Page 95 - Il 1917 l'anno della svolta - Atti 25-26 ottobre 2017

II SeSSIone - Il 1917. ASpettI mIlItArI 95

Caporetto – The Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo

Col. Christian ortner *

Introduction
he twelfth battle of the Isonzo, the “Mir-
T acle of Kobarid”, the breakthrough at
Bovec-Tolmin, or simply just, “Caporetto”,
is viewed as an offensive operation under-
taken by German and Austro-Hungarian
troops in October 1917 on the Austro-Hun-
garian southwestern front, the southeast
section of the Isonzo region. The offensive
was originally planned to be a restricted ac-
tion, designed only to quell a military cri-
sis in the region, but throughout its course
grew to become a very successful and significant breakthrough operation
in the phase of “linear” trench warfare. The attack was initiated on the
24th of October 1917 and, according to chronological data from general
reports, the decision to terminate the offensive ultimately followed on the
rd
3 of December. Based on the official numbers, which could vary, de-
pending on Austrian or Italian portrayal, the success of the battle seemed
impressive. One Italian army was annihilated to a large extent and another
was considerably weakened. On the Italian side, there were about 10,000
dead and 30,000 wounded in addition to almost 300,000 captured and
over 350,000 deserters. More than 3,000 pieces of artillery, about 1,700
mortars, 3,000 machine guns, 1,700 vehicles, as well as additional field
devices and equipment, including thousands of field kitchens, a clothing
depot for an entire army, pack animals, building material, rations, etc.
1
were listed as loot. In this regard, “Caporetto” may well be comparable
with the most important battle of the World War in terms of numbers, Gor-
lice-Tarnów, in May 1915. The success of the battle was also important as
far as territorial gains were concerned. Though not comparable with the
Eastern front, the conquered area of between 100 to 150 km was still con-
siderable for the Italian theatre of war, and even more so as the Italians in
the course of the previous eleven battles of Isonzo – depending on the area

* Direttore del Museo e Istituto di Storia Militare di Vienna.
1 O. A., Die wichtigsten Kriegs- und Feldzüge der Weltgeschichte, Wien 1928, S. 58