The fact that the battles were always named after the Isonzo River, even in Italy, was considered by some a propaganda success for Austria-Hungary: it highlighted the repeated Italian failure to breach this landmark frontier of the Empire. Some historians have assigned distinct names to a couple of the Isonzo struggles, most notably at Kobarid (Caporetto) in October 1917, which would otherwise form the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo. With almost continuous combat in the area, the precise number of battles forming the Isonzo campaign is debatable. Īustro-Hungarian supply line over the Vršič Pass. More than 30,000 casualties were ethnic Slovenes, the majority of them being drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army, while Slovene civilian inhabitants from the Gorizia and Gradisca region also suffered in many thousands because they were resettled in refugee camps where Slovene refugees were treated as state enemies by Italians, and some thousands died of malnutrition in Italian refugee camps. Austro-Hungarian losses, while by no means as numerous, were nevertheless high at around 200,000 (of an overall total of around 1.2 million casualties). Half of the entire Italian war death total - some 300,000 of 600,000 - were suffered along the Soča (Isonzo). In the south (along the coastal zone) geographic peculiarities, including an array of ridges and valleys, also gave an advantage to the Austro-Hungarian defenders.Īustrian troops crossing the Isonzo, November 1917ĭespite the huge effort and resources poured into the continuing Isonzo struggle, the results were invariably disappointing and without real tactical merit, particularly given the geographical difficulties that were inherent in the campaign.Ĭumulative casualties of the numerous battles of the Isonzo were enormous. Suddenly, on 24 October 1917, the forces of Austria-Hungary, leavened by German troops withdrawn from the Russian front, launched an offensive, announcing their. He was well aware that the river was prone to flooding - and indeed there were record rainfalls during 1914–18.įurther, when attacking further north the Italian army was faced with something of a dilemma: in order to cross the Isonzo safely it needed to neutralise the Austro-Hungarian defenders on the mountains above, yet to neutralise these forces the Italian forces needed first to cross the river - an obstacle that the Italians never succeeded in overcoming.
However he also believed that the Italian army could strike further north and bypass the mountains on either side of the river so as to come at the Austro-Hungarian forces from the rear.Ĭadorna had not expected operations in the Isonzo sector to be easy. Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna judged that Italian gains (from Gorizia to Trieste) were most feasible at the coastal plain east of the lower end of the Soča (Isonzo). The Austro-Hungarians had fortified the mountains ahead of the Italians' entry into the war on.
With the rest of the mountainous 400-mile length of the Front being almost everywhere dominated by Austro-Hungarian forces, the Soča (Isonzo) was the only practical area for Italian military operations during the war.
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