• First Battle of the Isonzo – 23 June – 7 July 1915
• Second Battle of the Isonzo – 18 July – 3 August 1915
• Third Battle of the Isonzo – 18 October – 3 November 1915
• Fourth Battle of the Isonzo – 10 November – 2 December 1915
• Fifth Battle of the Isonzo – 9–17 March 1916
• Sixth Battle of the Isonzo – 6–17 August 1916
• Seventh Battle of the Isonzo – 14–17 September 1916
• Eighth Battle of the Isonzo – 10–12 October 1916
• Ninth Battle of the Isonzo – 1–4 November 1916
• Tenth Battle of the Isonzo – 12 May – 8 June 1917
• Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo – 19 August – 12 September 1917
• Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo – 24 October – 7 November 1917, also known as the Battle of Caporetto

• Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms is partly during the events along this front.
• Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti's autobiographical poem, "I Fiumi", was written about the Isonzo whilst he was stationed on the front.
• Mark Helprin's A Soldier of the Great War refers to parts of the Isonzo campaign.
• The twelfth battle is the subject of the novel Caporetto by the Swedish author F. J. Nordstedt, Stockholm 1972.
• The Isonzo Front is the theme for the video game Isonzo by Blackmill Games.
• Fictional battle at Štanjel is featured in the video game Battlefield 1 as one of the playable maps.
• Emilio Lussu's A Soldier on the Southern Front is an account of the Isonzo campaign from the Italian side.

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Thompson |first=Mark |title=The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919|year=2009 |publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0571223336}}

{{Commons category|Battles of the Isonzo}}

• [http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/isonzo.htm FirstWorldWar.Com The Battles of the Isonzo, 1915–17]
• [http://www.firstworldwar.com/maps/italianfront.htm FirstWorldWar.Com Battlefield Maps: Italian Front]
• [http://www.worldwar1.com/itafront/isonzo11.htm 11 battles at the Isonzo]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071027160636/http://www.potimiruvposocju.si/ 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.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071119143924/http://www.kobariski-muzej.si/ang/razstave.html The Kobarid Museum (in English)]
• [http://drustvo-soskafronta.si/ Društvo Soška Fronta (in Slovene)]
• [http://prohereditate.com/en/ Pro Hereditate – extensive site (in English, Italian, and Slovene)]
• [http://www.burger.si/ww1_map_eng.html Interactive map with the extensive documentation with 360° Surround photography virtual tours]
• [http://www.esercito.difesa.it/storia/grande-guerra/Pagine/LEsercito-Italiano-nella-Grande-Guerra-1915-18.aspx Rapporto Ufficiale]. Published 1929–1974. 10 books - free access to the full texts (Italian))

{{World War I}}

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Category:Military history of Italy during World War I

Category:Austria-Hungary in World War I

Category:Military history of Slovenia

Category:Military history of Trieste