- Also called:
- 12th Battle of the Isonzo
- Date:
- October 24, 1917 - December 19, 1917
- Participants:
- Austria-Hungary
- Central Powers
- Germany
- Italy
- Context:
- Battles of the Isonzo
- World War I
Battle of Caporetto
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What was the Battle of Caporetto?
The Battle of Caporetto (October 24âDecember 19, 1917) was a major Italian military defeat in World War I. Facing an Austro-German offensive on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, Italian troops retreated. More than 600,000 demoralized Italian soldiers deserted or surrendered.
The attack's organization in the mountains was difficult, but the attackers overcame these challenges. After a heavy bombardment, the battle began on October 24. German forces pushed through the mountains, endangering Italian troops. By November 9, the Italians had retreated behind the Piave River, with 250,000 captured and twice as many casualties.
The Allies reinforced Italy, which boosted Italian resistance. Although the battle damaged Italy, it also led to a change in military command and reorganization on the home front.
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Which countries fought in the Battle of Caporetto?
The Battle of Caporetto, a significant Italian military defeat in World War I, took place between October 24 and December 19, 1917. It occurred on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, where Italian and Austrian forces had been in a stalemate for two and a half years.
The primary combatants were the Italian forces against a joint Austro-German offensive. The German army provided support to the Austrians in the offensive. British and French armies were sent to reinforce the Italian army.
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When and where did the Battle of Caporetto take place?
The Battle of Caporetto occurred between October 24 and December 19, 1917, during World War I. It took place on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, where Italian and Austrian forces had been in a stalemate for two and a half years. The Austro-German offensive led to a disastrous retreat for the Italians, with over 600,000 soldiers deserting or surrendering. By November 9, 1917, the Italian forces had retreated behind the Piave River, approximately 70 miles (110 km) from the Isonzo front. Although the battle damaged Italy, it also led to military command changes and the reorganization of the home front.
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Why was the Battle of Caporetto important in World War I?
The Battle of Caporetto (October 24âDecember 19, 1917) was a major Italian military disaster during World War I. Facing an Austro-German offensive on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, Italian troops retreated.
The battle led to the arrival of Allied reinforcements and the establishment of the Allied Supreme War Council at Versailles, which later led to unified command. Although the Central Powers won, their victory lacked strategic context. The Italians' resistance and the winter snows halted the Austro-German advance by December 19.
The Battle of Caporetto resulted in a change in military command for the Italians, with General Armando Diaz replacing General Luigi Cadorna. The battle also led to the formation of a new ministry that reorganized the home front.
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What strategies or weapons made a difference in this battle?
The Battle of Caporetto, a significant Italian military defeat in World War I, occurred between October 24 and December 19, 1917. A key element in the Austro-German success was the organization and deployment of their attack in the mountainous terrain. Guns and infantry were moved at night, with ammunition and supplies carried by pack animals. Skillful precautions and limited Italian air reconnaissance allowed the concentration of forces to go undiscovered. After four hours of shelling with gas and one hour of general bombardment, Below's forces pushed deep down the western slopes, threatening Italian troops. This offensive was boldly planned, well-organized, and well-executed. The German 14th Army, along with Austrian divisions, began forcing its way over the Julian Alps, catching the Italians by surprise.
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How did the outcome of the Battle of Caporetto affect Italy and the overall war?
The Battle of Caporetto was a major Italian military disaster during World War I. In October 1917, Austro-German forces overwhelmed the Italian front, leading to a massive retreat and the desertion or capture of over 600,000 Italian soldiers.
The defeat at Caporetto had significant consequences for Italy. It led to a change in military command, with General Armando Diaz replacing General Luigi Cadorna, and the formation of a new ministry to reorganize the home front. The invasion of Italian territory helped consolidate the war effort on the home front, and thousands of support committees were formed to defend the nation.
The battle also had broader implications for the Allies. It prompted the Allies to rush reinforcements to Italy and led to the creation of the Allied Supreme War Council at Versailles, which aimed to unify military command.
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Battle of Caporetto, (October 24âDecember 19, 1917), Italian military disaster during World War I in which Italian troops retreated before an Austro-German offensive on the Isonzo front in northeastern Italy, where the Italian and Austrian forces had been stalemated for two and a half years. In the wake of the successful Austrian and German advance, more than 600,000 war-weary and demoralized Italian soldiers either deserted or surrendered.
Clashes on the Isonzo
In May 1917 Italian Gen. Luigi Cadorna launched his 10th Battle of the Isonzo, but an Austrian counterattack in the Carso sector had retaken part of the small gains made by the Italians. The question of Allied cooperation on the Isonzo front was raised afresh without result, but Cadorna nevertheless, on August 17, initiated an 11th Battle of the Isonzo. Gen. Luigi Capelloâs Second Army captured a large part of the Bainsizza Plateau (BanjĆĄka Planota or BanjĆĄice) north of Gorizia, but a long-sustained effort brought no further success, and Cadorna was forced to break off the offensive on September 12. However, the modest Italian victory so strained Austrian resistance that, in German Gen. Erich Ludendorffâs words, âit became necessary to decide for the attack on Italy in order to prevent the collapse of Austria-Hungary.â
Ludendorff had the difficult problem of finding adequate resources for an Italian campaign when Russia had not yet capitulated and the British offensive in Flanders made impossible a large withdrawal of troops from France. All that he could spare was his slender general reserve of six to eight divisions, which had already been his instrument in countering the Russian June Offensive and capturing Riga. His adviser in the strategic design of operations, Lieut. Col. Georg Wetzell, was, however, of the opinion that the Italian menace could be crippled by the application of even this small force at a âsoft spotâ such as the Tolmino-Caporetto (Tolmin-Kobarid) sector on the middle Isonzo, north of the Bainsizza Plateau. The result proved him rightâthe trouble was that it unduly exceeded the most sanguine expectations. Earlier, on August 29, Alfred von WaldstĂ€tten of the Austrian General Staff had brought to Ludendorff a similar scheme for a breakthrough at Tolmino that had called for subsequently rolling up the Isonzo front. This plan was expanded into a more ambitious one without an increase of means.
On hearing the Austrian proposals, Ludendorff sent Lieut. Gen. Konrad Krafft von Dellmensingen, an expert in mountain warfare and commander of the Alpine Corps in the Romanian campaign, to reconnoitre the ground. After receiving Krafftâs report, Ludendorff approved an augmented version of WaldstĂ€ttenâs scheme. The seven German divisions with eight Austrian divisions formed the Fourteenth German Army under Otto von Below, with Krafft as chief of staff and guiding light. These troops were to penetrate the mountain barrier of the Julian Alps at the northeastern corner of the Venetian salient on a line running from the Rombon-Bovec region southeastward past Tolmino, with Caporetto approximately opposite the middle point of the line. At the same time Gen. Svetozar BoroeviÄ von Bojnaâs two Austrian armies were to advance against the eastern end of the salient on the Bainsizza Plateau and along the stretch of lower ground near the Adriatic shore.
The rout at Caporetto
The organization and deployment of the attack in such mountainous country presented difficulties, but these were ably overcome. Guns were brought up mostly by hand and at night, and the infantry ascended by night marches with all their ammunition and supplies on pack animals. Thanks to skillful precautions and to the Italiansâ limited air reconnaissance, the concentration was undiscovered. On October 24, after four hours of shelling with gas and one hour of general bombardment, the Battle of Caporetto began. Belowâs forces pushed deep down the western slopes of the mountains, imperiling the Italian troops to both south and north. The lead units of Belowâs force reached Udine, the former Italian general headquarters, on October 28 and the Tagliamento River on October 31.
The result surprised Ludendorff, who, with his slender forces, had not calculated on such distant objectives being attainable. BoroeviÄ was slow in pursuing the retreat of the Italian right, and when Ludendorff tried to switch part of his force to Field Marshal Franz, Graf (count) Conrad von Hötzendorfâs army flanking the north of the Venetian salient, on Belowâs right, he was foiled by the inadequacy of the rail communications. Even so, total military collapse threatened, and Cadorna, with his centre broken, only saved his wings by a precipitate retreat to the line of the Piave River, covering Venice, some 70 miles (110 km) from the Isonzo front. On November 9 all the Italian forces were behind the Piave, except for 250,000 prisoners in Austro-German hands and nearly twice as many other casualtiesâkilled, wounded, sick, or missing. The same day Cadorna was superseded in supreme command by Gen. Armando Diaz.
Consequences
The Allies had begun to rush reinforcementsâa British and a French army corpsâto Italyâs aid, and on November 5 their political and military chiefs arrived at Rapallo for a conference. Out of this sprang the Allied Supreme War Council at Versailles and, ultimately, a unified command.
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The invaders had outrun their transport, and the resistance of the Italians, morally braced by the emergency, succeeded in holding the Piave in face of direct assaults from the Austrians. These assaults were combined with strenuous efforts to turn the Italian left flank on the Monte Grappa north of Bassano by an advance down the Brenta River from the Trentino. In this latter sector, however, Cadornaâs preparations for defense had long been initiated and had matured.
At the beginning of December 1917, the British and the French, who had been waiting in reserve in case of a fresh breakthrough, moved forward to take over vulnerable sectors, but the attack was renewed only in the north, and on December 19 it came to an end with the snows. Caporetto seriously damaged Italy but also purged the country, bringing about a change in military command and the formation of a new ministry, which reorganized the condition of the home front. The Central Powersâ victory was correspondingly ephemeral, because the attack lacked a strategic context.