Caporetto 1917 FROM THE PUBLISHER
"The Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 was an almost catastrophic event for Italy. Eighty years after the event, this book reconsiders the meaning of the battle in the wider framework of the First World War." As most histories recount, following the Central Powers' breakthrough on the Isonzo front, there followed a huge collapse of the Italian Army, which lost over half its men and materiel. Having suffered such huge losses, Italy was on the brink of total collapse and of leaving the war altogether. Yet, as this book describes, by December 1917, Italy had managed to overcome this crisis and would remain in the conflict. How did it manage to do this against such odds?
SYNOPSIS
The Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 was almost a catastrophic event for Italy. Eighty years after the event, this work reconsiders the meaning of that event in the wider framework of World War I. Following the Central Powers' breakthrough on the Isonzo front, there followed a huge collapse of the Italian army, which lost over half its men and material. Having suffered such losses, Italy was on the brink of total collapse. Yet, by December 1917, Italy had overcome the crisis and remained in the conflict. How did it manage to do this? For Mario Morselli, the answer lies in the poor performance of the Central Empire's military leadership after the initial success of the offensive. In the weeks following the breakthrough, the Austro-Hungarian and German generals proved unable to surmount a series of strategic situations, which negated the value of the original breakthrough. Morselli notes that forcing a surrender was a secondary war aim for the German generals; the recall of German tro
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