The
Battle of Caporetto (also known as the
Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo or the Battle
of Karfreit as it was known by the Central Powers; ), took place from 24 October
to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid
(now in
Slovenia
), on the
Austro-Italian front
of World War I. The battle was
named after the Italian name of the town of Kobarid (known as
Karfreit in German).
Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by
German
units, were
able to break into the Italian front line and rout the
Italian army, which had practically no mobile reserves. The
battle was a demonstration of the effectiveness of the use of
stormtroopers and the
infiltration tactics developed in part
by
Oskar von Hutier. The use of
poison gas by the Germans played a key
role in the collapse of the Italian Second Army.
The Battle
The German offensive began at approximately 02:00 on 24 October
1917. Due to the inclement weather that morning, particularly the
mist, the Italians were caught by complete surprise. The battle
opened with a German
artillery barrage,
poison gas, and smoke, and was followed
by an all-out assault against the Italian lines. The defensive line
of the Italian Second Army was breached almost immediately. The
German forces made extensive use of
flamethrowers and
hand
grenades as a part of their
infiltration tactics, and were able to
tear gaping holes in the Italian line. By the end of the first
night, von Below's men had advanced a remarkable . German and
Austro-Hungarian attacks from either side of von Below's central
column were less effective, however. The Italian Army had been able
to repel the majority of these attacks, but the success of von
Below's central thrust threw the entire Italian Army into disarray.
Forces had to be moved along the Italian front in an attempt to
stem von Below's breakout, but this only weakened other points
along the line and invited further attacks.
At this point, the
entire Italian position on the Tagliamento River
was under threat.
Realizing his forces were ill-prepared for this attack and were
being routed, Capello requested permission to withdraw back to the
Tagliamento. He was overruled by Cadorna, however, who believed
that the Italian force could regroup and hold out against the
attackers. Finally, on 30 October, Cadorna ordered the majority of
the Italian force to retreat to the other side of the river. It
took the Italians four full days to cross the river, and by this
time the German and Austro-Hungarian armies were on their heels. By
2 November, a German division had established a bridgehead on the
Tagliamento. About this time, however, the rapid success of the
attack caught up with them. The German and Austro-Hungarian supply
lines were stretched to breaking point, and as a result, they were
not able to launch another concerted attack.
Cadorna took advantage
of this to retreat further, and by 10 November had established a
position on the Piave
River
.
Failures of German Logistics
Even before the battle, Germany was struggling to feed and supply
its armies in the field.
Erwin Rommel,
who, as a junior officer, won the
Pour le Mérite for his exploits in the
battle, often bemoaned the demands placed upon his "poorly fed
troops". The Allied
blockade of the German
Empire, which the
Kaiserliche
Marine had been unable to break, was responsible for food
shortages and widespread malnutrition in Germany and allied
countries. When inadequate provisioning was combined with the
gruelling night marches preceding the battle of Caporetto, a heavy
toll was extracted from the German and Austro-Hungarian forces.
Despite these logistical problems, the initial assault was
extremely successful. However, as the area controlled by the
combined Central Powers forces expanded, an already limited
logistical capacity was overstrained. By the time the attack
reached the Piave, the soldiers of the Central Powers were running
low on supplies and were feeling the physical effects of
exhaustion. As the Italians began to counter the pressure put on
them by the Central Powers, the German forces lost all momentum and
were once again caught up in another round of
attrition warfare.
Aftermath
Italian losses were enormous: 11,000 were killed, 20,000 wounded
and 265,000 were taken prisoner. Furthermore, roughly 3,000 guns,
3,000 machine guns and 2,000 mortars were captured by the Austrians
along with an untold amount of stores and equipment. In addition, a
large number of Italian soldiers deserted the army following the
battle.
Austro-Hungarian and German forces advanced
more than in the direction of Venice
, but they
were not able to cross the Piave River. Although to this point the Italians had been
left to fight on their own, after Caporetto they were reinforced by
six French
infantry
divisions and five British
infantry divisions as well as sizeable air
contingents. The Piave served as a natural barrier where
the Italians could establish a new defensive line, which was held
during the subsequent Battle of the Piave River
and later served as springboard for the Battle of
Vittorio Veneto
, where the Austro-Hungarian army was utterly
defeated.
The battle
led to the conference at Rapallo
and the
creation of a Supreme War
Council, with the aim of improving Allied military co-operation
and developing a unified strategy.
Luigi Cadorna was forced to resign
after the defeat. The defeat alone was not the sole cause, but
rather the breaking point for an accumulation of failures, as
perceived by the Italian Prime Minister,
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando.
Throughout much of his command, including at Caporetto, Cadorna was
known to have maintained poor relations with the other generals on
his staff. In addition, he was detested by his troops as being too
harsh. He was replaced by
Armando Diaz
and
Pietro Badoglio.
This led governments to the realization that fear alone could not
adequately motivate a modern army. After the defeat at Caporetto,
Italian propaganda offices were established, promising land and
social justice to soldiers. Italy also accepted a more cautious
military strategy from this point on. Just one fifth of the total
650,000 Italian casualties during the war occurred after Caporetto,
a marked improvement.
After this battle, the term "Caporetto" gained a particular
resonance in Italy. It is used to denote a terrible defeat - the
failed
General Strike of 1922
by the
socialists was referred to by
Mussolini as the "Caporetto of Italian Socialism". Many years after
the war, Caporetto was still being used to destroy the credibility
of the liberal statem.
Popular Culture
The Battle of Caporetto has been the subject of a number of books.
The Swedish author F.J. Nordstedt (e.g. Christian Braw) wrote about
the battle in his novel
Caporetto. The bloody aftermath of
Caporetto was vividly described by
Ernest Hemingway in his novel
A Farewell to Arms.
Notes
- Seth, Ronald (1965). Caporetto: The Scapegoat Battle.
Macdonald. p. 147
- Dupuy & Dupuy (1970), p. 971
References
Printed sources:
- Connelly, O. On War and Leadership: The Words of Combat
Commanders from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf,
2002 ISBN 069103186X
- Dupuy R. E., & , Dupuy, T. N., The Encyclopedia of
Military History, (revised edition), Jane's Publishing
Company, 1970, SBN 356 02998 0
- Morselli, M. Caporetto 1917: Victory of Defeat?, 2001
ISBN 0714650730
- Reuth, R. G. Rommel: The End of a Legend, 2005 ISBN
1904950205
- Seth, Ronald: Caporetto: The Scapegoat Battle.
Macdonald, 1965
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