The Italian Front

Question 1

What did conflict on the Italian front normally stem from?

Answer 1

Italy launching offensives on the neighbouring Austrians. Using the Great War and Austrian military weakness as an opportunity to try and reclaim her irredenta land

Question 2

What rendered offensives on the Italian Front so impractical?

Answer 2

80% of the 600km front was composed of mountains. This made military advancement against the Austrians a frustrating zero-sum game, as if you took a mountain, you would have to then defend this vulnerable position, which made you an easy target

Question 3

How were the environmental conditions costly for Italians?

Answer 3

• Soldiers required 4,000 calories a day of high quality ration sto survive the harsh climate, adding to an already costly war effort
• Avalaches were capable of killing as many as 10,000 soldiers per month
• Winds were strong enough to throw soldiers off the mountains
• Sharp rocks would cut into even the toughest of boots
• The temperature had a tendency to drop as low as -30 degrees celsius by September

Question 4

Which type of soldier could do damage to the defenceless, climbing enemy units below?

Answer 4

Sharpshooters

Question 5

How did the Austrians add to the difficulty for the Italians?

Answer 5

• By adopting a cautious, defensive approach
• They used the environment to their advantage by engineering caverns and dugouts; this forced the Italians to use explosives to create 3000km of trenches in response
• Despite being outnumbered, the Austrians managed to frustrate the Italians by taking advantage of their vastly superior mountain guns and heavy artillery

Question 6

How many of the 1,200,000 Italian soldiers were actually equipped for war?

Answer 6

700,000 - meaning half a million weren’t

Question 7

How much was Italy already having to pay per month to keep control of Libya?

Answer 7

80 million lire

Question 8

How many men were conscripted for war with Austria?

Answer 8

1.2 million

Question 9

What did Italy not have alot of that would have helped during mountain watfare?

Answer 9

Mountain guns and heavy artillery

Question 10

How many Alpini battalions were on the Italian Front?

Answer 10

78

Question 11

Who were the Alpini?

Answer 11

The Italian corp of mountain infantry

Question 12

What did women often have to do at home to help with the effort on the Italian Front?

Answer 12

Work tirelessly to make winter garments for the men

Question 13

What did many Catholic soldiers believe?

Answer 13

That the saints would protect them from danger

Question 14

What was ‘White Friday’?

Answer 14

Saw an entire Austrian barrack buried by an avalanche, leaving 270 soldiers dead