Patriotism rallied the nation and previously popular anti-war sentiments were effectively squashed. Ironically, the disaster at Caporetto brought the new government under Orlando and the Italian people closer together. Such was the state of the Italian Army after Caporetto, the Allies sent to the region eleven divisions – six French and five British. The Italians lost 300,000 men – of these, about 270,000 were captured and held as prisoners. The Battle of Caporetto and the subsequent withdrawal, had a major impact on the Italian Army. The Germans were unable to launch a fresh attack against the retreating Italian Army and in what must have seemed like a lull in the fighting, the Italians were able to withdraw to the River Piave just under 20 miles north of Venice. Their forward movement had been so great that their supply lines had been stretched too far. However, it was at this point that the Germans and Austro-Hungarian forces became victims of their own success. By October 30th, the Italian Army had been pushed back to the River Tagliamento. This was not allowed by Cadorna who hoped that the Italian Army would be able to regroup and fight back. To counter it, the Italians would have had to withdraw men from the sectors that were doing reasonably well against other attacking German and Austro-Hungarian forces – thus handing the advantage to them and possibly initiating further German advances in other sectors.ĭespite his earlier aggressive stance, Capello requested that his forces should be allowed to withdraw. However, the success of the central thrust by the Germans had thrown the Italian Army into disarray. Not well known in the West, the battles of Isonzo were nevertheless ferocious, and compiled a record of bloodletting that totaled over 1.75 million for both. Other German assaults away from the central attack at Caporetto were less successful and an Austro-Hungarian force made little impact on the southern flank of the attack. He adopted a policy of aggression against the enemy which proved very costly and unsuccessful.īy the end of the day, the Germans fighting near Caporetto had advanced 25 kilometres. However, the commander, Capello, decided on the opposite. Cadorna ordered the commander at Caporetto to man a defensive line. The German commander of the German force, Otto von Bulow, was surprised by the success of his initial attacks. Aided by mist, the German attack completely surprised the Italians. Overall, the Italians had a numerical advantage over the attacking Germans (by 41 divisions to 35) but around Caporetto, they were more thin on the ground. It was the weakest spot in the Italian front line. The Germans had decided on a mass attack on a front near Caporetto. Aerial observations meant that the Italian Army was aware that a build up of sorts was taking place, though the Italian commander, Cadorna, did not know the actual figures involved.
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