Defeat at Caporetto Flashcards
What was the major offensive launched by the Austrians in 1916 and what did it involve?
The offensive was called the Strafexpidition and was in the Trentine area, in view of opening up a path to attack Verona and Bologna.
What was the result of the Strafexpidition offensive?
The Italians were able to halt it but it had a large impact on public and army morale. Salandra was criticized by military command and parliament who forced him to resign
Who replaced Salandra when he resigned after the Strafexpidition offensive, and did he make a difference?
Boselli replaced Salandra but little difference was made in the war effort.
What was Caporetto
Caporetto happened in October 1917 and was a battle with the Austrian - Hungary forces. When the Austrians attacked the front line, poor leadership and low morale led to the army dissolving and a humiliating retreat.
What did the humiliation at the defeat of Caporetto lead to?
It led to the army falling into disarray with soldiers streaming down the mountainside, many with no weapons and resorting to looting and violence. 200000 soldiers lost contact with their regiments and lots of weapons were lost. These actions embarrassed Italian leadership who claimed that the war had finally bought about Italian unity. An Italian senator even committed suicide as a result of it.
What was the result of the defeat at Caporetto?
-10,000 Italians were killed, 30,000 injured 300,000 taken prisoner and 400,000 totally vanished (many took the chaos as an opportunity to return to their homes in Italy). The defeat showed poor state of army morale.
What did the defeat at Caporetto make people realize?
It made people realize that the war wouldn’t just be an easy victory, but they were actually fighting for survival now.
Why did Caporetto reignite divisions created in the interventionist issues in 1914-1914?
A majority of the government still backed Giolitti and were not fully behind the war due to the poor military performance. There was a call for revolution from many nationalists. Some called for Giolitti and
other ‘neutralist’ politicians to be put on trial.
When did Boselli resign and who replaced him?
He resigned October 1917 and was replace by the more dynamic Orlando. The Italian army was reorganized under General Diaz and rations as well as annual leave was increased.
How did the new government in 1917 seek to raise the morale of the soldiers?
There was a great focus on raising their Morales through lectures and newspapers with promises of land reforms to the peasant conscripts. in December 1917, a new organisation was set up to look after soldiers and their families. The new general was much more cautious, holding the line at Piave avoiding pointless sacrifice of suicidal offensives. As a result, casualties fell from 52,0000 in 1917 to 1430000 in 1918.
