Although a member of the Triple Alliance, Italy did not join the Central Powers – Germany and Austria-Hungary – when the war started with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia on 28 July 1914. In fact, the two Central Powers had taken the offensive while the Triple Alliance was supposed to be a defensive alliance. Moreover the Triple Alliance recognized that both Italy and Austria-Hungary were interested in the Balkans and required both to consult each other before changing the status quo and to provide compensation for whatever advantage in that area: Austria-Hungary did consult Germany but not Italy before issuing the ultimatum to Serbia, and refused any compensation before the end of the war.
Almost a year after the war's commencement, after secret parallel negotiations with both sides (with the Allies in which Italy negotiated for territory if victorious, and with the Central Powers to gain territory if neutral) Italy entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers. Italy began to fight against Austria-Hungary along the northern border, including high up in the now-Italian Alps with very cold winters and along the Isonzo river. The Italian army repeatedly attacked and, despite winning a number of battles, suffered heavy losses and made little progress as the terrain favoured the defender. In 1916, the Italians stopped the Südtirol Offensive and conquered Gorizia. However, Italy was then forced to retreat in 1917 by a German-Austrian counteroffensive at the Battle of Caporetto after Russia left the war, allowing the Central Powers to move reinforcements to the Italian Front from the Eastern Front.
The government's hope was that the war would be the culmination of Italy's struggle for national independence. Her new allies promised her the "natural frontiers" which she had so long sought-the Trentino and Trieste-and something more. At the end of hostilities she did indeed extend her territory, but she came away from the peace conference dissatisfied with her reward for three and a half years' bitter warfare, having lost half a million of her noblest youth, with her economy impoverished and internal divisions more bitter than ever. That strife could not be resolved within the framework of the old parliamentary regime. The war that was to have been the climax of the Risorgimento produced the Fascist dictatorship. Something, somewhere, had gone wrong.[1]
Italy was a member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Despite this, in the years before the war, Italy had enhanced its diplomatic relationships with the United Kingdom and France. This was because the Italian government had grown convinced that support of Austria (the traditional enemy of Italy during the 19th century Risorgimento) would not gain Italy the territories it wanted: Trieste, Istria, Zara and Dalmatia, all Austrian possessions. In fact, a secret agreement signed with France in 1902 sharply conflicted with Italy's membership in the Triple Alliance.
A few days after the outbreak of the war, on 3 August 1914, the government, led by the conservative Antonio Salandra, declared that Italy would not commit its troops, maintaining that the Triple Alliance had only a defensive stance and Austria-Hungary had been the aggressor. Thereafter Salandra and the minister of Foreign Affairs, Sidney Sonnino, began to probe which side would grant the best reward for Italy's entrance in the war or its neutrality. Although the majority of the cabinet (including former Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti) was firmly against intervention, numerous intellectuals, including Socialists such as Ivanoe Bonomi, Leonida Bissolati, and, after 18 October 1914, Benito Mussolini, declared in favour of intervention, which was then mostly supported by the Nationalist and the Liberal parties. Pro-interventionist socialists believed that, once that weapons had been distributed to the people, they could have transformed the war into a revolution.
On 3 May 1915 Italy officially revoked the Triple Alliance. In the following days Giolitti and the neutralist majority of the Parliament opposed declaring war, while nationalist crowds demonstrated in public areas for it. (The nationalist poet Gabriele D'Annunzio called this period le radiose giornate di Maggio—"the sunny days of May"). Giolitti had the support of the majority of Italian parliament so on 13 May Salandra offered his resignation to King Victor Emmanuel III, but then Giolitti learned that the London Pact was already signed: fearful of a conflict between the Crown and the Parliament and the consequences on both internal stability and foreign relationships, Giolitti accepted the fait accompli, declined to succeed as prime minister and Salandra's resignation was not accepted. On 23 May, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. This was followed by declarations of war on the Ottoman Empire (21 August 1915,[2] following an ultimatum of 3 August), Bulgaria (19 October 1915) and the German Empire (28 August 1916).[3]
The Italian Front in 1915–1917: eleven Battles of the Isonzo and Asiago offensive. In blue, initial Italian conquests
The Italian Front stretched from the Stelvio Pass (at the border triangle between Italy, Austria-Hungary and Switzerland) along the Tyrolean, Carinthian, and Littoral borders to the Isonzo. Its total length was around 650 km (400 mi), of which 400 km (250 mi) ran in high alpine terrain.[7] This information relates to measurements as the crow flies. Taking into account the natural terrain, the many yokes, peaks and ridges with the resulting differences in height, the effective length was several thousand kilometers.[8]
The front touched very different geographical areas: in the first three sections - from the Stelvio Pass to the Julian Alps in the area of Tarvisio, it ran through mountainous territory, where the average ridge heights reached 2,700 to 3,200 meters. The higher mountainous regions have a highly rugged relief with little vegetation; Elevations over 2,500 meters are also covered by glaciers. The barren landscape and lack of sufficient arable land led to little development of these high elevations; settlement was largely limited to the lower-lying zones. From the Julian Alps to the Adriatic Sea, the mountains are constantly losing on height and only rarely reach 1,000 meters as in the area around Gorizia. This area is also sparsely populated and characterized by a harsh climate with cold winters and very hot and dry summers. A craggy karst landscape spreads out around the Isonzo valley, which adjoins the Italian foothills of the Alps in the southwest.[9]
The topographical characteristics of the front area had a concrete impact on the conduct of the war. The rocky ground, for example, made it difficult to dig trenches and in addition, the karst rock in the Isonzo Valley turned out to be an additional danger for the soldiers. If grenades exploded on the porous surface fragments of the exploding rock acted as additional shrapnel.
Mobilization
Italian infantry soldier in full marching order
Archduke Eugen, who was already in command of the Balkan forces, was promoted to Generaloberst on May 22, 1915 and was given supreme command of the new southwest front.[10] Together with his chief of staff Alfred Krauß the 5th Army was reorganized and placed under the command of General d. Inf. Svetozar Boroević who on May 27 had arrived from the Eastern Front. The K. u. k. Landesverteidigungskommando in Tyrol (LVK) was handed to GdK Viktor Dankl to protect the Tyrolean borders. It included the German Alpenkorps which was suitable for operations in the high mountains, the first divisions arrived on May 26; a short time later, the Alpenkorps was already taking part in combat operations against Italian units, although the German Empire was not officially at war with Italy until August 28, 1916.[11] The "Armeegruppe Rohr" stood under the command of Franz Rohr von Denta and was to secure the Carinthian front. The transfer of the 5th Army and additional troops from the east went smoothly; within a few weeks, Archduke Eugen had around 225,000 soldiers under his command. In June the 48. Division (FML Theodor Gabriel) and finally, in July, the four Kaiserjäger regiments and three k.k. Landesschützen regiments from Galicia were added. A major advantage of the Austro-Hungarian defense was its entrenchment on higher ground.
Italy ordered general mobilization on May 22, 1915 and by the end of June four armies had marched into the north-east border area. In the deployment plan of the Italian general staff (Commando Supremo) under the direction of FM Luigi Cadorna, three main points were set:
The 1st Army was to encircle the Tyrolean front from the west and south.
The 4th Army was to set up position in the Cadore and Carnia
The 2nd and 3rd Armies on the other hand, were opposed to the 5th k.u.k. Army, in the Julian Alps and on the Isonzo.
Italian soldiers listening to their General's speech
Although the Italian armed forces were numerically superior, things initially remained surprisingly quiet on the southwestern front. No attempt was made to break through on the Tyrolean front, and there was no major offensive on the Isonzo either. Due to the hesitant implementation of Cadorna's attack plans, the chance to score the decisive blow right at the beginning was lost.[12] FML Cletus Pichler, the chief of staff of the LVK Tirol, wrote:[13]
A general attack on the most important penetration points, such as the Stilfser Joch, Etschtal, Valsugana, Rollepass [sic], [and] Kreuzbergpass, [...] could have led to significant enemy successes in view of the extremely weak defense forces in May.
That the opportunity for a quick breakthrough was not used was partly due to the slow mobilization of the Italian army. Due to the poorly developed transport network, the provision of troops and war material could only be completed in mid-June, i.e. a month later than estimated by the military leadership.[14] The Italian army also suffered from many shortcomings on the structural level. Artillery pieces and munitions were not the only area where shortages were acute. In August 1914 the Italian army had at its disposal only 750,000 rifles of the standard Carcano 1891 model and no hand grenades available at all. This inadequate supply of equipment especially limited the scope and efficiency of training throughout 1914 and 1915. Munitions were also urgently needed: in July 1914 only ca. 700 rounds were available per rifle, despite Cadorna's demand that 2,000 rounds each be found in preparation for war, by May 1915 the army had only succeeded in procuring 900 rounds per rifle.[15] Meanwhile, Emilio De Bono records that "throughout 1915 hand-grenades remained unheard of in the trenches".[16]
Italy's first machine guns were prototypes, as the Perino Model 1908, or Maxim guns acquired in 1913 from the British manufacturer Vickers. In line with the 1911 plan for creating 602 machine gun sections. By August 1914 only 150 of these had been created, meaning there was only one machine gun section per regiment, as opposed to one per battalion, as envisaged in the plans. By May 1915 the Fiat-Revelli Mod. 1914 became the standard machine gun of the Italian army and a total of 309 sections had been created, with 618 guns in total; though this was an improvement it was still only half the planned number, leaving many battalions to do without. In contrast a standard k.u.k regiment had four machine gun sections, MG 07/12 "Schwarzlose", one for each battalion, whilst a standard British regiment had by February 1915 four machine gun sections per battalion.[15]
During the Italo-Turkish War in Libya (1911–1912), the Italian military suffered equipment and munition shortages not yet repaired before Italian entry into the Great War.[17] At the opening of the campaign, Austro-Hungarian troops occupied and fortified high ground of the Julian Alps and Karst Plateau, but the Italians initially outnumbered their opponents three-to-one.
The first shells were fired in the dawn of 24 May 1915 against the enemy positions of Cervignano del Friuli, which was captured a few hours later. On the same day the Austro-Hungarian fleet bombarded the railway stations of Manfredonia and Ancona. The first Italian casualty was Riccardo Di Giusto.
The main effort was to be concentrated in the Isonzo and Vipava valleys and on the Karst Plateau, in the direction of Ljubljana. The Italian troops had some initial successes, but as in the Western Front, the campaign soon evolved into trench warfare. The main difference was that the trenches had to be dug in the Alpine rocks and glaciers instead of in the mud, and often up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) of altitude.
At the beginning of the First Battle of the Isonzo on 23 June 1915, Italian forces outnumbered the Austrians three-to-one but failed to penetrate the strong Austro-Hungarian defensive lines in the highlands of northwestern Gorizia and Gradisca. Because the Austrian forces occupied higher ground, Italians conducted difficult offensives while climbing. The Italian forces therefore failed to drive much beyond the river, and the battle ended on 7 July 1915.
Despite a professional officer corps, severely under-equipped Italian units lacked morale.[18] Also many troops deeply disliked the newly appointed Italian commander, general Luigi Cadorna.[19] Moreover, preexisting equipment and munition shortages slowed progress and frustrated all expectations for a "Napoleonic style" breakout.[17] Like most contemporaneous militaries, the Italian army primarily used horses for transport but struggled and sometimes failed to supply the troops sufficiently in the tough terrain.
Two weeks later on 18 July 1915, the Italians attempted another frontal assault against the Austro-Hungarian trench lines with more artillery in the Second Battle of the Isonzo. In the northern section of the front, the Italians managed to overrun Mount Batognica over Kobarid (Caporetto), which would have an important strategic value in future battles. This bloody offensive concluded in stalemate when both sides ran out of ammunition.
The Italians recuperated, rearmed with 1200 heavy guns, and then on 18 October 1915 launched the Third Battle of the Isonzo, another attack. Forces of Austria-Hungary repulsed this Italian offensive, which concluded on 4 November without resulting gains.
The Italians again launched another offensive on 10 November, the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo. Both sides suffered more casualties, but the Italians conquered important entrenchments, and the battle ended on 2 December for exhaustion of armaments, but occasional skirmishing persisted.
This stalemate dragged on for the whole of 1916. While the Austro-Hungarians amassed large forces in Trentino, the Italian command launched the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo, lasting for eight days from 11 March 1916. This attempt was also fruitless.
Following Italy's stalemate, the Austro-Hungarian forces began planning a counteroffensive (Battle of Asiago) in Trentino and directed over the plateau of Altopiano di Asiago, with the aim to break through to the Po River plain and thus cutting off the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Italian Armies in the North East of the country. The offensive began on 15 May 1916 with 15 divisions, and resulted in initial gains, but then the Italians counterattacked and pushed the Austro-Hungarians back to the Tyrol.
Later in 1916, four more battles along the Isonzo river erupted. The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, launched by the Italians in August, resulted in a success greater than the previous attacks. The offensive gained nothing of strategic value but did take Gorizia, which boosted Italian spirits. The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth battles of the Isonzo (14 September – 4 November) managed to accomplish little except to wear down the already exhausted armies of both nations. The price was a further 37,000 dead and 88,000 wounded for the Italians, again for no remarkable conquest. In late 1916, the Italian army advanced for some kilometers in Trentino, while, for the whole winter of 1916–1917, the situation in the Isonzo front remained stationary. In May and June was the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo.
The frequency of offensives for which the Italian soldiers partook between May 1915 and August 1917, one every three months, was higher than demanded by the armies on the Western Front. Italian discipline was also harsher, with punishments for infractions of duty of a severity not known in the German, French, and British armies.[20]
Shellfire in the rocky terrain caused 70% more casualties per rounds expended than on the soft ground in Belgium and France. By the autumn of 1917 the Italian army had suffered most of the deaths it was to incur during the war, yet the end of the war seemed to still be an eternity away.[20] This was not the same line of thought for the Austro-Hungarians. On 25 August, the Emperor Charles wrote to the Kaiser the following: "The experience we have acquired in the eleventh battle has led me to believe that we should fare far worse in the twelfth. My commanders and brave troops have decided that such an unfortunate situation might be anticipated by an offensive. We have not the necessary means as regards troops."[21]
From 1915, the high peaks of the Dolomites range were an area of fierce mountain warfare. In order to protect their soldiers from enemy fire and the hostile alpine environment, both Austro-Hungarian and Italian military engineers constructed fighting tunnels which offered a degree of cover and allowed better logistics support. Working at high altitudes in the hard carbonate rock of the Dolomites, often in exposed areas near mountain peaks and even in glacial ice, required extreme skill of both Austro-Hungarian and Italian miners.
Beginning on the 13th, later referred to as White Friday, December 1916 would see 10,000 soldiers on both sides killed by avalanches in the Dolomites.[22] Numerous avalanches were caused by the Italians and Austro-Hungarians purposefully firing artillery shells on the mountainside, while others were naturally caused.
In addition to building underground shelters and covered supply routes for their soldiers like the Italian Strada delle 52 Gallerie, both sides also attempted to break the stalemate of trench warfare by tunneling under no man's land and placing explosive charges beneath the enemy's positions. Between 1 January 1916 and 13 March 1918, Austro-Hungarian and Italian units fired a total of 34 mines in this theatre of the war. Focal points of the underground fighting were Pasubio with 10 mines, Lagazuoi with 5, Col di Lana/Monte Sief also with 5, and Marmolada with 4 mines. The explosive charges ranged from 110 to 50,000 kilograms (240–110,230 pounds) of blasting gelatin. In April 1916, the Italians detonated explosives under the peaks of Col Di Lana, killing numerous Austro-Hungarians.
1917: Germany arrives on the front
The Battle of CaporettoItalian 102/35 anti-air guns mounted on SPA 9000C trucks during the retreatProvisional Italian trenches along the Piave River
The Italians directed a two-pronged attack against the Austrian lines north and east of Gorizia. The Austrians checked the advance east, but Italian forces under Luigi Capello managed to break the Austrian lines and capture the Banjšice Plateau. Characteristic of nearly every other theater of the war, the Italians found themselves on the verge of victory but could not secure it because their supply lines could not keep up with the front-line troops and they were forced to withdraw. However, the Italians despite suffering heavy casualties had almost exhausted and defeated the Austro-Hungarian army on the front, forcing them to call in German help for the much anticipated Caporetto Offensive.
Though the last Italian offensive had proven inconclusive, the Austro-Hungarians were in strong need of reinforcements. These became available when Russia crumbled and troops from the Eastern front, the Trentino front and Flanders were secretly concentrated on the Isonzo front. On 18 August 1917 began the most important Italian offensive, the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo. This time the Italian advance was initially successful as the Bainsizza Plateau southeast of Tolmino was captured, but the Italian army outran its artillery and supply lines, thus preventing the further advance that could have finally succeeded in breaking the Austro-Hungarian army. The Austro-Hungarian line ultimately held and the attack was abandoned on 12 September 1917.
The Austro-Hungarians received desperately needed reinforcements after the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo from German Army soldiers rushed in after the Russianoffensive ordered by Kerensky of July 1917 failed. Also arrived German troops from Romanian front after the Battle of Mărășești. The Germans introduced infiltration tactics to the Austro-Hungarian front and helped work on a new offensive. Meanwhile, mutinies and plummeting morale crippled the Italian Army from within. The soldiers lived in poor conditions and engaged in attack after attack that often yielded minimal or no military gain.
On 24 October 1917 the Austro-Hungarians and Germans launched the Battle of Caporetto (Italian name for Kobarid or Karfreit in German). Chlorine-arsenic agent and diphosgene gas shells were fired as part of a huge artillery barrage, followed by infantry using infiltration tactics, bypassing enemy strong points and attacking on the Italian rear. At the end of the first day. From Caporetto the Austro-Hungarians advanced for 150 km (93 mi) south-west, reaching Udine after only four days. The defeat of Caporetto caused the disintegration of the whole Italian front of the Isonzo. The situation was re-established by forming a stop line on the Tagliamento and then on the Piave rivers, but at the price of 10,000 dead, 30,000 wounded, 265,000 prisoners, 300,000 stragglers, 50,000 deserters, over 3,000 artillery pieces, 3,000 machine guns and 1,700 mortars. The Austro-Hungarian and German losses totaled 70,000. Cadorna, who had tried to attribute the causes of the disasters to low morale and cowardice among the troops, was relieved of duty. On 8 November 1917 he was replaced by Armando Diaz.
When the Austro-Hungarian offensive routed the Italians, the new Italian chief of staff, Armando Diaz ordered to stop their retreat and defend the fortified defenses around the Monte Grappa summit between the Roncone and the Tomatico mountains; although numerically inferior (51,000 against 120,000) the Italian Army managed to halt the Austro-Hungarian and German armies in the First Battle of Monte Grappa.
The Central Powers ended the year 1917 with a general offensive on the Piave, the Altopiano di Asiago, and the Monte Grappa, which failed and the Italian front reverted to attritional trench warfare. The Italian army was forced to call the 1899 levy, while that of 1900 was left for a hypothetical final effort for the year of 1919.
The Central Powers stopped their attacks in 1917 because German troops were needed on the Western Front while the Austro-Hungarian troops were exhausted and at the end of much longer logistical lines. The offensive was renewed on 15 June 1918 with Austro-Hungarian troops only in the Battle of Piave. The Italians resisted the assault. The failure of the offensive marked the swan song of Austria-Hungary on the Italian front. The Central Powers proved finally unable to sustain further the war effort, while the multi-ethnic entities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were on the verge of rebellion. The Italians rescheduled earlier their planned 1919 counter-offensive to October 1918, in order to take advantage of the Austro-Hungarian crisis.
Postcard sent from an Italian soldier to his family, c. 1917.
Advancing deep and fast, the Austro-Hungarians outran their supply lines, which forced them to stop and regroup. The Italians, pushed back to defensive lines near Venice on the Piave River, had suffered 600,000 casualties to this point in the war. Because of these losses, the Italian Government called to arms the so-called 99 Boys (Ragazzi del '99); the new class of conscripts born in 1899 who were turning 18 in 1917. In November 1917, British and French troops started to bolster the front line, from the 5 and 6 divisions respectively provided.[23][24][a] Far more decisive to the war effort than their troops was the Allies economic assistance by providing strategic materials (steel, coal and crops – provided by the British but imported from Argentina – etc.), which Italy always lacked sorely. In the spring of 1918, Germany pulled out its troops for use in its upcoming Spring Offensive on the Western Front. As a result of the Spring Offensive, Britain and France also pulled half of their divisions back to the Western Front.
The Austro-Hungarians now began debating how to finish the war in Italy. The Austro-Hungarian generals disagreed on how to administer the final offensive. Archduke Joseph August of Austria decided for a two-pronged offensive, where it would prove impossible for the two forces to communicate in the mountains.
The Second Battle of the Piave River began with a diversionary attack near the Tonale Pass named Lawine, which the Italians repulsed after two days of fighting.[26] Austrian deserters betrayed the objectives of the upcoming offensive, which allowed the Italians to move two armies directly in the path of the Austrian prongs. The other prong, led by general Svetozar Boroević von Bojna initially experienced success until aircraft bombed their supply lines and Italian reinforcements arrived.
The decisive Battle of Vittorio Veneto (October–November 1918)
To the disappointment of Italy's allies, no counter-offensive followed the Battle of Piave. The Italian Army had suffered huge losses in the battle, and considered an offensive dangerous. General Armando Diaz waited for more reinforcements to arrive from the Western Front. By the end of October 1918, Austro-Hungary was in a dire situation. Czechoslovakia, Croatia, and Slovenia proclaimed their independence and parts of their troops started deserting, disobeying orders and retreating. Many Czechoslovak troops, in fact, started working for the Allied Cause, and in September 1918, five Czechoslovak Regiments were formed in the Italian Army.
The Italian attack of 52 Italian divisions, aided by 3 British 2 French and 1 American division, 65,000 total and Czechoslovaks (see British and French forces in Italy during World War I), was started on 24 October from Vittorio Veneto. The Austro-Hungarians fought tenaciously for four days, but then the Italians managed to cross the Piave and establish a bridgehead, the Austro-Hungarians began to retreat and then disintegrate after the troops heard of revolutions and independence proclamations in the lands of the Dual Monarchy. Austria-Hungary asked for an armistice on 29 October. On 31 October, the Italian Army launched a full scale attack and the whole front began to collapse. On 3 November, 300,000 Austro-Hungarian soldiers surrendered, at the same day the Italians entered Trento and Trieste. The armistice was signed on 3 November at Villa Giusti, near Padua. The Italian victory[31][32][33] which was announced by the Bollettino della Vittoria and the Bollettino della Vittoria Navale.
Italian soldiers entered Trento while Bersaglieri landed from the sea in Trieste, greeted by the population. The following day the Istrian cities of Rovigno and Parenzo, the Dalmatian island of Lissa, and the cities of Zara and Fiume were occupied: the latter was not included in the territories originally promised secretly by the Allies to Italy in case of victory, but the Italians decided to intervene in reply to a local National Council, formed after the flight of the Hungarians, and which had announced the union to the Kingdom of Italy. The Regia Marina occupied Pola, Sebenico and Zara, which became the capital of the Governorate of Dalmatia.The Governorate of Dalmatia had the provisional aim of ferrying the territory towards full integration into the Kingdom of Italy, progressively importing national legislation in place of the previous one. The Governorate of Dalmatia was evacuated following the Italo-Yugoslav agreements which resulted in the Treaty of Rapallo (1920). Italy occupied also Innsbruck and all Tyrol by the III Corps of the First Army with 20–22,000 soldiers.[34]
Other theaters
Balkans
Italian troops in Thessaloniki, 1916
Italian troops played a major role in the defence of Albania against Austria-Hungary. From 1916 the Italian 35th Division fought on the Salonika front as part of the Allied Army of the Orient. The Italian XVI Corps (a separate entity independent from the Army of the Orient) took part in actions against Austro-Hungarian forces in Albania; in 1917 they established an Italian protectorate over Albania.
Western Front
Arrival of Italian troops at the Western front
Some Italian divisions were also sent to support the Entente on the Western Front. In 1918 Italian troops saw intense combat during the German spring offensive. Their most prominent engagement on this front was their role in the Second Battle of the Marne.
Italy played a token role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign, sending a detachment of five hundred soldiers to assist the British there in 1917.
As Italy entered the war on 23 May 1915, the situation of her forces in the African colonies was critical. Italian Somaliland, in the east was far from being pacified, and in North Africa's Cyrenaica the Italian forces were confined to some separated points on the coast. But in neighbouring Tripolitania and Fezzan, the story has a different beginning. In August 1914, during their previous colonial invasion and occupation versus local military and forces of the Ottoman Empire, the Italian forces reached Ghat, that is, conquered most of western Libya. But in November 1914, this advance turned into a general retreat, and on 7 April and 28 April, they suffered two reverses at Wadi Marsit (near Mizda) and Gasr Bu Hadi (or al-Qurdabiya near Sirte) respectively. By August 1915, the situation in Tripolitania was similar to that of Cyrenaica. The conquest of all of Libya was not resumed until January 1922.
Furious over the peace settlement, the Italian nationalist poet Gabriele D'Annunzio led disaffected war veterans and nationalists to form the Free State of Fiume in September 1919. His popularity among nationalists led him to be called Il Duce ("The Leader"), and he used black-shirted paramilitary in his assault on Fiume. The leadership title of Duce and the blackshirt paramilitary uniform would later be adopted by the fascist movement of Benito Mussolini. The demand for the Italian annexation of Fiume spread to all sides of the political spectrum.[36]
The subsequent Treaty of Rome (1924) led to the annexation of the city of Fiume to Italy. Italy's lack of territorial gain led to the outcome being denounced as a mutilated victory. The rhetoric of mutilated victory was adopted by Mussolini and led to the rise ofItalian fascism, becoming a key point in the propaganda of Fascist Italy. Historians regard mutilated victory as a "political myth", used by fascists to fuel Italian imperialism and obscure the successes of liberal Italy in the aftermath of World War I.[37] Italy also gained a permanent seat in the League of Nations's executive council.
^Cletus Pichler, Der Krieg in Tirol 1915/1916, Innsbruck 1924, p. 33 f.
^Klavora, Karstfront, p. 21; Hans Jürgen Pantenius, Der Angriffsgedanke gegen Italien bei Conrad von Hötzendorf. Ein Beitrag zur Koalitionskriegsführung im Ersten Weltkrieg, Bd. 1, Wien 1984, 613 ff.
^ abWilcox, Vanda, Morale and the Italian Army during the First World War, Cambridge University Press, 2016 p. 95
^Emilio de Bono, La guerra: Come e dove l'ho vista e combattuta io (Milan: A.Mondadori, 1935), p. 35.
^Williamson, Howard J. (2020). The award of the Military Medal for the campaign in Italy 1917-1918. privately published by Anne Williamson. ISBN978-1-8739960-5-8. The book includes: – A detailed overview of the Italian Campaign and its battles. – Notes on the [five] Divisions engaged in Italy.
^Paoletti, Ciro (2008). A Military History of Italy. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 150. ISBN978-0-275-98505-9. ... Ludendorff wrote: In Vittorio Veneto, Austria did not lose a battle, but lose the war and itself, dragging Germany in its fall. Without the destructive battle of Vittorio Veneto, we would have been able, in a military union with the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, to continue the desperate resistance through the whole winter, in order to obtain a less harsh peace, because the Allies were very fatigued.
^Burgwyn, H. James: Italian foreign policy in the interwar period, 1918–1940. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997. p. 4.
ISBN0-275-94877-3
^Schindler, John R.: Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. p. 303.
ISBN0-275-97204-6
Ferrari, Paolo. "The Memory And Historiography Of The First World War In Italy" Comillas Journal of International Relations (2015) #2 pp 117–126 [ISSN 2386-5776] DOI: cir.i02.y2015.009 online
Gooch, G. P. Recent Revelations Of European Diplomacy (1940), pp 245–62 summarizes memoirs of major participants
Gooch, John (2014). The Italian Army and the First World War. Armies of the Great War. Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0521149372.
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Penghargaan AMI untuk Album Terbaik-TerbaikDiberikan kepadaAlbum terbaikDeskripsiAlbum terbaikNegaraIndonesiaDipersembahkan olehYayasan Anugerah Musik IndonesiaDiberikan perdana1997Pemegang gelar saat iniIsyana Sarasvati – ISYANA (2023)Situs webami-awards.com Penghargaan Anugerah Musik Indonesia untuk Album Terbaik-Terbaik adalah penghargaan yang diberikan secara tahunan Yayasan Anugerah Musik Indonesia untuk album terbaik Indonesia. Penghargaan ini diberikan pada setiap pergelaran AMI seja...
New Zealand telecommunications company This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: TelstraClear – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) TelstraClearCompany typeSubsidiary of Vodafone New ZealandIndustryTelecommunicationsPredecessorSatu...
Indian agricultural scientist and social worker (1931–2021) B. V. NimbkarNimbkar presented with the Padma Shri by President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam (2006)Born(1931-07-17)17 July 1931Goa, Portuguese IndiaDied25 August 2021(2021-08-25) (aged 90)Phaltan, Maharashtra, IndiaOther namesBonOccupation(s)Agricultural scientistSocial workerKnown forNimbkar Agricultural Research InstituteSpouseJaiChildrenNandini Nimbkar Manjiri Nimbkar, Chanda NimbkarParent(s)Kamala and Vishnu NimbkarAward...
IncudineIncudine di sinistra visto A) medialmente e B) anteriormenteLa tuba uditiva di Eustachio, sezionata lungo l'asse maggiore ed aperta. (L'incudine è visibile in alto a sinistra). Anatomia del Gray(EN) Pagina 1044 SistemaSistema scheletrico Localizzazione anatomicacavo del timpano Ossa in contattoMartello, staffa ArticolazioniArticolazione incudo-malleolare, articolazione incudo-stapediale LegamentiLegamenti posteriore[1] e superiore dell'incudine Sviluppo embriologicoPrimo arco...
Casino and arena in Nevada, United States Silver Nugget Location North Las Vegas, Nevada 89030 Address 2140 Las Vegas Boulevard NorthOpening date1964Total gaming space23,000 sq ft (2,100 m2)[1]Signature attractionsBowling CenterCasino typeLand-basedOwnerFifth Street GamingPrevious namesMahoney's Silver Nugget CasinoWebsitesilvernuggetlv.com The Silver Nugget is a casino and arena located on Las Vegas Boulevard North in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The casino is owned and op...
Weapons in the Marvel Cinematic Universe This article is about the MCU versions of Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. For the Marvel Comics versions, see Mjolnir (comics) and Stormbreaker (comics). Mjolnir and StormbreakerMarvel Cinematic Universe elementLove wields the axe Stormbreaker and Thor wields the hammer Mjolnir in a scene from Thor: Love and Thunder.First appearance Iron Man 2 (2010) (Mjolnir) Avengers: Infinity War (2018) (Stormbreaker) Based onMjolnirby Stan LeeJack KirbyJoe SinnottAdapted...
Place in Centre-Est Region, Burkina FasoNingareCountry Burkina FasoRegionCentre-Est RegionProvinceBoulgou ProvinceDepartmentTenkodogo DepartmentPopulation (2005 est.) • Total2,160 Ningare is a town in the Tenkodogo Department of Boulgou Province in south-eastern Burkina Faso. As of 2005, the town has a population of 2,160.[1] References ^ Burkinabé government inforoute communale Archived 2008-10-11 at the Wayback Machine vte Boulgou ProvinceCapital: TenkodogoBag...
مستر أولمبيا 1986 معلومات عامة فترة الانعقاد 9 - 11 أكتوبر 1986 مكان الانعقاد كولومبوس، أوهايو، الولايات المتحدة المنظم الاتحاد الدولي لكمال الأجسام واللياقة البدنية (IFBB) المنطقة العالم ترتيب النسخة 22 الموقع الرسمي الموقع الرسمي لمحترفي اتحاد IFBB قائمة الفائزين صاحب الل�...
Skip to table of contents This is the talk page for discussing WikiProject Trains and anything related to its purposes and tasks. Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic. New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help. Assume good faith Be polite and avoid personal attacks Be welcoming to newcomers Seek dispute resolution if needed ShortcutsWT:RAILWT:RRWT:TRAINSWT:TWP Trains Project‑class Trains Portal This page is within the scope of WikiProject Trains, an attempt...
English footballer Not to be confused with Andy Taylor (footballer, born 1986). This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (December 2011) Andrew Taylor Taylor playing for Middlesbrough in 2009Personal informationFull name Andrew Derek Taylor[1]Date of birth (1986-08-01) 1 August 1986 (age 37)Place of birth Hartlepool, EnglandHeig...
هذه صفحة مساعدة لكيفية عمل شيء ما.تفصّل هذه الصفحة طرق أو إجراءات بعض جوانب قواعد وممارسات ويكيبيديا. هذه الصفحة ليست واحدة من سياسات أو إرشادات ويكيبيديا، حيث لم تفحص بدقة عبر المجتمع. اختصاراتوب:ي في قاموس مصطلحات ويكيبيديا تعتبر أي مقالة ليس لها وصلات من صفحات أخرى في و�...
Postseason college football bowl game College football game2021 Rose Bowl presented by Capital OneCollege Football Playoff Semifinal107th Rose Bowl Game Notre Dame Fighting Irish Alabama Crimson Tide (10–1) (11–0) [Independent] SEC 14 31 Head coach: Brian Kelly Head coach: Nick Saban APCoachesCFP 444 APCoachesCFP 111 1234 Total Notre Dame 0707 14 Alabama 14773 31 DateJanuary 1, 2021Season2020StadiumAT&T StadiumLocationArlington, TexasMVPOffense: DeVonta Smith (WR, ...
Not to be confused with Sphere inversion. Topological operation of turning a sphere inside-out without creasing A Morin surface seen from above Sphere eversion process as described in [1] Paper sphere eversion and Morin surface Paper Morin surface (sphere eversion halfway) with hexagonal symmetry In differential topology, sphere eversion is the process of turning a sphere inside out in a three-dimensional space (the word eversion means turning inside out). It is possible to smoothly a...
Rock band This article is about the band. For the album with Lennon, see John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. For the album with Ono, see Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band. Plastic Ono BandPlastic Ono Band, 1969. L–R: Klaus Voormann, Alan White, Yoko Ono, John Lennon and Eric ClaptonBackground informationAlso known as Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band Plastic U.F. Ono Band Plastic Ono Nuclear Band Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band Elastic Oz Band OriginLondon, EnglandGenres Rock experimental art rock avant-garde...
Station of the Istanbul Metro This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.Find sources: İ.T.Ü.—Ayazağa Istanbul Metro – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2016) İTÜ—AyazağaThe Istanbul Metro sign with the skyscrapers of Maslak.General informationLocationBüyükdere Cd., Reşitp...
Grebe Gloster Grebe of No. 25 Squadron RAF. Role FighterType of aircraft Manufacturer Gloster Aircraft Company Designer Henry Folland First flight 1923 Introduction 1923 Retired RAF 1931, RNZAF 1938 Primary users Royal Air ForceRoyal New Zealand Air Force Number built 133 Developed from Gloster Grouse Variants Gloster Gamecock The Gloster Grebe was developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company from the Gloster Grouse (an experimental aircraft later developed as a trainer), and was the Royal...
عقيلة ملك مصر, زوجة ملكية عظيمة أحمس الملكة أحمس, مع زوجها تحوتمس الأول وبنتهما الكبرى. عقيلة ملك مصر, زوجة ملكية عظيمة المصرية القديمة name معلومات شخصية الميلاد سنة 1505 ق م الأقصر الوفاة سنة 1493 ق م الأقصر مكان الدفن الأقصر? مواطنة مصر القديمة الديانة الديانة المصر�...
2011 studio album by André Rieu and Hayley WestenraAnd the Waltz Goes OnStudio album by André Rieu and Hayley WestenraReleased31 October 2011Recorded2011GenreClassicalLabelDecca And the Waltz Goes On [1] is a studio album by Dutch violinist André Rieu that features Christchurch soprano Hayley Westenra on the last track, Dreaming of New Zealand.[2] The album was released worldwide on 31 October 2011. It presents waltzes from around the world, including a Valse Trist...
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