Battles of the Isonzo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page.
For the Ostrogoth invasion of Italy, see Battle of Isonzo (489).

"Battles of the Isonzo" are a series of battles between the Austria-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I. They were fought along the Isonzo River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917. Most of the battles were fought on the territory of modern Slovenia, and the remainder in Italy.

During the First World War, the Soča (known as Isonzo in Italian and German language, or Sontig in old German) valley was part of the Alpine sector of the Italian Front, along the which the armies of Italy and Austria-Hungary clashed. It is known as the Soška fronta in Slovenian and is usually translated as Isonzo Front by Slovenian and Austrian historians.

The plain at the confluence of the Soča and Vipava river south of Gorizia: a main passage from Northern Italy to Central Europe.
The plain at the confluence of the Soča and Vipava river south of Gorizia: a main passage from Northern Italy to Central Europe.

Contents

[edit] Geographical location and strategic importance

The Isonzo is located in present-day Slovenia and Italy. During World War One, however, the sixty-mile long river ran entirely inside Austria-Hungary in parallel to the border with Italy. The valley is flanked by relatively high mountains on both sides, which are lower in the western and higher on the eastern side. It runs from the Vršič and Predil Pass in the Julian Alps to the Adriatic Sea, widening dramatically just 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 Kras plateau to Inner Caroniola and Ljubljana. The corridor is also known as the "Ljubljana Gate".

The Italian army wanted to break through this passage in order to penetrate in central Carniola and then into Styria duchy)Styria to the heart of Austria. The area between the northernmost part of the Adriatic Sea and the sources of the river Soča thus became the scene of twelve successive battles.

[edit] Primary sector for Italian operations

Remains of an Austro-Hungarian fortification near Bovec
Remains of an Austro-Hungarian fortification near Bovec
Monument to fallen Italian soldiers in Kobarid
Monument to fallen Italian soldiers in Kobarid

The only practical area for Italian military operations during the war (the rest of the mountainous 400-mile length of the Front being almost everywhere dominated by Austro-Hungarian forces), the Austrians had taken due care to fortify the mountains ahead of the Italians' long-expected entry into the war on 23 May 1915.

Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadornal judged that Italian gains (from Gorizia to Trieste) were most feasible at the coastal plain east of the lower end of the Isonzo. However he also believed that the Italian army could strike further north and bypass the mountains either side of the river so as to come at the Austria-Hungarians in the rear.

Not that he 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 rain-falls during 1914-18.

Further, when attacking further north the Italian army was faced with something of a dilemma: in order to safely cross the Isonzo they needed to knock out the Austro-Hungarian defenders looking on from the mountains above; yet to neutralise these same forces they needed first to cross the river - an obstacle that the Italians never succeeded in satisfying.

In the south (along the coastal zone) geographic peculiarities, including a collection of ridges and valleys, conspired additionally to work to the Austria-Hungarian defenders' advantage.

[edit] Huge casualties

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. The sector was chosen chiefly because it offered a greater prospect of Italian territorial gain.

Cumulative casualties of the numerous battles of the Isonzo were enormous. Half of the entire Italian war casualty total - some 300,000 of 600,000 - were suffered along the Isonzo. 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).

[edit] 10, 11 or 12 Battles?

It is a matter of debate as to just how many battles comprised the Isonzo. Undeniably innumerable one battle often appeared to merge into another. Some historians have assigned distinct names to a couple of the Isonzo struggles, most notably at Kobarid (Caporetto) in October 1917, which would otherwise form the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo.

This website lists Caporetto as both a standalone battle and as the final battle of the Isonzo; thus the twelve battles are listed below.

[edit] External links