The Battle of Asiago, also known as the Trentino Offensive or the Strafexpedition, was a failed Austro-Hungarian offensive against the Royal Italian Army in the Asiago plateau of Veneto, launched during the Italian campaign of World War I. The Austro-Hungarian Army launched a surprise offensive as the Italians were preparing for another assault on the Isonzo River. Slowed by the steep, rugged terrain, and distracted by the Brusilov Offensive, the Austrian offensive was halted by redeployed Italian reserves.
Battle[]
On the Italian front of World War I, the fighting tended to consist of Italian offensives on the Isonzo River and in the Julian Alps, and determined Austro-Hungarian defenses. However, the Austro-Hungarian Chief of Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf planned a punitive expedition (Strafexpedition) to lethally cripple Italy and turn the tide of the war. Hotzendorf's plan to shift Austrian divisions from the Eastern Front to the Italian front and replace his forces in Galicia with German units was shot down by General Erich von Falkenhayn, as the German Empire was not yet at war with Italy. However, Hotzendorf still planned an offensive south from Tyrol towards the Adriatic Sea, sweeping across the plains and reaching the sea near Venice, cutting Italy's supply lines. Hotzendorf had Svetozar Boroevic send over four of his best divisions and several heavy batteries, as well as five divisions from Galicia. After scraping together 15 divisions and 1,000 artillery pieces, Hotzendorf decided to launch an offensive against General Roberto Brusati's 250,000 well-entrenched troops in the eastern Trentino. Luigi Cadorna did not foresee an Austrian offensive, believing that the Austrians intended to fight a defensive war, and he refused to meet with Brusati or send reinforcements.
On 15 May, Hotzendorf launched his Trentino offensive. The Austro-Hungarians had the element of surprise, overrunning the Italian fronts and forcing the Italians to retreat. Cadorna rushed to send reinforcements to the Italians on the Trentino front, and the Italians retreated south of Rovereto and fell back from the mountains. On 19 May, the Italians persuaded the Russians to launch a new offensive in the east to distract the Austrians, threatening to make a separate peace with the Austrians if Russia refused.
On 20 May, Hotzendorf extended his offensive east to the Sugana Valley, and the Austrians pushed out onto the Asiago plateau. The further the Austrians moved on, however, the more they overstretched their supply lines and exhausted their men. The Austrians overwhelmed the third line of Italian defenses, forcing Cadorna to form a third army corps to defend Asiago. On 3 June, the Granatieri di Sardegna were driven out of the most southern peak of the Asiago Plateau at Monte Cengio, but this was the last Austrian achievement of the week. On 9 June, Hotzendorf withdrew a division to fight off the Brusilov Offensive in the east, and he ultimately took five divisions away from his front to prevent the Russians from breaking through in the east. The Italians advanced throughout the week; on 16 June, Hotzendorf called off the Trentino offensive.
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