Fourth Battle of the Isonzo

Battle in 1915 on the Italian Front during the First World War

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Fourth Battle of the Isonzo

Part of the Italian Front
(World War I)

Eleven Battles of the Isonzo
June 1915 – September 1917
| Date| 10 November – 2 December 1915

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Location|

Soča/Isonzo river, western Slovenia

Result|

Italian victory

* Italian offensive suspended[1]
* Conquest of important entrenchments

Belligerents
Italy|  Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Luigi Cadorna (Chief of Staff of the Italian Army)
Pietro Frugoni (Commander of Second Army)
Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia (Commander of Third Army)|  Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (Chief of the General Staff)
Archduke Eugen of Austria-Teschen (Commander of Southwest Front)
Svetozar Boroević von Bojna (Commander of Fifth Army)
Strength
370 battalions
1,374 guns|  155 battalions
626 guns
Casualties and losses
49,500 (7,500 dead)|  32,100 (4,000 dead)

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Italian Front

1915

* Hill 383
* 1st Dolomites [de]
* 1st Isonzo
* Col Basson
* 2nd Isonzo
* Podgora
* 2nd Dolomites [de]
* 3rd Isonzo
* 4th Isonzo
* Lavarone [de]

1916

* 5th Isonzo
* Asiago (Monte Cengio)
* Melette [it]
* Gorizia (6th Isonzo) (Doberdò)
* 7th Isonzo
* 8th Isonzo
* 9th Isonzo
* White Friday

1917

* 10th Isonzo
* Flondar
* Ortigara
* 11th Isonzo
* Carzano [it]
* Caporetto (12th Isonzo)
* Pozzuolo
* 1st Piave River
* 1st Monte Grappa

1918

* Three Mountains [it]
* 2nd Piave River (Col Moschin [it])
* 2nd Monte Grappa
* Tonale [it]
* San Matteo
* Doss Alto
* 3rd Monte Grappa
* Vittorio Veneto

White War (1915–1918)

* Adamello [it]
* Pasubio
* Sentinella Pass
* Marmolada [it]
* Lagazuoi [it]
* Col di Lana [it]
* Tofane [it]
* Monte Cristallo
* Monte Piana
* Tre Cime di Lavaredo
* Monte Paterno

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

## Overview

[edit]

In contrast to the previous three battles of the Isonzo (in June, July and October), this offensive was brief, and is considered a continuation of the third battle of the Isonzo.[by whom?]

Most of the clash was concentrated in the direction of Gorizia and on the Karst Plateau, though the push was distributed on the whole Isonzo front. The Italian Second Army, aiming for the town of Gorizia, was able to capture the hilly area around Oslavia (Oslavje) and San Floriano del Collio (Števerjan) overlooking the Soča (Isonzo) and Gorizia itself. The Italian Third Army, covering the rest of the front up to the sea, launched a series of large attacks which brought no significant gain.

Mount Sei Busi was unsuccessfully attacked by Italians five times.

The intensity of the fighting increased until the end of November, when the bridgehead of Tolmin (Tolmino) was heavily shelled and casualties peaked. 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 on the Karst Plateau was made as the temperatures dropped, and operations were ceased due to lack of supplies.

The Austro-Hungarian High Command, worried by huge losses, requested assistance from the German Empire, which was not yet formally in the war against Italy. German Empire intervened on the Italian Front in eleventh battle of the Isonzo.

## See also

[edit]

* Battles of the Isonzo
* Scipio Slataper

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Tommasi, Giuseppe (1925). Brigata Sassari. Note di guerra (PDF). Rome: Tipografia sociale. p. 58\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2020-02-11.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Macdonald, John, and Željko Cimprič. Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign: The Italian Front, 1915-1918. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Military, 2011. ISBN 9781848846715 OCLC 774957786
* Schindler, John R. (2001). Isonzo: The Forgotten Sacrifice of the Great War. Praeger. ISBN 0275972046. OCLC 44681903.

## External links

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* FirstWorldWar.Com: The Battles of the Isonzo, 1915-17
* Battlefield Maps: Italian Front
* 11 battles at the Isonzo
* 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.
* The Kobarid Museum (in English)
* Društvo Soška Fronta (in Slovenian)
* Pro Hereditate - extensive site (in En/It/Sl)

45°58′9″N 13°36′40″E﻿ / ﻿45.96917°N 13.61111°E﻿ / 45.96917; 13.61111
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