Fourth Battle of the Isonzo

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
partof=the Italian Front
(World War I)


caption=Eleven Battles of the Isonzo
June 1915 — September 1917
date=November 10—December 2, 1915
place=Isonzo River, northeast Italy
result=Italian victory
combatant1=flagicon|Italy|1861|size=25px Italy
combatant2=flag|Austria-Hungary|naval|size=25px
commander1=Luigi Cadorna,
Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Aosta
commander2=Conrad von Hötzendorf,
Svetozar Boroević, Archduke Eugen of Austria
strength1=370 battalions
1,374 guns
strength2=155 battalions
626 guns
casualties1=49,500(7,500 dead)
casualties2=32,100(4,000 dead)

The Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Kingdom of Italy and those ofAustria-Hungary on the Italian Front in World War I, between november 10 and december 2, 1915.

Overview

Differently from the other three Battles of the Isonzo (june, july and october), this offensive lasted a short amount of time, and is sometimes considered a continuation of the previous offensive.

Most of the clash concentrated in the direction of Gorizia and on the Kras Plateau, though the push was distributed on the whole Isonzo front. The 2nd Italian Army, aiming to Gorizia, was able to capture Oslavje (Italian: "Oslavia"), while the Third Army, covering the rest of the front up to the sea, launched a series of large and bloody attacks which brought no significative gain.

Mount Sei Busi, already the scene of bitter fighting, was attacked five times by the Italian forces, always in vain.

The intensity of the fighting increased until the end of November, when the bridgehead of Tolmin (Italian: "Tolmino") was heavily bombed by both sides and the casualty ratio per day reached its apex. In the first fifteen days of December, however, the fighting was reduced to small scale skirmishes as opposed to the massive frontal assaults that characterized the previous phases of the battle.

An unsigned truce arrived together with the first great cold in the mountains of the Kras, and operations were arrested due to lack of supplying.

The Austro-Hungarian High Command, worried by the huge losses, notwithstanding the 12 additional divisions sent to the front, for the first time requested help from the German Empire, which was not formally in the war against Italy yet. This reason led the Germans to intervene on the Italian front but only starting from the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo.

ee also

*Battles of the Isonzo

External links

* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/isonzo.htm FirstWorldWar.Com: The Battles of the Isonzo, 1915-17]
* [http://www.firstworldwar.com/maps/italianfront.htm Battlefield Maps: Italian Front]
* [http://www.worldwar1.com/itafront/isonzo11.htm 11 battles at the Isonzo]
* [http://www.potimiruvposocju.si/ 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.
* [http://www.kobariski-muzej.si/ang/razstave.html The Kobarid Museum (in English)]
* [http://drustvo-soskafronta.si/ Društvo Soška Fronta (in Slovenian)]
* [http://prohereditate.com/en/ Pro Hereditate - extensive site (in En/It/Sl)]