Fourth Battle of the Isonzo

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 Location Soča river, western Slovenia Result Austro-Hungarian tactical victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Italy	Austria-Hungary
Commanders and leaders
Luigi Cadorna, Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Aosta	Conrad von Hötzendorf, Svetozar Boroević, Archduke Eugen of Austria
Strength
370 battalions 1,374 guns	155 battalions 626 guns
Casualties and losses
49,500 (7,500 dead)	32,100 (4,000 dead)

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 November 10 and December 2, 1915.

Overview

In contrast to 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 the hilly area around Oslavia and San Floriano del Collio overlooking the Soča (Isonzo) and the town of Gorizia. 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.

See also

• Battles of the Isonzo
• Scipio Slataper

Further reading

• 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

• 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)

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