THE ITALIAN FRONT
THE BATTLE OF VITTORIA VENETO: 23rd OCTOBER – 4th NOVEMBER 1918
THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE: 1918
As we have seen, the Second Battle of Piave River (June 1918), virtually brought about the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Army. There was no way by which it could launch another attack on the Italian Front. It lacked the means and it lacked sufficient support from the rank and file. Nevertheless, the Italian prime minister, Vittorio Orlando, was anxious to go on the offensive. In military parlance, such an attack was “surplus to requirements”. In political terms, however, it was imperative. It was essential that the Italian victory over the Austria-Hungarian Empire was decisive and seen to be so. As noted earlier, Italy had entered the war on the promise of a string of valuable territorial concessions. It was now important to ensure that these be conceded in full. There should be no excuse for back-tracking.
Acknowledgements
Vittoria Veneto: timetoast.com Into Battle: imdb.com Flag: en.wikipedia.org Diaz: en.m.wikipedia.org White War (left): the culturalexperience.com White War (centre): Daily Mail.com White War (right): vacanzattivajournal. com Maps of Balkans: maurahenry.weebly.com Versailles: slideplayer.com
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General Armando Diaz, with an army of 57 divisions and the support of the British (3 divisions); the French (2 divisions), and the Americans (1 division), launched the offensive on the 23rd October. The campaign began with a night attack to capture Papadopoli Island, situated in the middle of the Piave. This was achieved, but the crossing of the river itself proved more difficult than expected. The river was badly swollen following heavy rain, and the Austro-Hungarians put up a surprising degree of resistance during the first four days. However, once across, the Allies met with very little opposition and struggled to cope with the number of prisoners they had to deal with. In addition, many Hungarians, learning of the increasing collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, made for home, anxious to assist in the struggle for independence. By the end of the month, having captured Vittoria Veneto en route, the Allied forces had reached Trento in the west and the River Tagliamento in the east (see map above). By that time the Austro-Hungarian Army had collapsed. Diaz’s “Victory Bulletin” said it all:
The Austro-Hungarian Army is destroyed; it suffered very heavy losses in the fierce resistance of the first days of the struggle and in the pursuit; it has lost an immense quantity of material of all kinds and nearly all its stores and depots; it has left in our hands about 300,000 prisoners, with their Commands complete, and not less than 5,000 guns.
Itxwas on the 3rd November in the Villa Giusti, close to Padua, that – given the virtual collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – Austria and Hungary signed separate armistice agreements with Italy (though the Italian army marched on until it reached its famous battle ground along the Isonzo River – see map above). But the Treaty of Giusti did little more than ensure the withdrawal of the Austro-Hungarian army from all occupied territory. Come the peace settlement in 1920, both Austria (via the Treaty of St.Germain) and Hungary (via the Treaty of Trianon) were to be drastically and painfully cut down to size, bringing significant changes to the political map of central Europe and the Balkans.
ArmandoxDiaz was born in Naples in 1861, and was trained in the military colleges of Naples and Turin. He first saw action during the conflict with Turkey in 1911, and was promoted to major general at the outbreak of the war. He served on the staff of Luigi Cadorna, and in 1916 was given command of the 49th Division of the 3rd Army, then serving on the Isonzo Front. As noted earlier, following the decisive defeat at the Battle of Caporetto, he replaced Cadorna as general chief of staff. In this appointment he made a wide range of improvements, including a more efficient chain of command; the introduction of better training and equipment; and less arduous living conditions for the soldier on the front line. These changes produced a more efficient army and greatly contributed to the victories gained at the Second Battle of the Piave River and Vittoria Veneto. In 1922 he was appointed minster of war in the government of the Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, and the following year, for his services to Italy, the king appointed him “First Duke of Victory”. On his retirement in 1924 he received the title Marshal of Italy. He died in Rome in 1928.
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THExDECLINE AND FALL OF THE AUSTRIAN-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE: 1918
The political breakup of the multinational Habsburg Empire was not officially recognised or accepted until the Treaty of Versailles, but it was clearly accelerated by the Battle of Vittoria Veneto. The dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was founded in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. A large, multinational state – the second largest in Europe after the Russian Empire – it was a prosperous and well-managed nation for many years. However, it was, in fact, a somewhat uneasy merging of two peoples, and, in addition, it had within its boundaries a number of ethnic minorities, each anxious to gain independent status. (Indeed, the breakout of the First World War was largely due to the efforts of one such minority, the Serbs, to gain greater recognition for its people!) The collapse of the army in the wake of the battles of Piave River and Vittoria Veneto, and the breakdown of law and order at home due to lack of food and poor living conditions, gave these minority groups the opportunity they had been waiting for. For some time, as the war progressed, they had shown an increasing amount of independence. Many of their troops were deserting or disobeying orders. Indeed, in the case of the Czechs, many had started working with Allied forces early on, and in September 1918 five regiments were established in the Italian army itself. The Austrian-Hungarian Empire had totally collapsed. The time had come for action and the grasping of freedom.
Four new “nations” emerged from out of the debris of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire (see map above):
15th October: Croatiaxand Slovenia declared their independence from Austria-
Hungary and established the state of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
(Yugoslavia), confirmed on the 1st December.
20th October: ThexCzech National Council declared the independence of the Czech
and Slovak State (Czechoslovakia) - containing Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia and
part of Galicia.
21st October: ThexAustrian Provisional National Assembly proclaimed the Austrian
Republic as from 12th November (i.e. the area that was salvaged following the
collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). But the peace settlement was yet to come!
25th October: ThexHungarian politicians set-up their own assembly and declared the Hungarian Republic on the 16th November (minus Transylvania, which becomes
part of Romania). But the peace settlement was yet to come!
In thexmeantime, existing states confirmed their sovereignty, and, in some cases, acquired territory from the demise of the Austria-Hungary Empire. The Serbians, totally defeated and occupied earlier in the war, regained their land with the help of the French, entering Belgrade on the lst November; whilst Romania was substantially enlarged by the seizure of Transylvania (an area for long in their sights), and Poland gained valuable ground by taking over much of Galicia.
ITL
Notxsurprisingly, Italy was likewise determined to seize the day! At the beginning of November, the Italian army and navy wasted no time in taking over much of the areas granted to them by the Treaty of London in April 1915 (and other territories besides!). It could be argued that Italy had not only played a major part in the defeat of the Central Powers by way of the Italian Front – and suffered much as a consequence – but it had also made a contribution to the fighting in other areas, including a token force in the Sinai-Palestine campaign in 1916, and a more sizeable measure of support at the Second Battle of the Marne, fought on the Western Front in 1918. In total, it had suffered some 615,000 dead or wounded, and saw no reason why the territorial concessions made in 1915 should not be honoured in full. As we shallxsee, however, in the ensuing peace negotiations concerning the fate of Austria and Hungary, held respectively at the Treaties of St.Germain and Trianon, this was not to be. The Italian government had to struggle against the opposition of its former allies. Indeed, at one point its delegates walked out of the conference in protest, but it was of no avail. Not all the assigned territories came their way. It can be argued that the bitterness caused by what the Italian government saw as a fundamental breach of faith was to have a decided effect upon Italy’s political role in the interwar years. Betrayed by its Allies, the Italians (and well over the majority it would appear), fell under the spell of the charismatic Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. This was to lead to Italy’s liaison with Nazi Germany, and a costly and humiliating defeat in the Second World War.