Sixth Battle of the Isonzo
Part of Italian Front First World War

9 August 1916 Italian cavalry enters Gorizia
Date4–16 August 1916
Location
Isonzo, Gorizia and Karst Plateau
Result Italian victory
Capture of Gorizia, Sabotino, Oslavia-Podgora and San Michele
Belligerents
 Kingdom of Italy  Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Kingdom of Italy Luigi Cadorna (Chief of Staff of the Italian Army)
Kingdom of Italy Settimio Piacentini (Commander of Second Army)
Kingdom of Italy Luigi Capello (Commander of VI Corps of Second Army)
Kingdom of Italy Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia (Commander of Third Army)		 Austria-Hungary Archduke Friedrich (Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army)
Austria-Hungary Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (Chief of the General Staff)
Austria-Hungary Svetozar Boroević von Bojna (Commander of Fifth Army)
Austria-Hungary Erwin Zeidler von Görz (Commander of 58th Division)
Strength
203 battalions[1] 106 battalions[1]
Casualties and losses
51,221 [2][nb 1]
6,310 Killed
32,784 Wounded
12,127 Missing		 37,458 [2][nb 2]
3,719 Killed
19,910 Wounded
13,829 Missing

The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, better known as the Battle of Gorizia, was the most successful Italian offensive along the Soča (Isonzo) River during World War I.

Background

Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf had reduced the Austro-Hungarian forces along the Soča (Isonzo) front to reinforce his Trentino Offensive and also to assist with the defense of the Russian Brusilov Offensive then taking place on the eastern front. Italian Chief-of-Staff Luigi Cadorna turned his attention (along with that of Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta – Commander of the Italian Third Army) to the Isonzo front and particularly, the city of Gorizia. They planned a heavy bombardment in a very restricted zone between Monte Calvario and Monte San Michele – two heights overlooking the city. The bombardment would be followed by ground action to obtain control of the left bank of the Isonzo. Moreover, this battle would start with an advantage because the Italians had already succeeded in advancing towards the top of Monte Sabotino another height (which overlooks the Isonzo valley and is key to the control of the city) above Gorizia and Italian sappers had built several tunnels behind the emplacements of the Austro-Hungarian troops there.[5]

Cadorna also made good use of railroads to quickly shift troops from Trentino back to the Isonzo line for this offensive against the weakened Austro-Hungarian defenses.

Battle

On 6 August the offensive was launched against Gorizia. The offensive was concentrated in two zones: the hilly area west of the Soča (Isonzo) river near Gorizia and the westernmost edge of the Karst Plateau near Doberdò del Lago. In the Battle of Doberdò, the Italians, after bloody hand-to-hand combat, managed to conquer the main transport road leading from the coast town of Duino to Gorizia, thus securing their advance to Gorizia from the south. The Austro-Hungarian forces had to retreat on the line east of Gorizia (Mount Škabrijel), leaving the heavily damaged town to the Italians.

The bombardment at Gorizia was extremely heavy and effective. Borojevic asked for reinforcements but was denied. In the afternoon Cadorna ordered the 45th division to attack Monte Sabotino. In under one hour, supported by heavy artillery, the Italian infantry reached the peak.

Simultaneously the attack on Monte San Michele also commenced. The Italian Infantry succeeded quickly to reach the summit while the Austro-Hungarian soldiers retreated waiting for a later counterattack. In the absence of reserve forces (which had been deployed to Mount Sabotino), that counter failed.

With the conquest of Monte Sabotino and Monte San Michele, the previously strong Austro-Hungarian defensive line around Gorizia rapidly disintegrated. Then Monte Calvario fell during that night. On the right bank of the Isonzo there was only one regiment who then withdrew to the east on 8 August. The first platoons of the Pavia Brigade began to enter the city. Gorizia fell to Cadorna and a bridgehead was finally established across the Soča (Isonzo) River. The Austro-Hungarians shifted troops to the Gorizia sector to prevent a breakthrough.

Borojevic, had already ordered his men to retreat further to the east, into a valley called The Vallone. Thus strategic positions on the western Carso such as Monte Sei Busi, the zone around Doberdò del Lago and Monte Cosich to the north of Monfalcone (which the Vallone separated from the eastern Carso) were abandoned.

However, the Austro-Hungarian defenses in the north and east of Gorizia still included an uninterrupted series of heights – including ridges from Monte Santo, Monte San Gabriele, Monte San Daniele. These heights and Quota 383[6] lent themselves to place the Austro - Hungarian artillery and provide excellent observatories after the fall of Gorizia. These heights had been prepared for defense purposes and made it possible to block any passage towards by the Italian troops to Vienna and Trieste.[7]

The new Austro-Hungarian front line now passed to Nad Logem (Quota 212), Quota 187 (near Devetachi), Opacchiasella, Nova Vas and Quota 208 north and south,[8] Quota 144 and Quota 77[9] and the Austro-Hungarian troops engaged the Italians in a series of heavy, defensive firefights.

Content with having established the bridgehead, capturing Gorizia and the western Karst, and having suffered heavy losses, Cadorna ended the offensive on 17 August.

The attack on Gorizia was the most successful Italian offensive along the Isonzo lines and greatly boosted Italian morale - especially since Gorizia had been promoted as a desirable objective, unattainable in earlier battles. In the wake of the battle Italy finally declared war against Germany, on 28 August. .

See also

References

  • Tucker, Spencer The Great War:1914-18 (1998)
  1. 1 2 Oberleutnant, Thanner, Wilfried (2009). Analyse des Stellungskrieges am Isonzo von 1915-1917 Darstellung der Eskalation des Waffeneinsatzes an der Isonzofront am Beispiel einer Division. Universität Wien, Vienna. pp. 88, 301.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. 1 2 Tucker, Spencer (1996). The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, New York. p. 369.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ↑ Ivan Bruno Zabeo, Dolesi al fronte. La prima guerra mondiale, p. 318
  4. ↑ Wilfried Thanner, Analyse des Stellungskrieges am Isonzo von 1915-1917, p. 301
  5. ↑ Gooch, John, The Italian Army and the First World War (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), p. 183
  6. ↑ "Quota" is the Italian Army description of "hill". So this means Hill 383.
  7. ↑ Consociazione Turistica Italiana – Sui Campi di Battaglia – Il Medio e Basso Isonzo, quinta edizione, 1939, Milano
  8. ↑ "Bonetti e basso Vallone / Itinerario delle quote 208". Archived from the original on 4 July 2007. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  9. ↑ Turistica Italiana, 1939

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Detailed as 6,310 killed, 32,784 wounded and 12,127 missing [3]
  2. ↑ Detailed as 3,719 killed, 19,910 wounded and 13,829 missing [4]

Further reading

  • Schindler, John R. (2001). Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War. Praeger. ISBN 0275972046. OCLC 44681903.

45°55′59″N 13°36′58″E / 45.9330°N 13.6160°E / 45.9330; 13.6160

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