Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo

The Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo was a World War I battle fought by the Italian and Austro-Hungarian Armies on the Italian Front between 18 August and 12 September 1917.

Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo
Part of the Italian Front of World War I
Italian 75mm anti-aircraft gun during the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo
Date 18 August – 12 September 1917 Location Isonzo (Soča), near Monfalcone, Italy; Banjšice Plateau (Altopiano della Bainsizza), Slovenia Result Italian tactical victory
Belligerents
Italy	Austria-Hungary Germany
Commanders and leaders
Luigi Cadorna Luigi Capello Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia	Arthur Arz von Straußenburg Svetozar Boroević von Bojna
Units involved
Second Army Third Army	Army Group Boroević
Strength
600 battalions 5,200 guns	250 battalions 2,200 guns
Casualties and losses
158,000 casualties: 30,000 dead 108,000 wounded 20,000 missing or taken prisoner	115,000 casualties: 20,000 dead 45,000 wounded 30,000 missing 20,000 taken prisoner

Background

On the Soča (Isonzo) River, Luigi Cadorna, the Italian Chief of Staff, concentrated three quarters of his troops: 600 battalions (52 divisions) with 5,200 guns.

Battle

The attack was carried forth from a front from Tolmin (in the upper Isonzo valley) to the Adriatic Sea. The Italians crossed the river at several points on temporary bridges, but the main effort was exerted on the Banjšice Plateau, whose capture was to further the offensive and break the Austro-Hungarian lines in two segments, isolating the strongholds of Mount Saint Gabriel and Mount Hermada.

After fierce and deadly fightings, the Italian Second Army, led by General Capello, pushed back Boroević's Isonzo Armee, conquering the Bainsizza and Mount Santo. Other positions were taken by the Duke of Aosta's Third Army.

However, Mount Saint Gabriel and Mount Hermada turned out to be impregnable, and the offensive wore out.

After the battle, the Austro-Hungarians were exhausted, and could not have withstood another attack. So were the Italians, who could not find the resources necessary for another assault, even though it might have been the decisive one. So the final result of the battle was an inconclusive bloodbath. Moreover, the end of the battle left the Italian Second Army (until then the most successful of the Italian Armies) split in two parts across the Soča (Isonzo), a weak point that proved to be decisive in the subsequent Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo.

To commemorate the participation of the Royal Bavarian Infantry Lifeguards Regiment, Georg Fürst wrote the March "Isonzo-Marsch". The Italians fired 5.5 million artillery shells during the battle, including poison gas shells.

See also

• First Battle of the Isonzo – 23 June–7 July 1915
• Second Battle of the Isonzo – 18 July–3 August 1915
• Third Battle of the Isonzo – 18 October–3 November 1915
• Fourth Battle of the Isonzo – 10 November–2 December 1915
• Fifth Battle of the Isonzo – 9–17 March 1916
• Sixth Battle of the Isonzo – 6–17 August 1916
• Seventh Battle of the Isonzo – 14–17 September 1916
• Eighth Battle of the Isonzo – 10–12 October 1916
• Ninth Battle of the Isonzo – 1–4 November 1916
• Tenth Battle of the Isonzo – 12 May–8 June 1917
• Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo – 24 October–7 November 1917 also known as the Battle of Caporetto

Further reading

• Schindler, John R. (2001). Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War. Praeger. ISBN 0275972046. OCLC 44681903.

External links

• Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo
• FirstWorldWar.Com: The Battles of the Isonzo, 1915-17
• Battlefield Maps: Italian Front
• 11 battles at the Isonzo
• The Walks of Peace in the Soča Region Foundation. The Foundation preserves, restores and presents the historical and cultural heritage of the First World War in the area of the Isonzo Front for the study, tourist and educational purposes.
• The Kobarid Museum
• Društvo Soška Fronta (in Slovene)
• Pro Hereditate - extensive site (in English, Italian, and Slovene)