The Italian Army and the First World War

The Italian Army and the First World War PDF Author: John Gooch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521193079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
A major new account of the role and performance of the Italian army in the First World War. Setting military events in a broad context, Gooch explores pre-war Italian military culture, and reveals how an army with a reputation for failure fought a challenging war in appalling conditions - and won.

The Italian Army and the First World War

The Italian Army and the First World War PDF Author: John Gooch
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521193079
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
A major new account of the role and performance of the Italian army in the First World War. Setting military events in a broad context, Gooch explores pre-war Italian military culture, and reveals how an army with a reputation for failure fought a challenging war in appalling conditions - and won.

Morale and the Italian Army during the First World War

Morale and the Italian Army during the First World War PDF Author: Vanda Wilcox
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316692469
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
Italian performance in the First World War has been generally disparaged or ignored compared to that of the armies on the Western Front, and troop morale in particular has been seen as a major weakness of the Italian army. In this first book-length study of Italian morale in any language, Vanda Wilcox reassesses Italian policy and performance from the perspective both of the army as an institution and of the ordinary soldiers who found themselves fighting a brutally hard war. Wilcox analyses and contextualises Italy's notoriously hard military discipline along with leadership, training methods and logistics before considering the reactions of the troops and tracing the interactions between institutions and individuals. Restoring historical agency to soldiers often considered passive and indifferent, Wilcox illustrates how and why Italians complied, endured or resisted the army's demands through balancing their civilian and military identities.

The White War

The White War PDF Author: Mark Thompson
Publisher: Faber & Faber
ISBN: 0571250084
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
In May 1915, Italy declared war on the Habsburg Empire, hoping to seize its 'lost' territories of Trieste and Tyrol. The result was one of the most hopeless and senseless modern wars - and one that inspired great cruelty and destruction. Nearly three-quarters of a million Italians - and half as many Austro-Hungarian troops - were killed. Most of the deaths occurred on the bare grey hills north of Trieste, and in the snows of the Dolomite Alps. Outsiders who witnessed these battles were awestruck by the difficulty of attacking on such terrain. General Luigi Cadorna, most ruthless of all the Great War commanders, restored the Roman practice of 'decimation', executing random members of units that retreated or rebelled. Italy sank into chaos and, eventually, fascism. Its liberal traditions did not recover for a quarter of a century - some would say they have never recovered. Mark Thompson relates this nearly incredible saga with great skill and pathos. Much more than a history of terrible violence, the book tells the whole story of the war: the nationalist frenzy that led up to it, the decisions that shaped it, the poetry it inspired, its haunting landscapes and political intrigues; the personalities of its statesmen and generals; and also the experience of ordinary soldiers - among them some of modern Italy's greatest writers. A work of epic scale, The White War does full justice to one of the most remarkable untold stories of the First World War.

The Italian Army of World War I

The Italian Army of World War I PDF Author: David Nicolle
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782006931
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 127

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Book Description
The dilemma of the young Italian kingdom and the experience of her army in the Great War were unique among the combatant nations. Late to enter the war against the Central Powers, she faced a massively defended Austro-Hungarian front in the north, including strong mountain features, as well as distractions in the Balkans and a simultaneous rebellion in her Libyan colony. Costly and repeated battles on the Isonzo front culminated in the disaster of Caporetto in October 1917, followed by a remarkable revival and eventual victory in 1918. This concise study describes and illustrates the Italian Army's campaigns, organisation, uniforms, weapons and equipment – including the famous 'death companies' and Arditi assault troops.

Italy in the Era of the Great War

Italy in the Era of the Great War PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004363726
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
Vanda Wilcox’s edited volume Italy in the Era of the Great War analyses the political, military, social, economic and cultural history of war in Italy between 1911 and 1922.

Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign

Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign PDF Author: John Macdonald
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1781599300
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
This illustrated WWI history sheds light on a major campaign fought along the significant yet often neglected Italian Front. From 1915 to 1917 the armies of Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were locked in a series of battles along the River Isonzo, a sixty-mile front from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea. The campaigns were fought in unforgiving terrain, with casualty counts that exceeded those of the Great War’s more famous battles. The twelfth and final battle, Caporetto, was a major victory for the Central Powers as they broke through the Italian Front. Historian John Macdonald chronicles the Isonzo battles with vivid descriptions of the battlefields and of the atrocious conditions in which the soldiers fought. The text is supported by a selection of original photographs that record the terrible reality of the conflict. The intervention of British, French and German troops is covered, as are the parts played by famous individuals, including Erwin Rommel, Benito Mussolini, Pietro Badoglio and Luigi Cadorna, the notorious Italian commander in chief. Caporetto and the Isonzo Campaign examines an aspect of the First World War that was pivotal in the history of Italy, Austria and the Balkans.

The War Against Germany and Italy

The War Against Germany and Italy PDF Author: Kenneth E. Hunter
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description


A Soldier on the Southern Front

A Soldier on the Southern Front PDF Author: Emilio Lussu
Publisher: Rizzoli Publications
ISBN: 0847842797
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
A rediscovered World War I masterpiece—one of the few memoirs about the Italian front—for fans of military history and All Quiet on the Western Front An infantryman’s “harrowing, moving, [and] occasionally comic” account of trench warfare on the alpine front seen in A Farewell to Arms (Times Literary Supplement). Taking its place alongside works by Ernst JŸnger, Robert Graves, and Erich Maria Remarque, Emilio Lussu’s memoir as an infantryman is one of the most affecting accounts to come out of the First World War. A classic in Italy but virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, it reveals in spare and detached prose the almost farcical side of the war as seen by a Sardinian officer fighting the Austrian army on the Asiago plateau in northeastern Italy—the alpine front so poignantly evoked by Ernest Hemingway in A Farewell to Arms. For Lussu, June 1916 to July 1917 was a year of continuous assaults on impregnable trenches, absurd missions concocted by commanders full of patriotic rhetoric and vanity but lacking in tactical skill, and episodes often tragic and sometimes grotesque, where the incompetence of his own side was as dangerous as the attacks waged by the enemy. A rare firsthand account of the Italian front, Lussu’s memoir succeeds in staging a fierce indictment of the futility of war in a dry, often ironic style that sets his tale wholly apart from the Western Front of Remarque and adds an astonishingly modern voice to the literature of the Great War.

The Italian Army In North Africa

The Italian Army In North Africa PDF Author: Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Previously unpublished analysis of why and how the Italians foughtA look at the role the Italian Army played in North Africa as part of the Deutsches Afrika Korps (German Afrika Korps)In spite of poor leadership, the Italian soldier performed well against all odds in North AfricaProfusely illustrated with many rare and unpublished images ‘The German soldier has impressed the world, however, the Italian Bersagliere soldier has impressed the German soldier.’ Erin Rommel aka ‘The Desert Fox’ When most people think of the Italian Army in North Africa during the Second World War, they tend to believe that the average Italian soldier offered little resistance to the Allies before surrendering. Many suggest that the Italian Army performed in a cowardly manner during the war: the reality is not so simple. The question remains as to whether the Italians were cowards or victims of circumstance. While the Italian soldier’s commitment to the war was not as great as that of his German counterpart, many Italians fought bravely. The Italian Littorio and Ariete Divisions earned Allied admiration at Tobruk, Gazala and EI Alamein. The Italian Army played a significant role as part of the German Afrika Korps and made up a large portion of the Axis combat power in North Africa during 1941 and 1942. In the interest of determining how the Italian Army earned the reputation that it did, it is necessary to analyse why and how the Italians fought.

Simple History: A simple guide to World War I - CENTENARY EDITION

Simple History: A simple guide to World War I - CENTENARY EDITION PDF Author: Daniel Turner
Publisher: Daniel Turner
ISBN: 1497523893
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
This year 2014 marks the 100 years centenary of the First World War, one of the most destructive and world changing conflicts in the history of mankind. Learn the fascinating facts about the First World War and discover this epic moment in history. With the fun illustrations and the unique style of the 'Simple History' series, let this book absorb you into a period of history which truly changed the world. Jump into the muddy trenches of World War I and on the way meet the soldiers and leaders of the conflict and explore the exciting weapons, tanks, planes & technology of battle. Illustrated in the popular minimalist style of today, young reader's imaginations will come to life. Simple history gives you the facts in a simple uncomplicated and eye catching way. Simple history is part of an ongoing series, what will be the next episode? Designed for children aged 9 -12 Visit the website information: www.simplehistory.co.uk Build your collection today!