The leaders of the German army and Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859-1941) regarded the Italian front as secondary and of little interest. Collier, Martin. They concealed the 14th Army’s arrival as long as possible and did not prepare artillery shots. The Italians helped by providing all needed weather information over their radio.[6]. The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit) was a battle on the Italian front of World War I. Finally, on 30 October, Cadorna ordered the majority of the Italian force to retreat to the other side of the Tagliamento. About this time, however, the rapid success of the attack caught up with them. The Battle of Caporetto was one of the more decisive battles of World War One. At 7:00 AM, the infantry assault began. The Battle of Caporetto was one of the more decisive battles of World War One. The Italians lost 300,000 men – of these, about 270,000 were captured and held as prisoners. [9][10] Soon they penetrated the almost undefended Italian fortifications in the valley, breaching the defensive line of the Italian Second Army between the IV and XXVII Corps. The Battle of Caporetto, also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, remains the worst defeat suffered by the Italian army to date. Realizing that his forces were ill-prepared for this attack and were being routed, Capello requested permission to withdraw back to the Tagliamento. With the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo in August 1917, the Italian army had been able to conquer the upland of Bainsizza. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. By October 30th, the Italian Army had been pushed back to the River Tagliamento. Aided by mist, the German attack completely surprised the Italians. The Italian Army had enjoyed a number of successes around the Isonzo area of north Italy. However, the commander, Capello, decided on the opposite. Offensives continued through 1917, with the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo in August. At home, the Orlando government cracked down on antiwar elements in Italy. Fleeing Italian soldiers were shot by officers attempting to restore order. Col. Georg Wetzell, was, however, of the opinion that the Italian menace could be crippled by the application of even this small force at a “soft spot” such as the Tolmino-Caporetto (Tolmin-Kobarid) sector on the middle Isonzo, north of the Bainsizza Plateau. By the end of the fighting, the Austro-Hungarian command realized that it would not be able to repel a further Italian attack, even if it were to be conducted at the end of autumn 1917 or in the following spring. The following month, the general repeated the order, but once again the directives were not accurate and he did not ensure exact execution. July 2018. Moving at night, the Austro-German forces reached their attack positions undetected. The Central Powers’ victory was correspondingly ephemeral, because the attack lacked a strategic context. Gen. Luigi Capello’s Second Army captured a large part of the Bainsizza Plateau (Banjška Planota or Banjšice) north of Gorizia, but a long-sustained effort brought no further success, and Cadorna was forced to break off the offensive on September 12. They crossed the Tagliamento in early November, forcing Cadorna to order a further withdrawal to the Piave River. This single battle left 11,000 Italian soldiers dead, 29,000 injured, and 280,000 taken prisoner. Cadorna paid the price of defeat. Over the next hours, they fired thousands of explosive grenades and gas. At the same time Gen. Svetozar Boroević von Bojna’s two Austrian armies were to advance against the eastern end of the salient on the Bainsizza Plateau and along the stretch of lower ground near the Adriatic shore. Italian losses were enormous: 10,000 were killed, 30,000 wounded and 265,000 were taken prisoner – morale was so low among the Italian troops, mainly due to Cadorna's harsh disciplinary regime, that most of these surrendered willingly. The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo, the Battle of Kobarid or the Battle of Karfreit) was a battle on the Italian front of World War I.The battle was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Central Powers and took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid (now in north-western Slovenia, then part of the Austrian Littoral).