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Battle Of The Piave River | colspan=2 bgcolor=#cccccc|Battle of the Piave River | | onflict | First World War | | ate | 15-22 June, 1918 | | lace | Piave River, Italy | | esult | Decisive Italian victory | | olspan=2| {| border=1 width=300 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 | | olspan=2 bgcolor=#cccccc|Combatants | width=50%|Italy
France
Great Britain | width=50%|Austria-Hungary | | olspan=2|Commanders | | a href="/encyclopedia/Armando-Diaz" title="Armando Diaz">Armando Diaz | Arz van Straussenberg | | olspan=2|Strength | 8 Italian divisions
6 French divisions
5 British divisions | 57 divisions | | olspan=2|Casualties | | 7,500 | 35,000 KIA, 90,000 WIA, 25,000 POWs (total=150,000) | } | The Battle of the Piave River was a decisive victory for the Italian army during World War I. The defeat directly led to the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the disintegration of the Austrian army. Background With the exit of Russia from the war in 1917, Austria-Hungary was now able to devote significant forces to the Italian Front. At the Battle of Caporetto the Austrians had decisively defeated the Italians who fell back to the Piave River. Italian Forces Caporetto defeat led to General Luigi Cadorna's dismissal: General Armando Diaz repleced him as Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. Diaz set up a strong defence line along Piave river. Up until this point in the war, Italian army had been fighting alone against the Central Powers; With the defeat at Caporetto, France and Britain sent reinforcements on the Italian front. Austro-Hungarian Forces The Austro-Hungarian army had also recently undergone a change in command, and the new Austrian Chief of Staff, Arz von Straussenberg, wished to finish off the Italians. Staussenberg's army group commanders, Franz Graf Conrad von Htzendorf (the former Austrian Chief of Staff) and Svetozar Boroevic von Bojna, both wished to make an assault along Piave river. Conrad and Boroevic had a dislike for each other, and Straussenberg divided the army equally between them. Straussenberg modeled the attack after Erich von Ludendorff's offensive on the Western Front. The Battle General Diaz learned the exact timing of the Austrian attack: 3:00am on 15 June. The Italians opened fire all along their front and inflicted heavy casualties. However the Austrians still attacked. Boroevic launched the first assault, moving South along the Adriatic Coast. The Austrians were able to cross the Piave and gained ground against the Italians in the face of heavy resistence, before Boroevic was finally forced to order a retreat. On 17 July, Boroevic returned to the Piave but recent floods had washed away many of the river's bridges and the Austrians were held up trying to re-cross. On 18 July Diaz counterattacked and hit Boroevic in the flank inflicting heavy casualties. Conrad had attacked along the Italian lines west of Boroevic on the 15th, with the objective of capturing Verona. Little came of Conrad's assaults except a further 40,000 casualties to the Austrian total. By 22 June Diaz had recaptured all territory south of the Piave and the battle was over. Results The Battle of the Piave River was the last great military offensive of Austria-Hungary. The battle signalled the disintegration of Austria-Hungary as an effective fighting unit, which was finished off at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, four months later. Sources Piave River
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