![]() ![]() The attack was carried forth from a front from Tolmin (in the upper Isonzo valley) to the Adriatic Sea. The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between 18 August and 12 September 1917. Thus the Italian front along the Piave river was finally stabilized and the Austrians failed to enter the plains beyond and take the city of Venice. He also allowed his local commanders much more room for manoeuvre than his predecessor, which resulted in a more elastic and effective Italian defense. As the Italians began to counter the pressure put on them at Monte Grappa, the German forces lost momentum and were once again caught up in another round of attrition warfare.Īrmando Diaz sent remnants of the defeated Italian Second Army in support of the Fourth Army. By the time the attack reached the Piave, the soldiers of the Central Powers were running low on supplies and were feeling the physical effects of exhaustion. When inadequate provisioning was combined with the gruelling night marches preceding the Battle of Caporetto, a heavy toll was imposed on the German and Austro-Hungarian forces.ĭespite successes up until this point, the area controlled by the combined Central Powers forces had expanded to an extent that strained logistical control. The Allied blockade of the German Empire, which the Kaiserliche Marine had been unable to break, was partly responsible for food shortages and widespread malnutrition in Germany and the Central Powers in general. Erwin Rommel, who, as a junior officer, won the Pour le Mérite for his exploits in the battle, often bemoaned the demands placed upon his “poorly fed troops”. Even before the Battle in Caporetto in October, Germany was struggling to feed and supply its armies in the field. The German and Austro-Hungarian supply lines had in fact become overstreched. The Austrians, with help from the German Army’s Alpenkorps, failed to take the mountains summit during the first battle of Monte Grappa from Novemto December 23, 1917. When the Austrian offensive routed the Italians, the new Italian chief of staff, Armando Diaz ordered the Fourth Army to stop their retreat and defend these positions between the Roncone and Tomatico mountains. The Italian Chief of the general staff general Luigi Cadorna had ordered to construct fortified defenses around the Monte Grappa summit to make the mountain range an impregnable fortress. ![]() The Italian Army was in all-out retreat after the Austrian autumn offensive of 1917. The view from Monte Grappa towards the Alps, Italy (Source: Wikipedia) ![]()
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