october 30, 1917
The invasion of Italy
Our word to the people of Italy is to stand firm. After two and a half years of valiant warfare, the Italian nation is being suddenly subjected to a supreme test. In this war her fate is linked indissolubly with our own. The Allies stand together and Italy will not be left unaided.The cause of the disaster is not yet fully explained. One correspondent at the front states that the left wing of the Second Army was assailed by a specially potent gas to which Italian troops, at any rate, were unaccustomed. The gas attack was followed by a terrific bombardment from new batteries whose existence was entirely unsuspected. The enemy had brought up and concealed these guns under cover of night. Finally, the infantry assault was delivered in drenching rain and masked by a thick mist. Troops so suddenly and fiercely tried may well have given way. The gallant Italian Army has proved its courage and devotion so often in this war that there is no stain upon its honour.
The big attack which broke the Italian line on the Isonzo was begun early on Wednesday morning. The whole operation bears marks of exclusively German inspiration, and for once the German method of massed attack carried everything before it. By Thursday morning Monte Matajur, at the head of the Natisone Valley, had been taken, and thereafter the Italians seem to have been overwhelmed. Late last night the Germans declared that their pursuit was “advancing rapidly from the mountains as far as the sea”, and they claimed to have taken 100,000 prisoners and over 700 guns.
These claims may be exaggerated, but every fresh message increases the impression of the magnitude of the disaster. On Saturday night the Germans were within ten miles of Udine, which is not only the Italian General Headquarters, but the focus of all the roads and railways east of the Tagliamento. It has often been said, and never with more truth than at this moment, that the Allied Front is one single line. The Isonzo is our front as much as the Somme and the Lys. Now that it has collapsed, we must do our best without delay to repair it. There is no need for alarm, but Italy must not share the fate of Rumania and Serbia. The issue must be faced swiftly, for every fresh telegram deepens the consciousness of Italy’s peril.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-10-27/register/the-german-blow-at-italy-qvjhgsc9t
These claims may be exaggerated, but every fresh message increases the impression of the magnitude of the disaster. On Saturday night the Germans were within ten miles of Udine, which is not only the Italian General Headquarters, but the focus of all the roads and railways east of the Tagliamento. It has often been said, and never with more truth than at this moment, that the Allied Front is one single line. The Isonzo is our front as much as the Somme and the Lys. Now that it has collapsed, we must do our best without delay to repair it. There is no need for alarm, but Italy must not share the fate of Rumania and Serbia. The issue must be faced swiftly, for every fresh telegram deepens the consciousness of Italy’s peril.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2017-10-27/register/the-german-blow-at-italy-qvjhgsc9t
October 27, 1917
The German blow at Italy
The news from all other theatres of war is eclipsed by the reports arriving from Italy. On the Middle and Upper Isonzo the Germans and Austrians have massed huge fresh forces and have compelled the Italians to retire on a front of between 25 and 30 miles. The enemy claim to have taken 30,000 prisoners and more than 300 guns. The dispatches we publish today contain grave warnings. The Germans have not hitherto taken part in the operations on the Italian front, but they have now formed a 14th Army for this special purpose, and have placed in it “a number of good divisions of the Active Army”. The correspondents on the lsonzo say that the enemy seem to have transferred “the whole of their Russian front here”, and though the statement need not be taken literally, it is clear that the inactivity of the Russian Army is the true cause of the Austro-German advance. We are told that the enemy aim at far more than the recovery of the ground won from Austria on the Isonzo. They intend to invade the Italian plains, and already they claim to be across the Italian frontier “at many points”.
The reasons which have led the Germans to launch this swift blow are presumably both military and political. The military possibilities are obvious. The political reasons are twofold, and relate both to Italy and to Austria. The Austrian Army on the Italian front has never been under direct German control, and Germany may have had reasons to think a continuance of its autonomy undesirable. The civil population in Austria is dispirited, and the internal economic conditions are bad. Should Germany gain military successes on the Isonzo, as she is doing, she may be able to revive the moral of the Austrian Army and the spirits of the people of Vienna and Budapest.
The immediate military possibilities of the Austro-German offensive are of a character which Allies must instantly take into account. The weight of the thrust against General Cadorna is heavy, but he is stanch of heart and deft of hand. He met and countered in the Trentino last year a peril which, at first, seemed almost equally menacing. It must be said though that an extensive invasion of Italy at this juncture would affect the whole Allied cause. In that spirit measures must be taken should the need arise.
The immediate military possibilities of the Austro-German offensive are of a character which Allies must instantly take into account. The weight of the thrust against General Cadorna is heavy, but he is stanch of heart and deft of hand. He met and countered in the Trentino last year a peril which, at first, seemed almost equally menacing. It must be said though that an extensive invasion of Italy at this juncture would affect the whole Allied cause. In that spirit measures must be taken should the need arise.
No comments:
Post a Comment