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34-601: The conferences were held in Italy to reassure the Italians of the Allied commitment to them and of their status as equals. At Rapallo, the French and British premiers refused to entrust their troops in Italy to the command of General Luigi Cadorna and demanded his dismissal. Although he later presented this as a great humiliation, Orlando had made the sacking of Cadorna a condition of his accepting

68-525: A Field Marshal (Maresciallo d'Italia) in 1924 after Benito Mussolini seized power. Cadorna died in Bordighera in 1928. Several historians record Cadorna as an unimaginative martinet who was ruthless with his troops and dismissive of his country's political authorities. David Stevenson , Professor of International History at the London School of Economics , describes him as earning "opprobrium as one of

102-628: A combined Austro-Hungarian/German army struck across the Isonzo at Kobarid (called Caporetto in Italian) and by 12 November had advanced all the way to the Piave River . Cadorna's disposition of most of his troops far forward, with little defence in depth , contributed greatly to the Defeat at Caporetto ; but graver still were the responsibilities of other officers, notably Pietro Badoglio , then corps commander in

136-514: A difficult political and military situation. The government of Premier Antonio Salandra favoured initial neutrality over Italy's treaty commitments under the Triple Alliance . Cadorna was accordingly obliged to reverse long-established strategic plans while discovering that the army was ill-prepared for war against Austria-Hungary and Germany. In particular large numbers of men and quantities of equipment had been deployed to Tripolitania leaving

170-473: A reputation for strict discipline and harsh punishment. He wrote a manual of infantry tactics, which laid stress on the doctrine of the offensive. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1898 Cadorna subsequently held a number of senior staff and divisional/corps command positions. On the eve of Italy's entry into World War (1915), he was close to peace-time retirement age and had a history of differences with his political and military superiors. Cadorna had been offered

204-539: A sector overrun by the Austro-German attack. Cadorna himself had been on leave for most of October and his immediate subordinate was seriously ill. The Italian Army retreated in disarray and seemed on the verge of total collapse; 275,000 soldiers were captured. Italy's allies Britain and France insisted on the dismissal of Cadorna (the General was relieved of command on 9 November 1917 ) and sent eleven divisions to reinforce

238-539: The Piave rather than the Mincio , but the Italians were forced to accept British and French freedom of action in Italy. 44°20′33″N 9°13′49″E  /  44.3426°N 9.2304°E  / 44.3426; 9.2304 This World War I article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Luigi Cadorna Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna , OSML , OMS , OCI (4 September 1850 – 21 December 1928)

272-551: The University of Rome . He was Minister of Agriculture (1899–1900) in the conservative government of Luigi Pelloux and subsequently Minister of the Treasury (1906) and Italian Minister of Finance (1909–1910) in the governments of Sidney Sonnino . In March 1914, the conservative Salandra was brought into the national cabinet upon the fall of the government of Giovanni Giolitti , as the choice of Giolitti himself, who still commanded

306-698: The Austro-Hungarian Trentino Offensive in May to July 1916 contributed to a military crisis that led to the collapse of Salandra's government on 10 June 1916, due to a combination of neutralist deputies and those who believed that Salandra had not been effective enough in the war effort. He played no further role in the war but was a member of the Italian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. After World War I, Salandra moved further to

340-525: The Isonzo between 1915 and 1917, comprising one outright victory, six tactical victories or limited advances, three inconclusive offensives, and one defeat. Additional forces were arrayed along the Trentino salient , attacking towards Rovereto , Trento , and Bolzano . These attacks also failed. The terrain along the Isonzo and Trentino was completely unsuited for offensive warfare– mountainous and broken, with no room for manoeuvring. On 24 October 1917,

374-514: The Italian army and the harsh discipline that he imposed on his soldiers was largely derived from his own strong sense of duty. He was the father of Raffaele Cadorna Jr. , an Italian general who fought during World War I and World War II, and was famous as one of the commanders of the Italian Resistance against German occupying forces in north Italy after 1943. Antonio Salandra Antonio Salandra (13 August 1853 – 9 December 1931)

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408-589: The Italian front. However, these troops played no role in stemming the advancing Germans and Austro-Hungarians, because they were deployed on the Mincio River , some 97 kilometres (60 mi) behind the Piave, as the British and French strategists did not believe the Piave line could be held. The king appointed the respected General Armando Diaz as Chief of General Staff, with Badoglio named as his second-in-command. Cadorna

442-677: The Strafexpedition , but suffered heavy casualties. Following a major defeat at the Battle of Caporetto in late 1917, he was relieved as Chief of Staff. Luigi Cadorna was born to General Raffaele Cadorna in Verbania Pallanza , Piedmont in 1850. In 1860 Cadorna became a student at the "Teuliè" Military School in Milan. At fifteen he entered the Turin Military Academy. Upon graduation, he

476-510: The Triple Alliance. In the following days Giolitti and the neutralist majority of the Parliament opposed declaring war, while nationalist crowds demonstrated in public areas for entering the war. On 13 May 1915, Salandra offered his resignation, but Giolitti, fearful of nationalist disorder that might break into open rebellion, declined to succeed him as prime minister and Salandra's resignation

510-462: The aggressor. In reality, both Salandra and his ministers of Foreign Affairs, Antonino Paternò Castello , who was succeeded by Sidney Sonnino in November 1914, began to probe which side would grant the best reward for Italy's entrance in the war and to fulfil Italy’s irredentist claims . Salandra used the term "sacred egoism" ( sacro egoismo ) to define Italy's outlook on which side Italy would enter

544-412: The formalized winnowing of entire detachments. Because of the multiple and consecutive failed attacks led by him, the large number of casualties incurred among his own men, and his personal reputation as disproportionately bitter and ruthless, Cadorna is often considered one of the worst generals of World War I. Other historians have a more balanced view of Cadorna, taking into account the fact that he

578-555: The home army disorganized. Cadorna launched four offensives in 1915, all along the Isonzo River . The goal of these offensives was the fortress of Gorizia , the capture of which would permit the Italian armies to pivot south and march on Trieste , or continue on to the Ljubljana Gap . Many offensives failed, resulting in some 250,000 Italian casualties before capturing the city in 1916. Cadorna would ultimately fight eleven battles on

612-426: The most callous and incompetent of First World War commanders." In manner, he appeared a reserved and aristocratic officer of the old-fashioned Piedmontese school. During the course of the war, Cadorna dismissed 217 officers, and during the Battle of Caporetto , he ordered the summary execution of officers whose units retreated. Six percent of Italian soldiers under his leadership faced a disciplinary charge during

646-592: The post of Chief of Staff for the first time in 1908, which he had rejected over the issue of political control during wartime. He was again offered the position in July 1914, as the Triple Entente and Central Powers girded for war. When Italy entered the war in May 1915 on the side of the Entente, Cadorna fielded thirty-six infantry divisions composed of 875,000 men, but with only 120 modern artillery pieces. Cadorna inherited

680-413: The premiership of Italy from the king. Cadorna was replaced by Armando Diaz . The conference also agreed to the formation of a Supreme War Council at Versailles to co-ordinate allied plans and actions. At Peschiera, the prime ministers were joined by King Victor Emmanuel III , Sidney Sonnino , Leonida Bissolati , Henry Franklin-Bouillon and Jan Smuts . The king defended Italy's decision to defend

714-538: The support of most Italian parliamentarians. Salandra's government was the most conservative one that Italy had seen for a long time. Salandra soon fell out with Giolitti over the question of Italian participation in World War I . At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Salandra declared that Italy would not commit its troops, maintaining that the Triple Alliance had only a defensive stance and Austria-Hungary had been

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748-468: The victories at the battles of Asiago and Gorizia , but subsequent allegations of the introduction of ancient Roman decimation alienated him from his troops. The disaster of Caporetto has been explained with the arrival of superior German forces to the Austrian front, believed to be about to collapse following the eleventh Isonzo offensive in 1917. It was argued that the quasi-absolute power he assumed over

782-504: The war and 61% of those charged were found guilty. About 750 were executed, the highest number in any army in World War I. Claims have been made that he also reintroduced the ancient Roman practice of decimation —the killing of every tenth man—for units which failed to perform in battle. However, the military historian John Keegan records that his "judicial savagery" took the form of the summary executions of individual stragglers rather than

816-399: The war, the Italian government held an inquiry to investigate the defeat at Caporetto. It was published in 1919 and was highly critical of Cadorna, at that time a bitter man busy with writing his own memoirs. Cadorna claimed that he had no responsibility for the defeat, despite fleeing to Padua during the battle and abandoning the entire Italian Second Army to its fate. Nevertheless, he was made

850-580: The war. Expecting the war would be short – over by the late summer of 1915 – there was some pressure on the decision to make. Negotiations had been started between Sonnino, the British Foreign Secretary Edward Grey and the French Foreign Minister Jules Cambon . On February 16, 1915, despite concurrent negotiations with Austria, a courier was dispatched in great secrecy to London with the suggestion that Italy

884-657: Was a conservative Italian politician, journalist, and writer who served as the 21st prime minister of Italy between 1914 and 1916. He ensured the entry of Italy in World War I on the side of the Triple Entente (the United Kingdom , France , and the Russian Empire ) to fulfil Italy's irredentist claims . Born in Troia ( Province of Foggia , Apulia ), he graduated from the University of Naples in 1875 and then became instructor and later professor of administrative law at

918-656: Was an Italian general, Marshal of Italy and Count, most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from 1914 until 1917 during World War I . Commanding the Italian army on the Italian front , he acquired a reputation for rigid discipline and the harsh treatment of his troops. Cadorna launched multiple offensives across the Isonzo front during which the Italian army made gradual gains, notably capturing Gorizia after containing

952-499: Was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery in 1868. In 1870, as an officer in the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, Cadorna participated in the occupation of Rome as part of a force commanded by his father. As major he was appointed to the staff of General Pianell, afterwards taking the post of Chief of Staff of the Verona Divisional Command. As Colonel commanding the 10th Regiment of Bersaglieri from 1892 Cadorna acquired

986-511: Was concluded on April 26 binding Italy to fight within one month. [...] Not until May 4 did Salandra denounce the Triple Alliance in a private note to its signatories. The secret pact, the Treaty of London or London Pact ( Italian : Patto di Londra ), was signed between the Triple Entente (the United Kingdom , France , and the Russian Empire ) and the Kingdom of Italy. According to the pact, Italy

1020-613: Was held in high regard by allied and enemy generals prior to the battle of Caporetto. They argue that, in terms of military tactics , he was a typical general of his generation, his numerous offensives being decided together with Allied commanders as part of an overall strategy to wear out Austro-German forces while simultaneous battles were occurring in the Western and Eastern fronts. It is also claimed that Cadorna's outdated tactics contrasted with his more innovative and effective military logistics . His reputation reached its height in 1916, after

1054-413: Was not accepted. On 23 May 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Salandra had expected that Italy's entrance on the allied side would bring the war to a quick solution. However the stalemated bloody war lasted far longer than anticipated. This weakened Salandra's ministry, especially when he refused to appoint neutralists to important positions. Five unsuccessful Italian offensives on the Isonzo and

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1088-552: Was open to a good offer from the Entente. [ ...] The final choice was aided by the arrival of news in March of Russian victories in the Carpathians. Salandra began to think that victory for the Entente was in sight, and was so anxious not to arrive too late for a share in the profits that he instructed his envoy in London to drop some demands and reach agreement quickly. [...] The Treaty of London

1122-786: Was reassigned as the Italian representative to the Allied Supreme War Council set up in Versailles . The restored Italian defensive line was held during the subsequent Battle of the Piave River and later served as a springboard for the Battle of Vittorio Veneto , where the Austro-Hungarian army was finally defeated, after eleven days of resistance, by 51 Italian divisions, 3 British divisions, 2 French divisions, 1 Czechoslovak Division, and 1 U.S. Infantry Regiment. The Italians and their allies captured 426,000 enemy soldiers. After

1156-508: Was to leave the Triple Alliance and join the Triple Entente. Italy was to declare war against Germany and Austria-Hungary within a month in return for territorial concessions at the end of the war. While Giolitti supported neutrality, Salandra and Sonnino, supported intervention on the side of the Entente, and secured Italy's entrance into the war despite the opposition of the majority in parliament. On 3 May 1915, Italy officially revoked

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