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9. Italian Fronta. Strategic Considerations
Battle of Vittorio Veneto (Oct. 24-Nov. 4, 1918)Short Summary: BATTLE OF VITTORIO VENETO (Oct. 24-Nov. 4, 1918). The
Italians made great preparations for a final offensive to ------------------------------------ For his final offensive, Diaz had 57 divisions (51 Italian, 3 British, 2 French, and 1 Czechoslovakian, plus the United States 332d Infantry Regiment), and his artillery numbered 7,700 guns. Opposing him were 58 divisions and 6,000 guns. The main attack of the offensive was to be made in the center by the Eighth Army of 14 Italian divisions under Gen. (later Marshal) Enrico Caviglia, supported on the right by the Tenth Army of 2 British and 2 Italian divisions under British Lt. Gen. (later Field Marshal) the 10th earl of Cavan, and on the left by the Twelfth Army of 1 French and 3 Italian divisions under French Gen. Jean Cesar Graziani. The plan was subsequently changed so that the Fourth Army (on the left of the Twelfth) would make the initial attack of the offensive on the massif of the Grappa in order to draw the Austrian reserves away from the front of the main attack. The ultimate object of the offensive was to split the Austrian armies and roll them up on the flanks. On the morning of Oct. 24, 1918, Diaz launched his offensive. Meanwhile, the Allied final offensive on the western front was making good progress, and the Germans were withdrawing under great pressure. Convinced of eventual defeat, the German Reichstag had signified on October 20 its acceptance of President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points as part of a basis for an armistice. Earlier, on October 4, the Austrians had appealed to the president and had begun to assemble an armistice commission. If the political leaders of the Central Powers were in a mood for an armistice and peace, this attitude was not as yet reflected at the fighting front on the Piave. For three days the Austrians resisted the attacks of the Italian Fourth Army on the Grappa in a fierce, determined manner reminiscent of the early battles of the Isonzo. Territorial gains were minimal on both sides, but the Fourth Army succeeded in its objective of attracting the Austrian reserves from the front of the main attack. In the meantime, the Eighth, Tenth, and Twelfth armies began crossing the Piave on their fronts. By October 27, Italian, French, and British contingents had established three small bridgeheads, but until noon of October 28 the situation appeared to be grave all along the line. On the afternoon of that day, however, the situation changed; part of the Eighth Army broke through over bridges opened by the Tenth Army and advanced toward Monticano. At that moment the Austrian Sixth Army, on the Italian Eighth Army front, received orders to retire to its second line of defense. October 29 proved to be the day of decision, as Austrian resistance began to falter before the determined advance of the three central armies. In some places the AustroHungarians stood their ground fiercely, in others they made a half-hearted stand, and in still other sectors they crumbled. The real dissolution occurred among the Austrian reserves; some refused to counterattack, while others mutinied. The final collapse began on the night of October 30-31, when the struggle turned into a series of isolated encounters, of Austrian units cut off, pursued, captured, and overtaken by advance troops. In these operations after the breakthrough the Italian Cavalry Corps played a splendid role. On the afternoon of November 3, Trento was occupied, and a few hours later a naval expedition landed Italian Bersaglieri at Trieste. In the early evening the armistice was signed at Villa Giusti, near Padua. Approximately 500,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners were taken in this final Italian offensive.
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