Battle of Asiago

{{Short description|Battle on the Italian Front during World War I}} {{refimprove|date=November 2010}} {{Infobox military conflict | conflict =Battle of Asiago | partof = the Italian Front (First World War) | image = Guerra Altipiani Dopo Assalto.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = The remaining alpine vegetation after the attack on Asiago. | date = 15 May – 27 July 1916 | place = Asiago plateau, Veneto, Italy | casus = | result = Italian victory (counter-offensive phase) | combatant1 = {{flagcountry|Kingdom of Italy|Italy}} | combatant2 = {{flag|Austria-Hungary}} | commander1 = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} Luigi Cadorna {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} Roberto Brusati {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} Pietro Frugoni | commander2 = {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} Conrad von Hötzendorf {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} Archduke Eugen of Austria {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} Viktor Dankl von Krasnik {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} Hermann Kövess | units1 = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} 1st Army {{flagicon|Kingdom of Italy}} 5th Army | units2 = {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} 11th Army {{flagicon|Austria-Hungary}} 3rd Army | strength1 = 172 battalions 850 guns | strength2 = 300 battalions 2,000 guns | casualties1 = 15,453 killed 76,642 wounded 55,635 missing or captured<ref>Data for the period 15 May - 31 July 1916, from the diary of the First Army, in: Gianni Pieropan, ''1916. Le montagne scottano'', Tamari editori, Bologna, 1968, p. 214.</ref> | casualties2 = 10,203 killed 45,651 wounded 26,961 missing or captured<ref>Numbers for the period 15 May - 31 July 1916, from Austrian official reports, in: Gianni Pieropan, ''1916. Le montagne scottano'', Tamari editori, Bologna, 1968, p. 214.</ref> }} {{Campaignbox Italian Front}}

The '''Battle of Asiago''', also known as '''Südtirol Offensive''' or '''Battle of the Plateaux''' (in Italian: '''Battaglia degli Altipiani'''), wrongly nicknamed '''''Strafexpedition''''' " (German for "punitive expedition"; this name has no reference in official Austrian documentation of the time and it is considered to be of popular origin),<ref>Enrico Acerbi, Strafexpedition, Novate Valdagno, Gino Rossato Editore, 2007, {{ISBN|978-88-8130-006-8}}, pag. 11</ref> began with a major offensive launched on 15 May 1916 by the Austro-Hungarians on the territory of Vicentine Alps in the Italian Front of World War I. It was an "unexpected" attack that took place in the Asiago plateau (province of Vicenza, in northeast Italy, then at the border between the Kingdom of Italy and Austria-Hungary) after the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo (March 1916). The Austro-Hungarian offensive, initially successful, was followed by an Italian counter-offensive reconquering much of the lost ground and Asiago.

Commemorating this battle and the soldiers killed in World War I is the Asiago War Memorial (province of Vicenza, Veneto, northeast Italy).<ref>{{cite web|title=Sacrario militare di Asiago-Leiten e museo del Sacrario|publisher=Itinerari della Grande Guerra|language=it|url=http://www.itinerarigrandeguerra.it/it/27090/Sacrario-militare-di-Asiago-Leiten-e-museo-del-Sacrario|access-date=24 April 2013}}</ref>

==Background== For some time the Austro-Hungarian commander-in-chief, General Conrad von Hötzendorf, had been proposing the idea of an offensive on the Italian western front that would lethally cripple Italy, Austria-Hungary's ex-ally, claimed to be guilty of betraying the Triple Alliance, and in previous years he had had the frontier studied in order to formulate studies with regard to a possible invasion.<ref name="Background"/><ref name="More background">{{cite book |last1=Schindler |first1=John |title=Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War |date=2001 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |location=Connecticut |isbn=0-275-97204-6 |pages=144–146}}</ref>

The problem had appeared to be serious, mostly because the frontier ran through high mountains and the limited Italian advances of 1915 had worsened the situation and excluded a great advance beyond the valleys of Valsugana and Val Lagarina (both connected by railway) and the plateaus of Lavarone, Folgaria and Asiago.

The geographic location of the routes of advance was conducive to the original plan which called for an advance from Trent to Venice, isolating the Italian 2nd and 3rd Armies who were fighting on the Isonzo and the Italian 4th Army who was defending the Belluno region and the eastern Trentino.<ref name="Background"/>

The preparations for the battle began in December 1915, when Conrad von Hötzendorf proposed to his German counterpart, General Erich von Falkenhayn, shifting divisions from the Eastern Front in Galicia to the Tyrol, substituting them with German divisions.<ref name="Background"/> His request was denied because Germany was not yet at war with Italy (which would declare war on Germany eight months later), and because redeploying German units on the Italian Front would have diminished German offensive capability against Russia, as well as against France in the anticipated offensive in Verdun.<ref name="Background">{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Mark |title=The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 |date=2009 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-465-01329-6 |pages=159–163}}</ref> After having received a negative reply from the Germans, who refused the proposed replacement and actively tried to discourage the Austro-Hungarian proposed attack, Conrad von Hötzendorf decided to operate autonomously.<ref name="More background"/> The 11th Austro-Hungarian Army, under the command of Count Viktor Dankl, would carry out the offensive followed by the 3rd Army under Hermann Kövess. It was not so easy, however, because the Italians had deployed in the area about 250,000 well-entrenched troops (General Brusati's First Army and part of the Fourth Army).<ref name="More background"/> Italian intelligence had been gathering information about an impending enemy offensive in Trentino — and a big one — for about a month, but Cadorna dismissed those reports, persuaded as he was that nothing could happen in that region.<ref name="Background"/>

==Battle== On 15 May 1916, 2,000 Austro-Hungarian artillery guns opened a heavy barrage against the Italian lines, setting Trentino afire. The Austro-Hungarian infantry attacked along a {{convert|50|km}} front. The Italian wings stood their ground, but the centre yielded, and the Austro-Hungarians broke through, threatening to reach the beginning of the Venetian plain.<ref name="Battle">{{cite book |last1=Schindler |first1=John |title=Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War |date=2001 |publisher=Praeger Publishers |location=Connecticut |isbn=0-275-97204-6 |pages=146–150}}</ref> The offensive overwhelmed the undermanned and disorganized First Army, and with Vicenza about {{convert|30|km}} away, all the Italian forces on the Isonzo would face outflanking.<ref name="Battle"/>

Cadorna hastily sent reinforcements to the First Army, and deployed the newly formed Fifth Army under Pietro Frugoni to engage the enemy in case they succeeded in entering the plain. The situation was critical, but the commitment of reserves and the replacement of several Italian commanders who were judged unfit gradually improved the situation.<ref name="The battle">{{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Mark |title=The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919 |date=2011 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-465-01329-6 |pages=165–168}}</ref>

On 20 May, Austro-Hungarian troops advanced onto the Asiago plateau, and by 28 May Asiago had fallen. The Austrians, however, were exhausted, low on munitions, and had weak supply lines, and by the end of May had failed to break out into the lowlands.<ref name="The battle"/>

The new Italian defensive line on Mounts Pasubio, Novegno, Zugna, Buole Pass and Astico Valley held and repelled repeated Austro-Hungarian attacks; on 2 June, Italian troops started their counteroffensive, slowly regaining ground.

Furthermore, on 4 June, the Russians unexpectedly took the initiative in Galicia, where they managed to enter Austrian soil. Although they were effectively countered by German and Austro-Hungarian troops, Hötzendorf was forced quickly to withdraw half of his divisions from Trentino. With that, the ''Strafexpedition'' could no longer be sustained and the Austro-Hungarians retired from many of their positions. Italian troops in the region were increased to 400,000 to counter the Austro-Hungarian positions.<ref name="Battle"/>

Although the ''Strafexpedition'' had been checked, it had political consequences in Italy: the Salandra Cabinet fell, and Paolo Boselli became the new prime minister.

==Bibliography==

* Enrico Acerbi, ''Strafexpedition'', Gino Rossato Editore, 1992 * Gerhard Artl: ''Die "Strafexpedition": Österreich-Ungarns Südtiroloffensive 1916''. Verlag A. Weger, Brixen 2015, {{ISBN|978-88-6563-127-0}}. * Fritz Weber: ''Alpenkrieg''. Artur Kollitsch Verlag, Klagenfurt 1939. * Walter Schaumann: ''Dall'Ortles all'Adriatico Immagini del fronte italo-austriaco 1915–1918''. Wien 1993. * ''L'esercito italiano nella grande guerra LEINGG (1915–1918)'' Volume I – IV /Ministero della Guerra – Ufficio Storico, Roma 1929–1974. * ''One Year on the High Plateau'', Emilio Lussu

==References== {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Asiago 1916}} Category:Battles in 1916 Category:Battles of the Italian front (World War I) Category:Battles of World War I involving Austria-Hungary Category:Battles of World War I involving Italy Category:Battles involving Austria Category:Battles involving Hungary Category:Military history of Italy during World War I Category:1916 in Italy Category:1916 in Austria-Hungary Category:May 1916 in Europe Category:June 1916 in Europe Category:Asiago Category:20th century in Veneto Category:Military history of Veneto