Battle of the Piave River
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| Battle of the Piave River | |||||||
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| Part of the Italian Front (First World War) | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
 Italy France United Kingdom |
 Austria-Hungary |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| Armando Diaz |
Arz von Straussenburg | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 58 Italian divisions, 6 French divisions, 5 British divisions |
57 divisions | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| 80,000 dead or wounded | 60,000 dead, 90,000 wounded, 25,000 captured |
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| Italian Front |
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| 1st Isonzo – 2nd Isonzo – 3rd Isonzo – 4th Isonzo – 5th Isonzo – Asiago – 6th Isonzo – 7th Isonzo – 8th Isonzo – 9th Isonzo – 10th Isonzo – Ortigara – 11th Isonzo – Caporetto – Piave River – Vittorio Veneto |
The Battle of the Piave River, known in Italy as Battaglia del Solstizio (Battle of the Solstice), Battaglia di Mezzo Giugno (Battle of Middle June), or Seconda Battaglia del Piave (Second Battle of the Piave River, as the last part of the Battle of Caporetto is considered to be the first), was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War I. The defeat directly led to the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Army.
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[edit] Background
With the exit of Russia from the war in 1917, Austria-Hungary was now able to devote significant forces to the Italian Front. At the Battle of Caporetto the Austrians had decisively defeated the Italians who fell back to the Piave River.
[edit] Italian Forces
Italy's defeat at Caporetto led to General Luigi Cadorna's dismissal and General Armando Diaz replaced him as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. Diaz set up a strong defence line along Piave River. Up until this point in the war, Italian army had been fighting alone against the Central Powers; With the defeat at Caporetto, France and Britain sent reinforcements on the Italian front.
[edit] Austro-Hungarian Forces
The Austro-Hungarian Army had also recently undergone a change in command, and the new Austrian Chief of Staff, Arz von Straussenberg, wished to finish off the Italians. Staussenberg's army group commanders, Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf (the former Austrian Chief of Staff) and Svetozar Boroević von Bojna, both wished to make an assault along Piave River. Conrad and Boroević had a dislike for each other, and Straussenberg divided the army equally between them. Straussenberg modeled the attack after Erich Ludendorff's offensive on the Western Front.
[edit] The battle
General Diaz learned the exact timing of the Austrian attack: 3:00am on 15 June. The Italians opened fire all along their front and inflicted heavy casualties. However the Austrians still attacked. Boroević launched the first assault, moving South along the Adriatic Coast. The Austrians were able to cross the Piave and gained ground against the Italians in the face of heavy resistance, before Boroević was finally forced to order a retreat. On 17 June, Boroević returned to the Piave but recent floods had washed away many of the river's bridges and the Austrians were held up trying to re-cross. On 18 June Diaz counterattacked and hit Boroević in the flank inflicting heavy casualties. Conrad had attacked along the Italian lines west of Boroević on the 15th, with the objective of capturing Verona. Little came of Conrad's assaults except a further 40,000 casualties to the Austrian total. By 22 June Diaz had recaptured all territory south of the Piave and the battle was over.
[edit] Results
The Battle of the Piave River was the last great military offensive of Austria-Hungary. The battle signalled the disintegration of its army as an effective fighting unit, which was finished off at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, four months later.
[edit] Trivia
Still today, to the Italian public two mottos recalls the battle: those written upon broken walls of destroyed rural houses: "E' meglio vivere un giorno da leone che cent'anni da pecora" ("(It is) Better to live one single day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep") and "Tutti eroi! O il Piave o tutti accoppati" ("Everyone a hero! Either (we reach) the Piave, or let all of us get killed"). The two pieces of wall are preserved in the military shrine of Fagaré della Battaglia, a frazione of San Biagio di Callalta.
[edit] Sources
- Tucker, Spencer The Great War:1914-18 (1998)
- Battles: The Battle of the Piave River, 1918
