Defeat at Caporetto

Question 1

What did the Austrian army launch in 1916?

Answer 1

In 1916, the Austrian army launched the Strafexpedition

Question 2

What is a Strafexpedition?

Answer 2

A Strafexpedition is a major offensive in the Trentine salient

Question 3

Why did they launch the Strafexpedition?

Answer 3

They launched it in order to open a path that would allow it to attack Verona and Bologna

Question 4

What impact did the Strafexpedition have on the Italian army?

Answer 4

Although the Italian army was able to regroup and halt the Austrian attack, it had a severe impact on the army and public morale

Question 5

Who was Antonio Salandra criticised by? What Salandra do?

Answer 5

Antonio Salandra was criticised by both military command and parliament and was forced to resign

Question 6

Who was Antonio Salandra replaced by?

Answer 6

Antonio Salandra was replaced by 78-year-old Paolo Boselli

Question 7

What impact did Paolo Boselli have on the Italian army?

Answer 7

He had no impact on the Italian army as Italy’s military efforts hardly improved

Question 8

How did the situation reach its lowest point? On what date?

Answer 8

The situation reached its lowest point with Italy’s humiliating defeat by the Austro-Hungarian forced at the Battle of Caporetto in October 1917

Question 9

Where did the battle take place? On what date? Why?

Answer 9

The battle took place around the town of Caporetto on 24th October 1917, Austrian forced attacked the Italian front line

Question 10

What saw the Italian army dissolve in the face of the Austrian forced?

Answer 10

Poor leadership and low morale saw the Italian army dissolve in the face of Austrian forces

Question 11

What took place?

Answer 11

A humiliating and chaotic retreat took place

Question 12

What had been an initial victory for the Austrians turned quickly…

Answer 12

into a rout as Italian soldiers streamed down the mountains, many without weapons

Question 13

[Retreat] What had there been reports of?

Answer 13

There had been reports of looting, violence between Italian troops and celebrations by some troops who thought the war was now over

Question 14

[Retreat] How many soldiers lost contact with their regiments?

Answer 14

Over 200K soldiers lost contact with their regiments

Question 15

[Retreat] What was lost?

Answer 15

Large quantities of military arms were lost as was the majority of the Veneto region

Question 16

What were the actions of the Italian troops described as? How did this contrast with 2 months before?

Answer 16

The actions of Italian troops in the face of the Austrian offense was an embarrassment to the Italian leadership, who only 2 months before had been claiming that the war had finally brought about patriotic unity in Italy

Question 17

What did one Italian senator do? Why? What was his name?

Answer 17

One Italian senator, Leopoldo Franchetti, was so overwhelmed by the nature of defeat that he committed suicide

Question 18

How many Italians were killed?

Answer 18

10K Italians were killed

Question 19

How many were wounded?

Answer 19

30K Italians were wounded

Question 20

How many were taken prisoner?

Answer 20

300K Italians were taken prisoner

Question 21

How many vanished? Where did they go (in most cases)?

Answer 21

400K vanished, in most cases using the chaos to head back to their homes in Italy

Question 22

What did the defeat reveal?

Answer 22

The defeat revealed the poor state of the army

Question 23

What did the defeat prompt?

Answer 23

The defeat prompted some significant anger and debate within Italy

Question 24

What had the original Austrian victory been? What was it now?

Answer 24

While the original Austrian victory had been due to tactical reasons, the nature of the retreat afterwards was accentuated by poor morale

Question 25

What the defeat of Caporetto a turning point for?

Answer 25

The defeat at Caporetto was a turning point for the Italian nation

Question 26

What disappeared? What was Italy fighting for now?

Answer 26

Thoughts of an easy victory that would allow Italy to take Trente and Trieste disappeared; now Italy was fighting for its survival

Question 27

What did Caporetto reignite?

Answer 27

Caporetto ignited the divisions that had surfaced during the arguments on intervention in 1914 and 1915

Question 28

What was blamed for Italy’s poor military performance?

Answer 28

The fact that a majority of Italy’s parliament still backed Giolitti and weren’t completely behind the war was to blame for Italy’s poor performance

Question 29

What were there calls for?

Answer 29

There were calls for a revolution from many nationalists

Question 30

What did some nationalists call for?

Answer 30

Some nationalists even went as far as to call for Giolitti and other ‘neutral’ politicians to be put on trial for treason

Question 31

What happened following Caporetto?

Answer 31

Following Caporetto, Paolo Boselli resigned

Question 32

Who replaced Paolo Boselli?

Answer 32

Paolo Boselli was replaced by the younger and more dynamic Vittorio Orlando

Question 33

Who was removed?

Answer 33

Luigi Cadorna was removed

Question 34

What was reorganised? Under who?

Answer 34

The Italian army was reorganised under a new commander, General Diaz

Question 35

What was raised/increased?

Answer 35

Rations for the soldiers were raised and annual leave was increased

Question 36

What was there a greater focus on? How?

Answer 36

There was a greater focus on boosting soldier morale through lectures and trench newspapers

Question 37

What promises were made?

Answer 37

Promises of land reform for the peasant conscripts were made

Question 38

What was established in December 1917?

Answer 38

In December 1917, an organisation to look after the welfare of the soldiers and their families was established

Question 39

What was General Diaz much more of?

Answer 39

General Diaz was much more of a cautious commander

Question 40

What did General Diaz focus on? What did he avoid?

Answer 40

He focused on holding the Italian line at Piave and avoiding the needless sacrifice of soldiers in suicidal offensives

Question 41

What happened with the casualty rates under General Diaz? GIve an example

Answer 41

Casualty rates fell considerably, from 520K in 1917 to 143K in 1918