Contro WW1: Battle at Isonzo 1915-1917 By: Emily D Arcy, Isaac Romero, Joe Spaniac, Mariana Salazar
Map: Isonzo River Isonzo River - All 12 battles primarily occurred along the Isonzo River (Italy) - Between Northern Italy and Slovenia (Italy) - The river is based between Italy and Austria, causing the river to be a prime battle location for the opposing sides (Carlisle)
Tactics - Austro-Hungarians = surround Italians - Trentino mountains - Since 1915, the major line between the Austro-Hungarian forces and the Italians had ranged between the Italian northeastern frontier and Gorizia on the Isonzo River, a line about 100 miles long but only about 10 to 20 miles into Austrian Slovenia (Carlisle) - Together, German and Austro-Hungarian forces defeated the Italians for good at the top of the Isonzo river (Carlisle) - Rest of Italy s army moved back west, to Venice (Carlisle) - Britain and France sent troops to Italy to hold off Austria s conquest (Carlisle)
Summary (Battles 1-4) - The first battle took place on the Isonzo river. Even though Cardona wanted the battles to be mobile, the river became a hardened battle zone. - The battles of Isonzo were meant to avoid stalemate. The Italians had more troops than Austria-Hungary, however they made little progress against the Austrian defenses. The first few battles made no progress for Italy. 3rd and 4th battles: 117000 Italian deaths, 72000 austrian deaths. (STA, T.M)
Summary (Battles 5-12) - The Italians capture the city Gorizia. - In these battles, the Italians made some significant progress, however it was at the expense of even more men. However, Capello outran the rest of the army and had to wait for them, providing the Austrians time to call on the Germans for help. (Shea)
Leaders (Italy) - Luigi Cadorna (1850-1928) - Lacked experience (Axelrod). - Excellent Organizer (Fredriksen). - Wanted to avoid stalemate like Western Front (Axelrod). - No trench warfare - Relying on majority in numbers (Axelrod). - Pledged to never give up at Isonzo (Axelrod). - Eventually replaced (Capello) (Axelrod).
Leaders (Austria-Hungary) - Conrad von Hötzendorf (1852-1925) - Personal hatred of Italy and Italians (Axelrod). - Wanted to deliver blow that would knock Italy out of the war (Axelrod). - Formulated Asiago Offensive (Axelrod). - Occupy plains of N. Italy (trap Italians) (Axelrod). - Cadorna noticed and warned, was ignored, Italians = unprepared (Axelrod). - Reinforcements Stopped advance (Axelrod).
Impacts -The Battles of the Isonzo cost Italy over 300,000 casualties (Duffy). -Austro-Hungarian losses were at around 200,000 (Duffy). -The Italian offensives forced Austria to divert divisions from fighting against Serbia and Russia. (Watts). -Trench warfare in eastern front (Michael)
Sources Cited Axelrod, Alan, and Charles L. Phillips. World War I on the Italian Front. Wars in the Early 20th Century (1900 to 1950), Facts On File, 2015, History Research Center Carlisle, Rodney P. The Calculus of Death: January 1917&Ndash;November 1918. World War I, Facts On File, 2006, History Research Center. Duffy, Michael. "Firstworldwar.com." First World War.com - Battles - The Battles of the Isonzo, 1915-17. N.p., 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. Fredriksen, John C. "Luigi Cadorna." World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2017, worldhistory.abc-clio.com/search/display/316908. Accessed 8 Feb. 2017. Italy. Infobase Learning. History Research Center. Web. 8 Feb. 2017. Lewis, Peter. ""The War in the Mountains" - Introduction." "The War in the Mountains" - Introduction. Daily Telegraph, 25 July 2008. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.
Sources Cited (2) MadMonarchist. "Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna." The Italian Monarchist. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. MadMonarchist. "Soldier of Monarchy: Field Marshal Franz Conrad Von Hötzendorf." The Mad Monarchist. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. Michael E. Hanlon and Leo Benedetti. "THE ISONZO BACKGROUND." La Grande Guerra: The Italian Front, 1915-1918 - The Eleven Battles of the Isonzo. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. "25 May 1915 - Roman Follies." The Great War Blog. N.p., 25 May 2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. Watts, Tim. "Isonzo Campaign." World History: The Modern Era, ABC-CLIO, 2017. Accessed 8 Feb. 2017. Shea, John. "World War I Today." Sixth Battle of the Isonzo. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2017. T.M, STA. "Slovenia Commemorates Centenary of Isonzo Front Battles." The Slovenia Times. N.p., 21 Mar. 2015. Web. 09 Feb. 2017.