Battle of Vittorio Veneto

Part of the Italian Front (World War I)

Date	24 October – 3 November 1918
Location	Vittorio, Kingdom of Italy 45°57′21″N 12°20′49″E / 45.95583°N 12.34694°E / 45.95583; 12.34694Coordinates: 45°57′21″N 12°20′49″E / 45.95583°N 12.34694°E / 45.95583; 12.34694
Result	Decisive Allied victory End of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Belligerents

Minor support:

France

Commanders and leaders

Armando Diaz

Svetozar Boroevic

Strength

57 divisions

51 Italian
3 British
2 French
1 Czechoslovak
1 US regiment

7,700 guns

61 divisions
6,145 guns

Casualties and losses

37,461 dead or wounded

528,000
30,000 dead
50,000 wounded
448,000 captured
5,000+ artillery pieces captured

Kingdom of Italy

57 divisions

The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought from 24 October to 3 November 1918 near Vittorio Veneto on the Italian Front during World War I. The Italian victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front, secured the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and contributed to the end of the First World War less than two weeks later.

Some Italians see Vittorio Veneto as the final culmination of the Risorgimento nationalist movement, in which Italy was unified.

During the Battle of Caporetto, from 24 October to 9 November 1917, the Italian Army lost over 300,000 men and was forced to withdraw, causing the replacement of the Italian Supreme General Luigi Cadorna with General Armando Diaz. Diaz reorganized the troops, blocked the enemy advance by implementing defense in depth and mobile reserves and stabilized the front-line around the Piave River.

In June 1918, a large Austro-Hungarian offensive, aimed at breaking the Piave River defensive line and delivering a decisive blow to the Italian Army, was launched. The Austro-Hungarian Army tried on one side to force the Tonale Pass and enter Lombardy, and on the other side to make two converging thrusts into central Venetia, the first one southeastward from the Trentino, the second one southwestward across the lower Piave. The whole offensive came to worse than nothing, the attackers losing 60,000 dead, 90,000 wounded and 25,000 captured.

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