Fall 1916: When the Morale of the Italian Army Began Ebbing

Fighting on the Carso Plateau

In August 1916, the Italian Army won it's first major strategic success of the Great War.  In capturing Gorizia, the strategic city on the lower Isonzo River with a 3-mile advance on a 15-mile front, the gateway to the Carso Plateau with prized Trieste at its end seemed open. Italian morale soared.  Planning began immediately for expanding the bridgehead.  Three battles were fought over the next three months:

Seventh Battle of the Isonzo: September 14–17, 1916
Eighth Battle of the Isonzo: October 10–12, 1916
Ninth Battle of the Isonzo: November 1–4, 1916

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Arrow Shows Starting Point for Fall 1916 Campaign

The next three battles on the Isonzo, all designed to expand the Gorizia bridgehead, were brief and bloody. Tactically, they featured sharp, uncoordinated local attacks on Austro-Hungarian positions which achieved some progress, but which, as usual, inflicted worse casualties on the attackers (75,000) than the defenders (63,000). These three grim battles probably started the downward spiral of morale in the Italian Army that would culminate a year later in the disaster of Caporetto.

Italian Infantry Advancing to the Front

The Second Army was given the objective of the Selva di Terranova, a wooded area lying back from the river in the gap between the Bainsizza Plateau in the north and the Carso to the south. During the Seventh Battle they captured Mte Rombon, but were forced to withdraw. Heavy losses by both armies then caused Cadorna to suspend offensive operations until October. Second Army's biggest success would take place in November when they captured Hill 171 near Mte St Marco behind Gorizia.

Austro-Hungarian Base on the Carso

Third Army was ordered to advance once again through the Carso pushing the front six miles east. They faced tremendously determined opposition and after advancing nearly a mile in September, their high casualty rate necessitated a halt. The next month their advance was minimal. In early November they drove another mile close to the village of Castagnevizza where the front stabilized as winter approached. By the end of 1916 all the combatants along the Isonzo knew they were trapped in an inescapable war of attrition. The Austrians could not continue to absorb the level of casualties they were suffering and Italy's Fanti were experiencing a loss in confidence in their leaders. Few on either side , though, probably foresaw the surprises coming in 1917.

Interim Cemetery for Italy's Fallen in the Sector