4/11/2023 0 Comments Seventh battle of the isonzo![]() Comando Supremo delayed further its plans for offensive operations and moved troops to reduce the threat to their rear. It did, however, have some dramatic effects on the Isonzo Front and these need to be outlined briefly.Īt first the Austrian attack in the Trentino looked dramatically successful. Asiago will be the subject of another major article on La Grande Guerra and will not be discussed here in detail. This major operation, called the Battle of Asiago by most and the Straffe Expedition by some began on May 15, 1916. If they could mount a successful attack down off of the mountains, cross the Asiago Plateau, then occupy the Venetian Plain, they could cut-off all the Italian forces in the Carnic and Julian Alps and along the Isonzo. Meanwhile, in the Trentino, the Austrians were marshalling their own forces for an assault. The allies committed to sending Italy heavy artillery pieces and further offensives were delayed until the new weapons and sufficient shells could be assembled. The Italian Army also still needed more guns and artillery shells. These died out after about a week because of bad weather and some bracing counterattacks staged by the Austrians, most notably at Santa Maria near Tolmino. In most cases they were more demonstrations than full assaults. Probes were made at Tolmino, Gorizia and the Carso. Cadorna ordered a broad, but half-hearted, offensive nearly immediately. At a conference at Chantilly, France Marshal Joffre requested that Italy and Russia take the offensive on their respective fronts to reduce pressure on the French forces. In February of 1916, the German Army on the Western Front launched a tremendous assault on the city of Verdun and its surrounding fortress zone in northeast France. The war of attrition would continue growing with both sides blind to the inevitable consequences. On the Isonzo, all of this meant that in 1916 Italy needed to continue attacking and Austria-Hungary needed to continue defending. Also, to inhibit the disintegration threatened by the growth of ethnocentric nationalism, they could not afford to surrender any territory. Austria-Hungary, likewise, had mobilized its entire dual-empire to support its war effort and needed to keep popular support. Their new allies had also started placing demands on them to continue on the offensive to alleviate pressures on their fronts. Italy's government and military had to justify this burden with some successes on the battlefield. ![]() By the start of 1916, however, they found they were engaged in a protracted Total War placing undreamed of social and economic strains on the nation. When Italy entered the Great War in 1915, it had hoped to tilt the balance of force against the Central Powers, ending the war quickly and allowing them to gain some long sought after territorial gains on the cheap. then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue. If the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. La Grande Guerra: The Italian Front, 1915 -1918 - The Isonzo 1916
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