Battle of Caporetto
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| Battle of Caporetto | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | First World War | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | October 24 - November 19, 1917 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Isonzo valley, in present day Kobarid, Slovenia | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Decisive Austro-German victory | ||||||||||||||||
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The Battle of Caporetto (or Battle of Karfreit as it was known by the Central Powers), took place from October 24 to November 9, 1917, near Kobarid (now Slovenia) on the Austro-Italian front of World War I. Austro-Hungarian forces, reinforced by German units, were able to break into the Italian front line and rout the Italian army, which had practically no mobile reserves. Austro-German forces advanced more than 100 km in the direction of Venice, but they were not able to cross the river Piave, where the Italians (with substantial help from French, British and American allies) established a new defensive line, which they held for the rest of the war.
The battle is also known to have been Erwin Rommel's first major achievement in the German Army.
The bloody aftermath of the battle was vividly described by Ernest Hemingway in his novel A Farewell to Arms.
Among the Italian generals, led by Luigi Cadorna, there was also Pietro Badoglio, who later became head of the Italian government in place of Mussolini after the fall of Fascism in 1943.