Italy's Performance Against Austria: A Detailed Analysis

Italy's performance against Austria during the First World War was mixed.

Italy entered the war in 1915, aiming to conquer Austrian territory it believed to be rightfully Italian. The Italian offensive began in May 1915, with attacks on the Isonzo River and Trentino. However, the war quickly devolved into an entrenched conflict, with neither side able to break through in 1915 or 1916.

Italy suffered a major defeat at Caporetto in 1917, with Italian forces retreating over 150 kilometres and abandoning 20,000 square kilometres of territory. This defeat was due to a combination of poor Italian leadership and planning, as well as innovative tactics employed by the Central Powers.

However, Italy recovered from this setback, and ultimately emerged victorious in 1918. The final battle of Vittorio Veneto resulted in the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian army, and Italy successfully annexed Trentino, completing the unification of the country.

Italy's offensive strategy

Italy's primary objective was to conquer territory it believed to be rightfully Italian, including Trento and South Tyrol as far as the Brenner Pass, along with Trieste, the Austrian Littoral, northern Dalmatia, and territories of present-day Trentino and South Tyrol. The direct conquest of these areas, known as the "terre irredente" (unredeemed lands), was challenging due to the mountainous terrain and well-fortified Austrian defensive systems.

The Italian offensive began in May 1915, with attacks along the Isonzo River and in the Trentino. Italy sought to exploit its numerical superiority, but its inefficient mobilisation allowed Austrian forces to dig in and create effective defences. The First Battle of the Isonzo began on 23 June 1915, almost a month after the declaration of war, with Italian forces outnumbered three-to-one. Despite their numerical advantage, Italian forces struggled due to inadequate equipment, poor leadership, and the challenging terrain.

The Italian offensive continued with the Second Battle of the Isonzo in July 1915, which again failed to break through Austrian defensive lines. Subsequent battles, including the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Battles of the Isonzo, resulted in minimal territorial gains and high casualties for both sides. The Italian forces were on the verge of collapse by the end of 1915.

In 1916, Italy launched the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo in March and the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo in August, capturing strategic positions but failing to achieve decisive victories. The same year, the Austro-Hungarian forces launched a counteroffensive, the Battle of Asiago, aiming to break through to the Po River plain. However, the Italians successfully repulsed this attack.

In 1917, Italy continued its offensive with the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo in May and the Battle of Ortigara in June, but these efforts were largely unsuccessful. In October and November 1917, a joint Austro-German attack at Caporetto inflicted a massive defeat on Italy, but the Central Powers failed to capitalise on their victory.

Italy recovered and, with the support of French and British divisions, launched the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in October 1918, which marked the final Italian offensive of the war. This offensive resulted in the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian army and the capture of Trento and Trieste. The armistice with Austria was signed on 3 November 1918, bringing an end to the Italian Front.

Trench warfare

The Italian front was also characterised by glaciers and snow-peaked mountaintops. The harsh climate and rugged terrain made it difficult to dig trenches, and 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 shrapnel.

Tunneling was also an important part of the warfare on the Italian front. Italian and Austro-Hungarian miners tunnelled through the rock and mountains of the region to gain protection and cover from enemy fire. The tunnels were also used as a means of storage for supplies and men. Armies sometimes mined tunnels as a means of creating living quarters for officers and soldiers. Tunneling was also used as a direct means of warfare. Soldiers from both sides would tunnel into, and under, no man's land, to plant explosives. These explosives were then detonated as a means of destroying the enemy line of trenches.

The Alpine front

The Italian front was characterised by trench warfare, similar to that on the Western Front, but at high altitudes and with extremely cold winters. The rocky ground made it difficult to dig trenches, and the karst rock in the Isonzo Valley turned out to be an additional danger for soldiers as fragments of the exploding rock acted as shrapnel.

The Italian front was fought over territory that Italy believed to be rightfully Italian. The Kingdom of Italy aimed to annex the Austrian Littoral, northern Dalmatia and the territories of present-day Trentino and South Tyrol. The front saw a series of Italian offensives along the Isonzo River, as well as the Trentino and Asiago regions.

The harsh conditions of the Alpine front led to a war of attrition, with neither side able to break through in 1915 or 1916. The Italian forces suffered from many shortcomings on the structural level, including a lack of artillery pieces, munitions, rifles, hand grenades, machine guns, and equipment. The Italian army also struggled with the transport of troops and war material due to the poorly developed transport network.

Naval operations in the Adriatic

The Adriatic campaign was also important because for the first time two new weapons were used successfully in warfare: the MAS torpedo boat of Luigi Rizzo that sank the battleship Szent István, and the human torpedo of Raffaele Rossetti that sank the battleship SMS Viribus Unitis in 1918.

The Italian fleet was commanded by Admiral Carlo di Persano and was composed of a mix of unarmoured sailing ships with steam engines, and armoured ironclads also combining sails and steam engines. The Austrian fleet was commanded by Konteradmiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff and was composed of armoured ships, unarmoured wooden ships, and minor craft.

The Italian fleet outnumbered the Austrian fleet, with 12 ironclads and 17 unarmoured ships compared to the Austrian fleet's 7 ironclads and 11 unarmoured ships. The Austrians were also severely outmatched in rifled guns (276 to 121) and total weight of metal (53,236 tons to 23,538 tons).

The engagement was made up of several small battles. The main battle was fought between seven Austrian and twelve Italian ironclads. This battle showed the ability of Austrian Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff to divide his more numerous opponents and then destroy the isolated ironclads. The Austrian plan was to close quickly into a melee and to use close-range fire and ramming to sink a small portion of the Italian fleet, thereby breaking the Italian will to fight.

The Italian navy fired roughly 1450 shots during the engagement but failed to sink any Austrian ship and lost two ironclads. This poor performance was largely due to rivalry between the Italian fleet commanders. For instance, Italian Vice Admiral Albini's ships did not engage the enemy.

The Italian defeat was overshadowed by the crushing Prussian victory over the Austrian Army at Königgrätz. Austria, humbled by Prussia and bullied by Napoleon III of France, agreed to cede Venetia to Italy despite the overall failure of the Italian war effort. Tegetthoff's efforts were instrumental in preventing the Italians from annexing some of the Dalmatian islands, which were once part of the Republic of Venice.

The Battle of Vittorio Veneto

The battle led to the capture of over 5,000 artillery pieces and over 350,000 Austro-Hungarian troops, including Germans, Czechs and Slovaks, South Slavs, Poles, Romanians, Ukrainians, and Austro-Hungarian loyalist Italians and Friulians. The Italian armies in the mountains were ordered to hold the front line and follow up the enemy when it retreated. The task of opening the attack and taking on the strongest positions fell to the Fourth Army on Mount Grappa. The Twelfth Army, consisting of one French and three Italian divisions, was commanded by the English-speaking Lieutenant-General Enrico Caviglia, and he had the Tenth Army under his command to protect his right flank. Lord Cavan's army consisted of two British and two Italian divisions, and they, too, were expected to cross the Piave by breaking the Austrian defences.

The Austro-Hungarian army had 46 infantry divisions and six cavalry divisions, but both sides were ravaged by influenza and malaria, and the Austrians only had 6,030 guns to the Allies' 7,700. The Italians lost about 37,461 men, while the British casualties were 2,139, and the French lost 778 men. The Austrian command ordered its troops to cease hostilities on 3 November, and the Armistice of Villa Giusti was signed on the same day, coming into effect at 3 pm on 4 November.

Frequently asked questions