First Battle of the Piave River
First Battle of the Piave River | |||||||
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Part of The Italian Front of the First World War | |||||||
![]() Italian troops on the new Piave front | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
~21,000 | ~12,000 |
- v
- t
- e
- Hill 383
- 1st Isonzo
- Col Basson
- 2nd Isonzo
- Podgora
- 3rd Isonzo
- 4th Isonzo
1916
- 5th Isonzo
- Asiago (Monte Cengio)
- Gorizia (6th Isonzo) (Doberdò)
- 7th Isonzo
- 8th Isonzo
- 9th Isonzo
- White Friday
1917
- 10th Isonzo
- Flondar
- Ortigara
- 11th Isonzo
- Caporetto (12th Isonzo)
- Pozzuolo
- 1st Piave River
- 1st Monte Grappa
1918
- 2nd Piave River (Capture of Col Moschin)
- 2nd Monte Grappa
- San Matteo
- 3rd Monte Grappa
- Vittorio Veneto
White War (1915–1918)
- Adamello
- Pasubio
- Sentinella Pass
- Marmolada
- Lagazuoi
- Col di Lana
- Tofane
- Monte Cristallo
- Monte Piana
- Tre Cime di Lavaredo
- Monte Paterno
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/WWI_-_Battle_of_the_Piave_River_-_Monte_Grappa_area_-_Austrian_trenches_on_the_Asolone.jpg/360px-WWI_-_Battle_of_the_Piave_River_-_Monte_Grappa_area_-_Austrian_trenches_on_the_Asolone.jpg)
The First Battle of the Piave River (Italian: Prima battaglia del Piave), was fought during World War I between the armies of the Austro-Hungarian Empire supported by the German Empire against the Kingdom of Italy along the Piave river.
The Italian Army was in all-out retreat after the Austro-Hungarian autumn offensive of 1917. The Italian Chief of the general staff, general Luigi Cadorna, had ordered the construction of fortified defenses around the Monte Grappa summit in order to make the mountain range an impregnable fortress. When the Austro-Hungarian offensive routed the Italians, the new Italian chief of staff, Armando Diaz, ordered the Fourth Army to stop their retreat and defend these positions between the Roncone and the Tomatico mountains, with the support of the Second Army.
The Austro-Hungarians, despite help from the German Army's Alpenkorps and numerical superiority, failed to take the mountain's summit during the first battle of Monte Grappa, which lasted from November 11, 1917, to December 23, 1917. Armando Diaz allowed his local commanders much more freedom of manoeuvre than his predecessor, which resulted in a more elastic and effective Italian defense.
Thus the Italian front along the Piave river was stabilized and the Austro-Hungarians failed to enter the plains beyond and to take the city of Venice.
See also
References
- Silvestri, Mario. (2006). Caporetto, una battaglia e un enigma. Bur, Bergamo. ISBN 88-17-10711-5.
- Monte Grappa
- Cutolo, Francesco: Monte Grappa, Battle of , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, ed. by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson, issued by Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 2018-06-22. DOI: 10.15463/ie1418.11278. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/monte_grappa_battle_of