Battle of Vittorio Veneto
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 3 November 1918, near Vittorio Veneto
, during the Italian Campaign
of World War I
. The Italian victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was chiefly instrumental in ending the First World War less than two weeks later.
Some Italians see Vittorio Veneto as the final culmination of the Risorgimento nationalist movement, in which Italy was unified.
, 24 October to 9 November 1917 the Italian Army lost over 300,000 men and was forced to withdraw, causing the replacement of the Italian Supreme General Luigi Cadorna
with General Armando Diaz
. Diaz reorganized the troops, blocked the enemy advance by implementing defenses in depth and mobile reserves and stabilized the front-line around the Piave River
.
In June 1918, a large Austro-Hungarian offensive
, aimed to break the Piave
defensive line ending the war, was launched. The Imperial army tried on one side to force the Tonale Pass
and enter Lombardy
, on the other side to make two converging thrusts into central Venetia, the first one southeastward from the Trentino, the second one southwestward across the lower Piave. The whole offensive came to worse than nothing, the attackers losing 100,000 men.
, the Italian commander in chief, deliberately abstained from offensive action until Italy should be ready to strike with success assured. In the offensive he planned, three of the five armies lining the front from the Monte Grappa sector to the Adriatic end of the Piave were to drive across the river toward Vittorio Veneto
, so as to cut communications between the two Austrian armies opposing them.
On 24 October, the anniversary of the Battle of Caporetto
, the offensive opened. A first attack in the Monte Grappa sector was launched to attract the Austrian reserves. The flooding of the Piave prevented two of the three central armies from advancing simultaneously with the third; but the latter, under the command of Lord Cavan, after seizing Papadopoli Island farther downstream, won a foothold on the left bank of the river on 27 October. The Italian reserves were then brought up to exploit this bridgehead.
After crossing the Piave River
, the Eighth Italian Army, led by General Enrico Caviglia took Vittorio
("Veneto" was added to the name only in 1923) and advanced in the direction of Trento
, threatening to block the retreat of Austrian forces.
On 28 October Czechoslovakia
declared independence from Austro-Hungary. The next day South Slavs
proclaimed independence and on 31 October Hungary ended the personal union officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian state. On 28 October under these political and military conditions the Austro-Hungarian high command ordered a general retreat
. As already mentioned, Vittorio Veneto was seized the next day by the Eighth Italian Army, who were also pushing on already toward the Tagliamento river. Trieste
was taken over by an amphibious expedition on 3 November.
The 11th Italian army, commanded by French General Jean Graziani, continued to advance, supported on the right by the 9th army. The result was that Austria-Hungary lost about 30,000 casualties and between 300,000–500,000 prisoners (50,000 by 31 October 100,000 by 1 November, 428,000 by 4 November). The Italians lost about 38,000 casualties, including 145 French and 374 Britons.
On 29 October the Austro-Hungarians asked for an armistice. On 30 October 1918 the Austro-Hungarian army was split in two. The armistice was signed on 3 November at 3:20 p.m., to become effective 24 hours later, at 3 p.m. on 4 November.
The Austrian command ordered its troops to cease hostilities on 3 November. Following the signing of the armistice, Austrian General Weber
informed his Italian counterparts that the Imperial army had already laid down its weapons, and asked to cease combat immediately and to stop any further Italian advance. The proposal was sharply rejected by the Italian General Badoglio, who threatened to stop all negotiations and to continue the war. General Weber repeated the request. Even before the order to cease hostilities, the Imperial Army had already started to collapse, beginning a chaotic retreat.
Italian troops continued their advance until 3 p.m. on 4 November. The occupation of all Tyrol, including Innsbruck
, was completed in the following days.
Under the terms of the Austrian-Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti, Austria-Hungary’s forces were required to evacuate not only all territory occupied since August 1914 but also South Tirol, Tarvisio
, the Isonzo Valley, Gorizia
, Trieste
, Istria
, western Carniola
, and Dalmatia
. All German forces should be expelled from Austria-Hungary within 15 days or interned, and the Allies were to have free use of Austria-Hungary’s internal communications. They were also obliged to allow the transit of the Entente
armies, to reach Germany from the South.
. The surrender of their primary ally was a major factor in the German Empire deciding they could no longer continue the war. On 30 October the Wilhelmshaven mutiny
erupted, shortly afterwards the German Revolution of 1918–1919 started to spread from Kiel
. In early November, the Germans requested an armistice.
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a city and comune situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the northeast of the Italian peninsula, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers.-Geography:...
, during the Italian Campaign
Italian Campaign (World War I)
The Italian campaign refers to a series of battles fought between the armies of Austria-Hungary and Italy, along with their allies, in northern Italy between 1915 and 1918. Italy hoped that by joining the countries of the Triple Entente against the Central Powers it would gain Cisalpine Tyrol , the...
of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The Italian victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was chiefly instrumental in ending the First World War less than two weeks later.
Some Italians see Vittorio Veneto as the final culmination of the Risorgimento nationalist movement, in which Italy was unified.
Background
During the Battle of CaporettoBattle of Caporetto
The Battle of Caporetto , took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid , on the Austro-Italian front of World War I...
, 24 October to 9 November 1917 the Italian Army lost over 300,000 men and was forced to withdraw, causing the replacement of the Italian Supreme General Luigi Cadorna
Luigi Cadorna
Luigi Cadorna GCB was an ItalianField Marshal, most famous for being thechief of staff of the Italian army during the first part of World War I.-Biography:...
with General Armando Diaz
Armando Diaz
Armando Diaz, 1st Duca della Vittoria was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy.Born in Naples, Diaz began his military career as a student at the Military Academy of Turin, where he became an artillery officer. He was a colonel commanding the 93rd infantry during the Italo-Turkish War, and...
. Diaz reorganized the troops, blocked the enemy advance by implementing defenses in depth and mobile reserves and stabilized the front-line around the Piave River
Piave River
Piave is a river in north Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice....
.
In June 1918, a large Austro-Hungarian offensive
Battle of the Piave River
The Battle of the Piave River , known in Italy as Battaglia del Solstizio , Battaglia di Mezzo Giugno , or Seconda Battaglia del Piave , was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War...
, aimed to break the Piave
Battle of the Piave River
The Battle of the Piave River , known in Italy as Battaglia del Solstizio , Battaglia di Mezzo Giugno , or Seconda Battaglia del Piave , was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War...
defensive line ending the war, was launched. The Imperial army tried on one side to force the Tonale Pass
Tonale Pass
Tonale Pass is a high mountain pass in northern Italy across the Rhaetian Alps, between Lombardy and Trentino.It connects Valcamonica and Val di Sole...
and enter Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, on the other side to make two converging thrusts into central Venetia, the first one southeastward from the Trentino, the second one southwestward across the lower Piave. The whole offensive came to worse than nothing, the attackers losing 100,000 men.
Battle
After the battle of the Piave, General Armando DiazArmando Diaz
Armando Diaz, 1st Duca della Vittoria was an Italian general and a Marshal of Italy.Born in Naples, Diaz began his military career as a student at the Military Academy of Turin, where he became an artillery officer. He was a colonel commanding the 93rd infantry during the Italo-Turkish War, and...
, the Italian commander in chief, deliberately abstained from offensive action until Italy should be ready to strike with success assured. In the offensive he planned, three of the five armies lining the front from the Monte Grappa sector to the Adriatic end of the Piave were to drive across the river toward Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a city and comune situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the northeast of the Italian peninsula, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers.-Geography:...
, so as to cut communications between the two Austrian armies opposing them.
On 24 October, the anniversary of the Battle of Caporetto
Battle of Caporetto
The Battle of Caporetto , took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid , on the Austro-Italian front of World War I...
, the offensive opened. A first attack in the Monte Grappa sector was launched to attract the Austrian reserves. The flooding of the Piave prevented two of the three central armies from advancing simultaneously with the third; but the latter, under the command of Lord Cavan, after seizing Papadopoli Island farther downstream, won a foothold on the left bank of the river on 27 October. The Italian reserves were then brought up to exploit this bridgehead.
After crossing the Piave River
Piave River
Piave is a river in north Italy. It begins in the Alps and flows southeast for into the Adriatic Sea near the city of Venice....
, the Eighth Italian Army, led by General Enrico Caviglia took Vittorio
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a city and comune situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the northeast of the Italian peninsula, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers.-Geography:...
("Veneto" was added to the name only in 1923) and advanced in the direction of Trento
Trento
Trento is an Italian city located in the Adige River valley in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. It is the capital of Trentino...
, threatening to block the retreat of Austrian forces.
On 28 October Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
declared independence from Austro-Hungary. The next day South Slavs
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs
The State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was a short-lived state formed from the southernmost parts of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy after its dissolution at the end of the World War I by the resident population of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs...
proclaimed independence and on 31 October Hungary ended the personal union officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian state. On 28 October under these political and military conditions the Austro-Hungarian high command ordered a general retreat
Withdrawal (military)
A withdrawal is a type of military operation, generally meaning retreating forces back while maintaining contact with the enemy. A withdrawal may be undertaken as part of a general retreat, to consolidate forces, to occupy ground that is more easily defended, or to lead the enemy into an ambush...
. As already mentioned, Vittorio Veneto was seized the next day by the Eighth Italian Army, who were also pushing on already toward the Tagliamento river. Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
was taken over by an amphibious expedition on 3 November.
The 11th Italian army, commanded by French General Jean Graziani, continued to advance, supported on the right by the 9th army. The result was that Austria-Hungary lost about 30,000 casualties and between 300,000–500,000 prisoners (50,000 by 31 October 100,000 by 1 November, 428,000 by 4 November). The Italians lost about 38,000 casualties, including 145 French and 374 Britons.
On 29 October the Austro-Hungarians asked for an armistice. On 30 October 1918 the Austro-Hungarian army was split in two. The armistice was signed on 3 November at 3:20 p.m., to become effective 24 hours later, at 3 p.m. on 4 November.
The Austrian command ordered its troops to cease hostilities on 3 November. Following the signing of the armistice, Austrian General Weber
Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau
Viktor Weber Edler von Webenau , General in the Austro-Hungarian army while World War I, military governor of Montenegro between 1916 and 1917 and head of the Austro-Hungarian armistice commission - Career :*1879: as Kadett-Offizierstellvertreter from Infanteriekadettenschule Liebenau to...
informed his Italian counterparts that the Imperial army had already laid down its weapons, and asked to cease combat immediately and to stop any further Italian advance. The proposal was sharply rejected by the Italian General Badoglio, who threatened to stop all negotiations and to continue the war. General Weber repeated the request. Even before the order to cease hostilities, the Imperial Army had already started to collapse, beginning a chaotic retreat.
Italian troops continued their advance until 3 p.m. on 4 November. The occupation of all Tyrol, including Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
, was completed in the following days.
Under the terms of the Austrian-Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti, Austria-Hungary’s forces were required to evacuate not only all territory occupied since August 1914 but also South Tirol, Tarvisio
Tarvisio
Tarvisio is a town in the Province of Udine, in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in Italy...
, the Isonzo Valley, Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, western Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
, and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. All German forces should be expelled from Austria-Hungary within 15 days or interned, and the Allies were to have free use of Austria-Hungary’s internal communications. They were also obliged to allow the transit of the Entente
Entente Cordiale
The Entente Cordiale was a series of agreements signed on 8 April 1904 between the United Kingdom and the French Republic. Beyond the immediate concerns of colonial expansion addressed by the agreement, the signing of the Entente Cordiale marked the end of almost a millennium of intermittent...
armies, to reach Germany from the South.
Aftermath
The battle marked the end of the First World War on the Italian front and secured the end of the Austro-Hungarian empire. As mentioned above, on 31 October Hungary officially left the personal union with Austria. Other parts of the empire had declared independence some days earlier, notably what later became YugoslaviaYugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
. The surrender of their primary ally was a major factor in the German Empire deciding they could no longer continue the war. On 30 October the Wilhelmshaven mutiny
Wilhelmshaven mutiny
The Kiel mutiny was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the First World War and to the establishment of the Weimar Republic.-...
erupted, shortly afterwards the German Revolution of 1918–1919 started to spread from Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. In early November, the Germans requested an armistice.