12ª Armata

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The 12ª Armata ( German  12th Army ) was an army of the Italian Army in the First World War . De jure , the 12th was an Italian, de facto Italian-French army under the command of the French general Jean-César Graziani . It only lasted a few weeks.

history

After eleven Isonzo battles , which were costly for both sides , the German 14th Army was relocated to the Isonzo Front in autumn 1917 for a relief attack . In the twelfth battle of the Isonzo , which began on October 24, 1917 , the Central Powers achieved a breakthrough that forced Italy to withdraw its front as far as the Piave . In support of this, France and the United Kingdom sent eleven divisions to Italy, six French and five British, who initially remained there in reserve and then took part in the second phase of the first Battle of the Piave . In March 1918, six allied divisions withdrew. There remained three British and two French divisions, which were concentrated in the 6th Army on the Asiago plateau and fought there during the second Battle of the Piave . In return, Italy sent its II Corps with two divisions to France.

Battle of Vittorio Veneto

For the planned final offensive on the Piave, units were withdrawn from some other Italian armies in October 1918 and concentrated in the 8th Army , including the French XII from the 6th Army. Corps with one division and the British XIV with two divisions (the other two allied divisions remained with the 6th Army). Since the 8th Army was a bit too big, two small new armies were formed on both sides (also for diplomatic reasons) between October 12 and 14, 1918: in the western section, those between Monte Tomba ( Pederobba ) and Vidor Established 12th Army under French command and in the southeast from Papadopoli Island ( Maserada sul Piave ) to Ponte di Piave the 10th Army under British command.

The 12th Army consisted of the Italian I. Corps with the 24th and 70th Infantry Divisions, from the French XII. Corps with the French 23rd Infantry Division and smaller formations as well as the Italian 52nd Mountain Division . In the Battle of Vittorio Veneto , which began on October 24, 1918 , the 12th Army supported the 8th Army with its right wing in its attack on the plain of Sernaglia . To do this, the 12th Army captured the heights of Valdobbiadene and threatened the enemy's back. With the left wing she supported the 4th Army bordering to the west by attacking Alano di Piave and Quero in the direction of Feltre . The opposing Grappa Front , threatened by this, had to be withdrawn on October 31, 1918. Feltre itself was captured on October 31, 1918 by the 80th Mountain Division of the 4th Army. The 12th Army was disbanded shortly after the end of the war in November 1918. The French General Graziani, who came from Corsica , was also appointed Italian General on November 15, 1918.

literature

  • Vittorio Cogno: 400 anni di vita degli eserciti sabaudo e italiano - repertorio generale 1593 - 1993 . Edizioni Fachin, Trieste 1995.
  • Giorgio Rochat, Giulio Massobrio: Breve storia dell'esercito italiano dal 1861 al 1943. Einaudi, Turin 1978.
  • Filippo Stefani: La storia della dottrina e degli ordinamenti dell'esercito italiano. (Ed. Ufficio Storico Stato Maggiore Esercito-USSME, 3 vols.) USSME, Rome 1986.

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