Battle of Caporetto
Kobarid, Austria-Hungary (present day Slovenia)
What happened
Austro-Hungarian and German forces led by Otto von Below and Svetozar Boroević attacked the Italian army of General Luigi Cadorna. In October 1917, German troops joined the Austro-Hungarians and attacked near the town of Kobarid, called Caporetto in Italian. The use of poison gas by the Germans played a key role in the collapse of the Italian Second Army. The Italian army retreated about 150 km to the Piave River.
Why it matters
Result: Central Powers victory. Why it matters: It was one of the worst defeats in Italian history. In Italian, the word 'Caporetto' came to mean a terrible disaster.
What came next
Cadorna was replaced by General Armando Diaz, who held the line on the Piave River. In 1918 Diaz led the Italian army to victory at Vittorio Veneto, ending the war on the Italian front.
Did you know?
The American writer Ernest Hemingway described the retreat after Caporetto in his novel 'A Farewell to Arms'.
Timeline
- 24 October 1917The Austro-German attack at Caporetto begins.
- November 1917The Italian army reaches the Piave River, and Cadorna is replaced by Diaz.
- 1918Italy wins the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.