The inglorious twelfth Battle of the Isonzo (autumn 1917), came to be an icon of catastrophe in the national awareness. It has remained one of the most persistent memory sites in Italian culture. However, many of the revolutionary myths proved in time to be little more than legend or false reports of war. There was no betrayal, no organized subversive plot, no attempt to ‘do a Russia’, yet Caporetto still has evocative power over the collective memory, outweighing the ‘splendid recovery’ on the Piave. Not only is it the most written about (and debated) battle in the history of unified Italy, it is also the only one whose name has entered common parlance to conjure up moral and material disaster. This more than explains why it was also the culminating experience in the life of Luigi Cadorna. Not only did it end his career, it turned him into a reprobate. He who even days before had been an untouchable idol, was now tarred with the brush of incompetence, even treason, and put through the public disgrace of a court of enquiry vetting his every act of command. Unsurprisingly, Caporetto was a ghost which Cadorna tried to shake off for the rest of his days.

This chapter traces the emigrant soldiers’ experiences after their arrival in Italy. For some, it was their first encounter with a country they had heard so much about and many had the opportunity to engage in sightseeing before enlistment. Others were devastated to be swept off to the front without having the chance to see their parents and families. Returning from abroad to comply with a mobilisation order did not confer any special status on the emigrant soldiers. Once at the front lines, the mobilised emigrants suffered the same privations, injuries and hardship as all other Italian soldiers and officers. One of the major issues for those from South America and North Africa was the unfamiliar cold and snowy conditions they experienced. Others were disappointed to be stationed away from the front and that their service was not as exciting as they had expected. However, depending on their place of residence abroad and, in some cases, their pre-war occupations and language skills, the fact of their emigration did impact on their physical experience of combat and warfare. The chapter details the emigrant soldiers’ combat experiences, including gas attacks, the rout at Caporetto in 1917 and internment as prisoners of war.

The four bloody Isonzo battles are detailed as well as Conrad’s failed Straf offensive during May 1915. The Austro-Hungarian Army is devastated by the surprising Brusilov offensive June through September and the absence of effective command leadership. The German ally is forced to become involved in order to prevent total defeat, just as it had in 1914 and 1915. Romania’s disastrous entry into the war and a German-led victorious campaign is described. The rapidly declining home front situation is causing increasing starvation and a stirring among the various ethnic groups.

The Caporetto disaster, together with the Russian collapse, threatened the very existence of the Entente. The Allies reacted with unprecedented speed and resolution, accelerating inter-allied integration.

The entry of the United States doomed the Central Powers in the long run but not during 1917, as the collapse of Russia deprived the Allies of their largest army at a time when the Americans could not yet make good the loss. Unable to afford a repeat of the bloody battles of 1916, the Germans resolved to stand on the defensive in the west while the U-boats (and the Bolsheviks) did their work. Meanwhile, the failure of Nivelle’s spring offensive nearly broke the French army, leaving it paralyzed by mutiny for much of the rest of the year, while British and Imperial troops attacked at Arras and Vimy Ridge in the spring, then at Passchendaele in the summer and autumn, gaining little ground at great cost. A November attack at Cambrai, ultimately indecisive, showed how tanks could be used effectively. On other fronts, Russia’s attempt to use Czech deserters against Austria-Hungary was more successful than Germany’s efforts to use Polish deserters against Russia, but not decisively so. The Allies added Greece to their ranks by overthrowing its pro-German king, but nearly lost Italy after the Central Powers achieved a decisive victory at Caporetto, and lost Romania when Russia sued for peace.