Caporetto

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Caporetto

a population center in northern Italy, on the Isonzo River, where the Austro-Hungarian forces (the German Fourteenth Army, supported by the Austro-Hungarian Tenth and Second armies) inflicted a crushing defeat on the Italian Second and Third armies during World War I (Oct. 24—Nov. 9, 1917).

The Austro-Hungarian forces began their attack on October 24 and immediately broke through the Italian front, driving the Italian forces into chaotic retreat. Only when 11 Anglo-French divisions were thrown into battle was the front stabilized by November 9 along the Piave River. As a result of the breakthrough, the Italian Army lost more than 130, 000 soldiers killed and wounded, 355, 000 taken prisoner (according to Italian figures, 40, 000 killed and wounded and 215, 000 captured), 3, 152 artillery pieces, 1, 732 mortars, 3, 000 machine guns, huge supplies of provisions, and about 14, 000 sq km of territory. About 300, 000 soldiers, unable to continue fighting, fled into the country’s heartland. Despite its successes, the Austro-German advance on the Italian front did not alter the general strategic position of the Entente. The defeat of the Italian forces at Caporetto greatly aggravated the internal situation in Italy and promoted the growth of a revolutionary crisis there.

REFERENCES

Kaporetto: Razgrom ital’ianskoi armii na r. Izontso v oktiabre 1917. Moscow, 1938.
Conquet, A. Srazhenie pod Kaporetto (1917). Moscow, 1940. (Translatedfrom French.)

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It is here that Frederic finds out the Austrians have broken through at Caporetto in the north.

The Real British Red Cross and Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms

Lettere dal fronte della Grande Guerra da Ca' Savio a Caporetto 1916-1917.

Una rivolta morale: lettere e diari di soldati dai fronti della Grande Guerra (1915-1918)

Ma il suo contributo si manifesto in maniera molto diversa: fu indirizzato al sostegno morale e spirituale della popolazione, ed all'assistenza sanitaria dei militari mettendo a disposizione della Croce Rossa il seminario vescovile di Thiene; inoltre invito i parroci a costituire dei comitati per l'assistenza dei civili, in particolare dei profughi dopo la rotta di Caporetto. Fu alquanto intransigente, anche se con una certa circospezione, per cui condanno apertamente la guerra e ed i governanti, ma le sue azioni generose ed autenticamente cristiane eliminarono qualsiasi dubbio sul suo amore verso la patria Italia.

Benedetto XV, la guerra e le posizioni dei vescovi italiani

The First World War gave the pessimists evidence of sloth and fecklessness and the optimists examples of redemption as the self-same soldiery fought off the Austrians on the Piave and at Monte Grappa after their near collapse at Caporetto. Under Mussolini, militarization and the glorification of war reasserted themselves as "remedies" for the deficiencies of a people whom he denigrated in private for their unmartial nature.

Italian Vices: Nation and Character from the Risorgimento to the Republic

It has been suggested that they were captured from Allied forces on the Salonika front in northern Greece or from British and French troops who were sent to shore up the Italian army after its disastrous defeat at Caporetto in October 1917.

Austro-Hungarian rifles of World War I: part II: Fur Heimat und Reich: although Steyr turned out millions of rifles, they were still in very short supply, meaning many substitute standard arms were issued and used

Provided a competitive weakness is not unduly imperial in domain and severity--for example, a catastrophic collapse in the morale of the polity's main army, such as the Italian army at and following the disastrous battle of Caporetto (October 24-November 12, 1917)--fungibility may be commanded to ride to the rescue.

The strategist as hero

We stayed at the modernised Hotel Hvala in the pretty central square, which was described by Ernest Hemingway in his 1929 semi-autobiographical war novel 'A Farewell to Arm's, although he used the town's Italian name of Caporetto. Here the historic trail in the hills above the town takes in the imposing Church of St Anthony, built on the Italian Charnel House, which contains the remains of 7,014 Italian soldiers who perished in the fighting in the Upper Soca Valley.

The greatest outdoors

We learn of Italy's decision to go to war, of the murderous battles fought in the mud and potholes of the Carso Plateau and in the snow of the surrounding mountains, of the disaster at Caporetto in 1917 and of the political fallout which followed.

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1918

We stayed at the modernised Hotel Hvala in the pretty central square, which was described by Ernest Hemingway in his 1929 semi-autobiographical war novel A Farewell to Arms, although he used the town's Italian name of Caporetto.

TRAVEL: Stepping out in style; Peter Beal side-stepped the usual Alpine crowds on a walking tour in Slovenia

We stayed at the modernised Hotel Hvala, in the pretty central square, which was described by Ernest Hemingway in his 1929 semi-autobiographical war novel, A Farewell to Arms, although he used the town's Italian name of Caporetto.

travel: Mountain trekking in real style; Peter Beal walks the unspoilt beauty of the Julian Alps, in Slovenia . . . while his luggage takes the easy route

Some opposition politicians, led by the separatist party Northern League, equated the agreement with Air France KLM to the Battle of Caporetto, Italy's worst military defeat during World War One and a lingering national symbol of collapse.

Airline Finance News - Europe

The battle takes its name from the small mountain village of Caporetto, which was where the initial breakthrough took place.

Italian shoulder arms of WWI: running out of Carcano rifles, the Italians turn desperate

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