Battles in the Alps: A History of the Italian Front of the First World War

316 Pages·2008·2.16 MB·English

by  G. Irving Root

Battles in the Alps
A History of the Italian Front of the First World War
G. Irving Root
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Baltimore
© 2008 by G. Irving Root.
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Foreword
In May of 1915 the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the Empire of Austria-
Hungary, thus initiating a new battle front in a wider conflict at that time already
known as the Great War. Before doing so it repudiated an over thirty year old
understanding known as the Triple Alliance, in which both nations and the
German Empire, had been partners. Austria-Hungary had been at war for ten
months, and was fighting on two other fronts at the time of the Italian
declaration, but thereafter considered the struggle against Italy as the main one,
for the duration of the war. Before it was over 166 combat divisions had made an
appearance in this theatre and two and a half million men (and a few women)
would become casualties. In addition the modern and powerful navies and air
forces of the contestants became involved, widening the scope of the subsequent
operations, both geographically and militarily.
For Italy the war zone was known simply as the front; to the Austro-
Hungarian command it became the Southwest Front, but for the rest of the
interested world it was referred to as the Austro-Italian Front, and since there
was not much chance of confusing it with any other, it was often called simply
the Italian Front. Because of the topography of the region along the border
between the two warring powers, it was sometimes dubbed the Alpine Front. By
whatever name it was indicated as, however, it was the setting for a desperate
contest between two of the larger countries of Europe, who were home to more
than 85 million people.
The Alps, Europe’s highest and most rugged mountain system, have long
served as a barrier to human passage. As long ago as the Second Punic War a
general named Hannibal had led an army across this notorious Range, a
remarkable feat of logistical accomplishment that to this day earns him high
marks from historians as a leader of great ability. Those who came later included
names such as Caesar, Attila and Napoleon, but by and large the mountains by
their mere existence have served to quell the aggressive spirits of lesser
personalities and have long marked boundaries between racial, linguistic or
ethnic groups. The inability of humans to subsistence-farm over much of the
area, coupled with the harsh and unforgiving climate of the higher altitudes have
kept the Alps an area of relatively low population density, even to this day. In
1915 few roads negotiated the difficult terrain, and even fewer railroads, those
lifelines of early 20 Century Armies. Streams in the area, as in all mountainous
th
areas, tended to be icy and fast-flowing; having cut courses into the landscape
that were almost always flanked with steep-sided heights over which no vehicle,
and few animals, could travel. Rockslides and avalanches are always a problem.
And in the Alps, winter is the dominant season, and generally dictates the nature
of human activity there.
The enormous difficulty of conducting military operations among high
mountain peaks dictated that much of the fighting would take place where the
international frontier eased down from the heights to meet the waters of the Gulf
of Trieste, at the northern tip of the Adriatic Sea. Here the valley of a relatively
small river became the setting for a dozen desperate campaigns with all the
resulting death and destruction. Localities such as the small city of Görz, very
much in harm’s way, were reduced to ruins and took many years to rebuild.
Home to perhaps 40 or 45,000 residents in 1915, the place was an empty,
blackened ruin by the end of the war, and only regained its pre-war population
level more than two decades after the guns had finally fallen silent. In other
areas along the border, majestic forests would be leveled, beautiful Alpine
villages destroyed, and even mountain peaks would disappear to the devastating
forces of modern explosives.
For Americans, far and away the most destructive war in our history was the
Civil War, a conflict which claimed roughly 600,000 lives, a figure that
surpasses the total losses of all other American wars combined. As the fighting
took place on U.S. soil, property loss was catastrophic, as was damage to the
economies of the rebellious states. Hardly an American alive during the middle
years of the 19 Century was not affected in one way or another by the war; after
th
the event, no one could deny that 1861-1865 had been a defining time in the
evolution of the United States. As devastating and as deadly as the Civil War
was, however, it was less so than the war on the Italian Front from 1915-1918,
yet the latter conflict seems to have gone almost unnoticed in the histories of the
20 Century, indeed, even in the histories of the Great War itself. Most often, this
th
conflict, for those who are even aware of it, is waved off, along with the story of
the Eastern, Balkan and Turkish fronts, as a mere ‘sideshow’ of the First World
War, one of the many ‘peripheral’ campaigns.
Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary defines ‘sideshow’ as ‘an incidental
diversion’ and ‘peripheral’ as ‘located away from the center or central portion’.
Oxford American Dictionary calls a sideshow ‘A minor show attached to a
principal one; peripheral is ‘of minor importance to something’. Indeed. Is it to
be believed that the peoples of Italy and Austria-Hungary, who considered the
Alpine Front to be the main one, fought so desperately and so long for an
incidental diversion? Was Austria-Hungary struggling for its very existence in a
minor show attached to a principal one? Did hundreds of thousands of young
Italians charge uphill to their deaths over an issue of minor importance? Could
166 divisions have been committed to a battle away from the center of the war?
Enough said. The arrogance of Western opinion that was spawned in 1914
continues to this day; into the 21 Century, confirmed advocates of Western
st
Front strategy are still talking and writing about ‘sideshows’ and ‘peripheral’
campaigns, but it is high time to do justice to these campaigns by taking a better
look at them, and if that is accomplished, perhaps a more complete
understanding of the war will be the result.
No one doubts that Germany was the strongest of the powers on its side of the
war and that it made its main effort on the Western Front. In opposing her, the
United Kingdom, France and later the United States also used the Western Front
as the primary one, and these were the nations that financed the war and dictated
the peace. Neither Italy nor Austria-Hungary were the strongest powers in their
respective coalitions, and as a result neither were able to convince their more
powerful partners of the critical importance of the Italian Front. In as much as
neither were able to force a decision there as well, at least until the dominos
began to fall in the autumn of 1918, the myth of the paramount importance of the
Western Theatre was able to be nourished without challenge. Once they had
convinced themselves that the only way to kill the beast was with a blow to the
head, they were prepared to rule out all other possibilities; it never occurred to
them that a blow to the heart, kidneys, knees or groin may have done the job as
well, and may have been much easier to deliver.
General histories of the First World War rarely devote much space to the
Italian Front, perhaps one chapter, most of which deals with Caporetto, a name
they have attached to the Austro-German offensive of October 1917, which
lasted well into November. Actually Caporetto is a small Isonzo town at which
very little fighting took place. Known as Karfreit before the war, it has been
known as Kobarid since 1945, when the local Slovene population was at last
allowed to join with Yugoslavia; Italian ownership endured only a quarter-
century. Multi-volume histories with much more space do the subject somewhat
more justice but rarely enough. For example, one well-known ten volume set
devotes only a half-volume to the Italian Front, while providing five and a half
for the Western Front. In terms of numbers of men engaged and casualties
sustained, the Alpine Theatre was easily the third most important of the war, and
thus deserves better recognition. Even so, only a handful of books in English on
the subject have ever emerged. It is time to correct this imbalance; the men who
labored, suffered from the harsh elements, or bled and suffered great pain for a
cause they believed in, deserve to have their story told. Their efforts and their
sacrifices must never be forgotten.
The following tale is told in chronological sequence or at least as close to such
as was possible for the sake of the narrative. It is a format that I personally prefer
to read, especially when dealing with historic events, as I believe a better
understanding of the subsequent elapsing of time relative to the actual
occurrences is thus gained, and the text becomes more of a story, as opposed to a
dry statement of fact. A resultant day-by-day tale is hopefully quite noticeable,
and tolerable. Every reader is encouraged to consult vintage maps whenever
possible, as all place names are of 1915. In most cases the names have not
changed since 1919, but the contested Italian-Slavic frontier is a notable
exception. Caporetto has already been mentioned; Görz is another good
example. After the war, Austrian Görz became Italian Gorizia, and when the
borders moved again in 1945, the city was split between Italy and Yugoslavia.
The latter’s portion was renamed Nova Gorica; today it is part of independent
Slovenia and rivals Gorizia in size. In most cases where there had never been a
heavy German presence, names have changed only once; examples include Pola
(Austrian/Italian) to Pula (Yugoslav/Croat) and Fiume (Hungarian/Italian) to
Rijeka (Yugoslav/Croat).
Another point that begs explanation is my choice of terms when referring to
the rival, warring coalitions. Before the war the Triple Alliance of the German
and Austro-Hungarian Empires and the Kingdom of Italy represented one power
bloc, the Triple Entente of France, Russia and the United Kingdom another.
Throughout the pages below the Entente nations and those which fought
alongside them (later including Italy and the United States) are called as such.
The Austro-German combination, deserted by Italy but later joined by Ottoman
Turkey and Bulgaria, is referred to as the Alliance. I believe this is more logical
than the commonly-used terms Allies and Central Powers. For one thing, the
U.S. never considered itself one of the Allies; it became an ‘Associated Power’,
as did some others. For another ‘allies’ is a term for nations working or fighting
together for a common cause and is therefore too generic to be specific. In his
memoirs General Ludendorff wrote of ‘confederated’ powers when denoting his
allies in the war, and General Hoffmann wrote of ‘Allied’ countries or
contingents while doing the same. As for ‘Central Powers’, none of these nations
referred to themselves as such until after the war. The well-documented desire of
the Germans for a Mittel Europa (Central Europe), a large and powerful bloc of
countries in east-central Europe, was pretty much frustrated when both Italy and
Romania declined to fight for it, and eventually joined the other side. Entente
leaders began to call their enemies the Central Empires, and at some point in
time the designation Central Powers evolved, and found favor, and has been
reused until the present day. I hope the reader will agree that my use of terms is
less confusing.
While researching this work I made use of sources published from 1916 to the
present. Because so few books are devoted exclusively to the subject I found it
necessary to piece together the story from whatever tidbits of information were
available, yet I must report that for the persistent inquisitor, no such effort can be
said to remain incomplete for lack of relevant material, it simply needed to be
rounded up and sorted out. It is my sincere hope that the final product represents
a worthwhile, medium-length rendition of a story that truly needs to be told more
often. The book, like the bibliography that supports it, is not intended to be an
exhaustive compilation of data and facts, but a very readable tale of the exploits
of two great nations during an extremely traumatic period of European history. I
do hope it inspires others, however few, to take a second look at some of the
alternative campaigns of the First World War, a conflict that is all too often
dismissed as the culmination of a commercial rivalry between Britain and
Germany or of a long Franco-German vendetta. Those who served on the Italian
Front did not do so to further the interests of the Western Powers (until Western
contingents were sent there), but to honor their duties to their country, their
communities, and their families. To downplay their efforts and achievements is
to abuse their memory, and that of the war itself.
Most sincere thanks go out to all of those persons who assisted directly or
indirectly in the creation of this work, over the years of careful preparation. Any
errors within are mine alone. Special thanks are due my family, especially my
wife Elaine, who spent seemingly endless hours typing and correcting the
manuscript. They encouraged me during times of frustration and lack of focus
and aided me in a project which by its very nature deprived us of a good deal of
quality time together.
Chapter One
Agenda: War
Serious research into the origins of the war fought along the Austrian-Italian
frontier during the second decade of the Twentieth Century will necessarily lead
the inquisitor back to days deep within the Nineteenth. Ever since modern
Europe began to take shape during the Middle Ages, the ground of the Central
portion of the continent had always been a patchwork of kingdoms, dukedoms,
principalities, Imperial and Free cities, and Church-owned parcels. Such was the
framework of the Holy Roman Empire, a vast confederation which sprawled
over what are the modern states of the Low Countries, Switzerland, Germany,
Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Austria, and much of France. For centuries,
hundreds of otherwise vulnerable and ridiculously tiny political entities were
thus nurtured under the Imperial banner, which, however, did not prevent the
almost constant warfare amongst them and other foreign states. Napoleon I
finally put an end to the old system; during his interlude the number of
governments in mid-continent was reduced significantly, and a relative few were
therefore increased substantially in size and strength. Perhaps even more
importantly, another force was unleashed during the Napoleonic period:
nationalism.
The Congress of Vienna rearranged Europe immediately after the great
Frenchman had been finally defeated. The delegates of the Convention, who
represented the Great Powers of Europe, there attempted to usher in a new era of
stability under the old, that is, pre-revolutionary rules. As might be expected,
much of the continent remained restive, especially the still-splintered areas of the
bygone Empire. A new wave of revolution shook the old order in 1830, then
another even more serious wave in 1848; it is from this latter date that our story
really begins.
The ruling Habsburg dynasty of the Austrian Empire had at one time
possessed nearly all of the Italian peninsula, including Sicily and Sardinia. Even
in the mid-Nineteenth Century it still owned a large portion of the north, and
exerted tremendous political influence on the remainder. When as a result of the
1848 disturbances, republics were set up in Venice and in Rome; the Austrian
reaction was swift and predictable. Before long, the fledgling republics were