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9. Italian Fronta. Strategic Considerations
Initial OperationsAt the time of Italy's entry into the war the Austrians had joined with the Germans in highly successful operations against the Russians, and for the time being they elected to pursue these operations and to maintain a purely defensive posture on the Italian front. The Austrian chief of staff, Field Marshal Count Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf (generally referred to as Conrad) had assembled 14 divisions on the Italian front. In addition, although Germany and Italy were not then at war, the Germans had provided their Alpenkorps (a crack mountain unit of about division strength.) for employment in the mountains of the Trentino. The Italian commander, Gen. (later Marshal) Count Luigi Cadorna, had at his disposal 35 divisions. This would seem to indicate a better than two-toone superiority over the Austrians, but since the training, equipment, and artillery of the Italian troops were not complete and the Austrians occupied extremely strong defensive positions, the combat strength of the two opponents was approximately equal. On the first day of war, Cadorna launched a general
offensive along the entire front. His First Army struck the nose and
southeastern face of the Trentino salient as the Fourth Army attacked
the northeastern face, hoping to break through to the railroad and cut
off the Austrians in the Trentino. The Fourth Army would then advance
eastward down the valley of the Drava River, join the Carnic Corps as
the latter broke through on its front, and move toward Villach. Meanwhile,
the Second Army would capture Caporetto and its environs, and the Third
Army would advance to the Isonzo between Gradisca and Montfalcone. It
was an ambitious enterprise, but the 23 divisions allotted to the three
principal offensive armies were not sufficient to accomplish the many
tasks assigned. Nevertheless, by June 16, when the initial operations
were halted, significant gains had been made up to the Austrian line
of resistance a outrance, and the Italian positions for subsequent tactical
operations had been greatly improved. It had become clear, however,
that the war on the Austro-Italian front was to be a war of deliberate
siege of strong defenses and of bloody attrition. The Italians now paused
to complete their mobilization, move additional troops to the front,
and prepare for a new drive. As the Italian official account stated
“… the strengthened barrier which the enemy has prepared
with skill and feverish activity against our irruption will require
a series of attempts to wrest the strengthened positions, beginning
on June 23 with the first battle of the Isonzo."
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