The Battle of Asiago (Battle of the Plateaux) or the Trentino Offensive (in Italian: Battaglia
degli Altipiani), nicknamed Strafexpedition ("Punitive expedition") by the Austrians,
was a major counteroffensive launched by the Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front on
15 May 1916, during World War I. It was an unexpected attack that took place near Asiago
in the province of Vicenza (now in northeast Italy, then on the Italian side of the border
between the Kingdom of Italy and Austria-Hungary) after the Fifth Battle of the Isonzo (March
1916).
Commemorating this battle and the soldiers killed in World War I is the Asiago War Memorial.
== Background == Already for some time the Austrian commander-in-chief,
General Conrad von Hötzendorf, had been proposing the idea of a Strafexpedition that would lethally
cripple Italy, Austria-Hungary's ex-ally, claimed to be guilty of betraying the Triple
Alliance, and in previous years he had had the frontier studied in order to formulate
studies with regard to a possible invasion.
The problem had appeared to be serious, mostly because the frontier ran through high mountains
and the limited Italian advances of 1915 had worsened the situation and excluded a great
advance beyond the valleys of Valsugana and Val Lagarina (both connected by railway) and
the plateaus of Lavarone, Folgaria and Asiago.
The geographic location of the routes of advance was conducive to the original plan which called
for an advance from Trent to Venice, isolating the Italian 2nd and 3rd Armies who were fighting
on the Isonzo and the Italian 4th Army who was defending the Belluno region and the eastern
Trentino.
The preparations for the battle began in December 1915, when Conrad von Hötzendorf proposed
to his German opposite number, General Erich von Falkenhayn, shifting divisions from the
Eastern Front in Galicia to the Tyrol, substituting them with German divisions.
His request was denied because Germany was not yet at war with Italy (which would declare
war on Germany three months later), and because redeploying German units on the Italian Front
would have diminished German offensive capability against Russia.
After having received a negative reply from the Germans, who refused the proposed replacement
and actively tried to discourage the Austro-Hungarian proposed attack, Conrad von Hötzendorf decided
to operate autonomously.
The 11th Austro-Hungarian Army, under the command of Count Viktor Dankl, would carry
out the offensive followed by the 3rd Army under Hermann Kövess.
It was not so easy, however, because the Italians had deployed in the area about 250,000 troops
(General Brusati's First Army and part of the Fourth Army).
Italian intelligence had been gathering information about an impending enemy offensive in Trentino
— and a big one — for about a month, but Cadorna dismissed those reports, persuaded
as he was that nothing could happen in that region.
== Battle == On 15 May 1916, 2,000 Austrian artillery guns
opened a heavy barrage against the Italian lines, setting Trentino afire.
The Austrian infantry attacked along a 50 km front.
The Italian wings stood their ground, but the center yielded, and the Austrians broke
through, threatening to reach the beginning of the Venetian plain.
With Vicenza about 30 km away, all the Italian forces on the Isonzo would face outflanking.
Cadorna hastily sent reinforcements to the First Army, and deployed the newly formed
Fifth Army under Pietro Frugoni to engage the enemy in case they succeeded in entering
the plain.
The situation was critical, but the commitment of reserves and the replacement of several
Italian commanders who were judged unfit gradually improved the situation.
The new Italian defensive line on Mounts Pasubio, Novegno, Zugna, Buole Pass and Astico Valley
held and repelled repeated Austro-Hungarian attacks; on 2 June, Italian troops started
their counteroffensive, slowly regaining ground.
Furthermore, on 4 June, the Russians unexpectedly took the initiative in Galicia, where they
managed to enter Austrian soil.
Although they were effectively countered by German and Austro-Hungarian troops, Hötzendorf
was forced quickly to withdraw half of his divisions from Trentino.
With that, the Strafexpedition could no longer be sustained and the Austrians retired from
many of their positions.
Italian troops in the region were increased to 400,000 to counter the Austrian positions.
Although the Strafexpedition had been checked, it had political consequences in Italy: the
Salandra Cabinet fell, and Paolo Boselli became the new Prime Minister.
== Bibliography == Enrico Acerbi, Strafexpedition, Gino Rossato
Editore, 1992 Gerhard Artl: Die "Strafexpedition": Österreich-Ungarns
Südtiroloffensive 1916.
Verlag A. Weger, Brixen 2015, ISBN 978-88-6563-127-0.
Fritz Weber: Alpenkrieg.
Artur Kollitsch Verlag, Klagenfurt 1939.
Walter Schaumann: Dall'Ortles all'Adriatico Immagini del fronte italo-austriaco 1915–1918.
Wien 1993.
L'esercito italiano nella grande guerra LEINGG (1915–1918) Volume I – IV /Ministero della
Guerra – Ufficio Storico, Roma 1929–1974