Battle of the Piave River

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Part of the Italian Front (First World War)

Date	June 15-June 22, 1918
Location	Piave River, Italy
Result	Decisive Italian victory

Combatants

Image:Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Italy
Image:Flag of France.svg France
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg United Kingdom

Image:Flag of Austria-Hungary.svg Austria-Hungary

Commanders

Image:Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg Armando Diaz

Image:Flag of Austria-Hungary.svg Arz von Straussenberg

Strength

58 Italian divisions
6 French divisions
5 British divisions

57 divisions

Casualties

87,500 dead or wounded

35,000 dead
90,000 wounded
25,000 captured

Italian Front
1st Isonzo – 2nd Isonzo – 3rd Isonzo – 4th Isonzo – 5th Isonzo – Asiago – 6th Isonzo – 7th Isonzo – 8th Isonzo – 9th Isonzo – 10th Isonzo – Ortigara – 11th Isonzo – Caporetto – Piave River – Vittorio Veneto

The Battle of the Piave River was a decisive victory for the Italian Army during World War I. The defeat directly led to the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Army.

1 Background
2 Italian Forces
3 Austro-Hungarian Forces
4 The battle
5 Results
6 Sources

[edit] Background

With the exit of Russia from the war in 1917, Austria-Hungary was now able to devote significant forces to the Italian Front. At the Battle of Caporetto the Austrians had decisively defeated the Italians who fell back to the Piave River.

[edit] Italian Forces

Italy's defeat at Caporetto led to General Luigi Cadorna's dismissal and General Armando Diaz replaced him as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. Diaz set up a strong defence line along Piave River. Up until this point in the war, Italian army had been fighting alone against the Central Powers; With the defeat at Caporetto, France and Britain sent reinforcements on the Italian front.

[edit] Austro-Hungarian Forces

The Austro-Hungarian Army had also recently undergone a change in command, and the new Austrian Chief of Staff, Arz von Straussenberg, wished to finish off the Italians. Staussenberg's army group commanders, Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf (the former Austrian Chief of Staff) and Svetozar Boroević von Bojna, both wished to make an assault along Piave River. Conrad and Boroević had a dislike for each other, and Straussenberg divided the army equally between them. Straussenberg modeled the attack after Erich von Ludendorff's offensive on the Western Front.

[edit] The battle

General Diaz learned the exact timing of the Austrian attack: 3:00am on 15 June. The Italians opened fire all along their front and inflicted heavy casualties. However the Austrians still attacked. Boroević launched the first assault, moving South along the Adriatic Coast. The Austrians were able to cross the Piave and gained ground against the Italians in the face of heavy resistance, before Boroević was finally forced to order a retreat. On 17 June, Boroević returned to the Piave but recent floods had washed away many of the river's bridges and the Austrians were held up trying to re-cross. On 18 June Diaz counterattacked and hit Boroević in the flank inflicting heavy casualties. Conrad had attacked along the Italian lines west of Boroević on the 15th, with the objective of capturing Verona. Little came of Conrad's assaults except a further 40,000 casualties to the Austrian total. By 22 June Diaz had recaptured all territory south of the Piave and the battle was over.

[edit] Results

The Battle of the Piave River was the last great military offensive of Austria-Hungary. The battle signalled the disintegration of its army as an effective fighting unit, which was finished off at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, four months later.