The Italian Army and the First World War

A major new account of the role and performance of the Italian army in the First World War.

John Gooch (Author)

9780521149372, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 19 June 2014

402 pages, 17 b/w illus. 6 maps
22.6 x 15 x 2.3 cm, 0.5 kg

'Gooch synthesizes a vast range of material with concision, ranging from the causes and origins of Italian intervention into the war through to its social and political legacies, though the strongest sections are those on the war years themselves, where the analysis relies on extensive original research in the archives of the historical office of the Italian General Staff.' Vanda Wilcox, War in History

This is a major new account of the role and performance of the Italian army during the First World War. Drawing from original, archival research, it tells the story of the army's bitter three-year struggle in the mountains of Northern Italy, including the eleven bloody battles of the Isonzo, the near-catastrophic defeat at Caporetto in 1917 and the successful, but still controversial defeat of the Austro-Hungarian army at Vittorio Veneto on the eve of the Armistice. Setting military events within a broader context, the book explores pre-war Italian military culture and the interactions between domestic politics, economics and society. In a unique study of an unjustly neglected facet of the war, John Gooch illustrates how General Luigi Cadorna, a brutal disciplinarian, drove the army to the edge of collapse, and how his successor, general Armando Diaz, rebuilt it and led the Italians to their greatest victory in modern times.

Introduction
1. Before the war
2. From neutrality to action
3. 1915 - first endeavours
4. 1916 - setback and success
5. 1917 - the year of danger
6. 1918 - recovery and victory
7. In the wake of war
Notes
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Military history [HBW], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]