Italians cross the Tagliamento; shortly thereafter, the bridge is blown.

October 29 1917, Codroipo--The Italians, soundly defeated at Caporetto, hoped to stabilize their lines behind the Tagliamento.  However, Cadorna, deeply pessimistic about the quality of his armies, was unconvinced that they could hold the Tagliamento, and on October 29 began issuing orders in preparation for a possible retreat to the Piave, another 25 miles to the west.  In an effort to at least delay the Germans and Austrians, the Italians blew most of the bridges over the Tagliamento on October 29.  In some cases, this was premature, leaving over 12,000 Italian soldiers on the far bank.  Most of these troops were able to conduct a fighting retreat across the river and evaded capture, however.

Further upstream, the first Austrians reached the Tagliamento around Cornino, where they found the last intact bridge across the river, and prepared to seize it by force.  The bridge was in two spans, separated by an island in the middle of the river.  Within two days, the Austrians had taken the first span, but by this time the Italians had blown the second; this did not deter the Austrians for long, however.

Along the coast, the Italian Navy evacuated as much as they could.  On October 30, the Italian Navy finished their evacuation of the seaside town of Grado.  When the Austrians entered shortly thereafter, they had retaken all of the territory they had lost along the Isonzo since the Italian declaration of war.

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Supplies being brought up to the front during the Battle of Caporetto.  Logistics were difficult in the Alpine terrain, but the Austrians and Germans were particularly lavish with supply in the weeks leading up to the attack; the division tasked with taking Caporetto received 300 additional pack animals and 210 additional trucks beyond its usual complement.

October 24 1917, Caporetto [Kobarid]--Although the Austrians had barely prevented a complete breakthrough in the last battle along the Isonzo, they were concerned that another Italian push could spell disaster.  In mid-September, Cadorna cancelled his plans for another attack in 1917, but the Austrians did not know this, and an attack in the spring could have been equally disastrous for them.  Emperor Charles personally appealed to the Kaiser for aid, and the Germans, for the first time in the war, agreed to provide major support against the Italians.  The capture of Riga and Russia’s general weakness freed troops up from the Eastern Front, even though British successes around Ypres in early October meant troops could not be brought in from the West on a large scale.

The Germans and Austrians planned their attack around Caporetto (Karfreit to the Germans, now Kobarid), on the upper Isonzo.  While the terrain was far more rugged there, it was hoped that the Italian defenses were weaker.  Throughout late September and early October, German troops and large masses of artillery were brought up to the front, despite the difficult logistics in the area.  Every precaution was taken to preserve surprise: troops were marched in at night, many Germans wore Austrian uniforms, false messages were sent to confuse the Italians, and a large influx of German planes made sure the Italians could not conduct aerial reconnaissance (although poor weather would have made that difficult regardless).

The Central Powers’ attack opened with a gas barrage at 2AM on October 24.  Italian gas masks, mainly older French models, were largely unable to handle the gas, which incapacitated or killed many of the defenders (though the difficulty of using gas on mountainsides meant many also escaped unscathed), especially those manning the Italian artillery.  Austrian progress on the northern flank of the attack was hampered by an unexpected snowstorm, but elsewhere the Italian lines were ruptured in many places.  The Italians had not truly prepared a defensive posture and had most of their troops in the front lines, where they were extremely vulnerable to German and Austrian artillery fire.  Stormtroopers and alpine units broke through Italian lines in key places and then threatened Italian positions from the rear.

One such unit was the Württemberg Mountain Battalion, transferred from the the Romanian front.  Rommel’s detachment of four companies made it through the Italian lines west of Tolmein at 8AM, and captured 1500 prisoners within their first day.  Within another 48 hours, he had captured another 7500 prisoners and secured Mt. Matajur, the last major obstacle in the Julian Alps standing between the Germans and the plains below, at the cost of only 20 casualties; the feat earned Rommel the Pour le Mérite.

Cadorna was not expecting an attack on the upper Isonzo, and he dismissed initial reports of the attacks as a feint for an Austrian counterattack on the Bainsizza.  The general Italian collapse and a severing of communications with the front lines meant that Cadorna did not realize the full extent of his army’s predicament until late that night, by which point the Central Powers had taken Caporetto, captured over 14,000 PoWs, and essentially destroyed three Italian divisions.

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November 4 1917, Cornino--Falling back from Caporetto and the Isonzo, the Italians attempted to hold a new line behind the Tagliamento.  However, the Italians had had little time to prepare any defenses, and had been demoralized by the retreat.  On November 2, Bosnian troops were able to force a crossing of the Tagliamento around Cornino, over a bridge constructed under fire by Austrian engineers.  By November 3, the Bosnians had established a secure bridgehead, and the Germans had established another one further south.  Early on November 4, Cadorna ordered another withdrawal, this time to the river Piave, another thirty miles to the west.

The Italian situation was growing more desperate; Cadorna even hinted that a separate peace would be possible if the defeats continued.  The Allies, desperate to shore up the Italians, began sending troops their way, with the first crossing into Italy on the 3rd; it would be some time, however, before they reached the front lines.  The British and French Prime Ministers left their capitals on November 4th, bound for an emergency conference at Rapallo to address the crisis.  The Germans and Austrians were growing more bullish; while they had already succeeded far beyond their initial expectations, there was now talk of capturing Venice.  Conrad, commanding Austrian troops in Tyrol, talked of launching an offensive south to try to cut off the bulk of the Italian army.  Ludendorff, however, still considered Italy to be a sideshow, and refused to commit any additional German troops.

Some of the more than 250,000 Italian PoWs captured in late October and early November.

October 27 1917, Udine--By early on October 27, the Germans and Austrians had completely broken through around Caporetto.  The fall of Gran Monte, to the west of the town, along with Rommel’s capture of Mt. Matajur just to the southwest, meant that the way was now open to the plains and the Adriatic below.  The Italian forces on the lower Isonzo, which had fought for the last two years to secure a few miles on the far side of the river, now risked being trapped.  At 2:30 AM, Cadorna ordered a general retreat back to the Tagliamento, thirty miles to the west.  Many soldiers of the Third Army openly wept as they abandoned their hard-fought gains and the graves of hundreds of thousands of fellow soldiers.

Meanwhile, the Second Army was in full retreat from the advancing Germans and Austrians.  Most of its troops, those who did not face the initial attack, were still in good order. However, they were largely abandoned by their commanders. The Second Army’s commander had been taken ill only a few days before the attack, while Cadorna put the blame squarely on his soldiers, telling a subordinate, “What could I do? The army was swarming with worms.”  His official response to Rome, sent the next day, was little better: “the failure to resist on the part of units of the Second Army, which cravenly withdrew without fighting or ignominiously surrendered to the enemy, has allowed the Austro-German forces to break through...”  Cadorna himself left his headquarters in Udine for Treviso, over 60 miles to the west, safely behind the Piave, while leaving the Second Army to retreat over the few bridges over the upper Tagliamento (reserving the others for the Third Army).

The soldiers of the Second Army rightly felt abandoned.  One soldier recalled that on hearing that the generals had left:

“Then we’re going too,” someone said, and we all shouted “That’s right, we have had enough of the war, we’re going home.”  The lieutenant said, “You’ve gone mad, I’ll shoot you,” but we took his pistol away. We threw our rifles away and started marching to the rear.  Soldiers were pouring along the other paths and we told them all we were going home and they should come with us and throw their guns away.  I was worried at first, but then I thought I had nothing to lose, I’d have been killed if I’d stayed in the trenches and anything was better than that.  And then I felt so angry because I’d put up with everything like a slave till now; I’d never even thought of getting away. But I was happy too, we were all happy, all saying “it’s home or prison, but no more war.”

Cadorna, having lost faith in his own soldiers, and recognizing that he desperately needed help, accepted an offer from Foch for four French divisions to bolster the Italians.  Lloyd George, long a proponent of British aid to the Italian front, also ordered two divisions there, though he knew they would not be used for an offensive there as he had hoped.

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November 27 1917, Versailles--The Supreme Allied War Council, agreed on by the Western Allies after the disaster at Caporetto, had its membership announced on November 27.  The French, who would likely be taking the preeminent role (especially as the council was to be based at Versailles), were represented by Ferdinand Foch.  The British were to be represented by General Henry Wilson, who had a good relationship with Foch and had a long history of helping to coordinate the British and French armies, especially in the lead-up to the Nivelle Offensive.  Lloyd George also hoped that Wilson would serve as a valuable second opinion to counterbalance Haig and Robertson, one that he had sorely lacked during the fighting in Passchendaele.

The Italians would be represented by Cadorna, sidelined since his defeat at Caporetto.  With the Italians having suffered tremendous losses and now viewed as being somewhat of a liability, he would have little influence on the council.  The Americans, though as of yet having only a small presence in Europe, would be represented by Chief of Staff Tasker Bliss; he would continue in this role in 1918 even after he was automatically retired from his role as US Army Chief of Staff.  The Russians, who were simultaneously actively seeking an armistice, were not represented on the Supreme War Council; in fact, one of the council’s first decisions at their first meeting on December 1 was to cease all aid shipments to the Russians.  None of the other Allies were represented, generally being considered too small or too distant to have major input on the Western Front.

Mt San Gabriele, pictured after the Italian retreat from the area next month.

September 11 1917, Mt. San Gabriele--The Italian successes on the Bainsizza plateau in August soon became bogged down in attempts to take Mt. San Gabriele, which guarded the Vipacco valley above Gorizia.  If it were taken, Cadorna was convinced that the Italians could push on towards Ljubljana to the east, and outflank the Austrian defenses guarding Trieste.  On September 4, Cadorna renewed attacks on the mountaintop, taking it briefly.  Boroevic was equally convinced as to the mountain’s importance, and devoted his last reserves to the battle, retaking the mountain that afternoon.  However, he thought he could not hold onto it for long.

Over the next week, the fight for the mountain continued, in incredibly close quarters.  During a brief pause in the battle one night, an Austrian mail carrier got lost and delivered his mail to the Italians instead.  On September 8, Cadorna simply began trying to destroy the mountain, bombarding it with such intensity that its peak was reduced by more than thirty feet over the next three days.  A defending Austrian recalled: “Who could full describe this San Gabriele, this sort of Moloch which swallows up a regiment every three or four days...”

On the night of September 11, Boroevic was able to scrounge up two elite companies of shock troops and backed them up with a whole artillery brigade.  They pushed the Italians clear from the mountaintop, reversing the gains the Italians had paid for with over 10,000 casualties over the previous week.  This was to be the furthest the Italians would push until the final days of the war.

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