The Battle of Monte Grappa was a series of three battles which were fought in World War I between Austria-Hungary and Italy for control of the Monte Grappa massif on the left flank of the Piave front.
In 1917, Royal Italian Army general Luigi Cadorna ordered the construction of fortified defenses around the Monte Grappa summit to halt the Austro-Hungarian advance in the aftermath of the Battle of Caporetto. The 51,000-strong Italian 4th Army was ordered to stand its ground at Monte Grappa by Cadorna's replacement, Armando Diaz, holding off the numerically-superior Austro-Hungarian and German armies from 13 to 26 November and inflicting 21,000 losses on the Central Powers with only 12,000 losses of their own. The Italian victory at Monte Grappa stabilized the front line along the Piave River, preventing the Austro-Hungarians from advancing beyond the plains to capture the major city of Venice.
During the summer of 1918, Monte Grappa was assaulted by the Austro-Hungarians during their last offensive of the war. The attack was repulsed, and, on 24 October, amid the wider Battle of Vittorio Veneto, the Royal Italian Army sent 9 divisions to attack the Austrian positions on Monte Grappa. The Austrians reinforced their own 9 divisions to 15 divisions, committing all remaining reserves. The Italian Arditi led the advance, securing St. Anastasia's Church, destroying Austrian anti-aircraft guns, and holding off Austro-Hungarian counterattacks in the Piave Valley.
On 28 October, following Czechoslovakia's declaration of independence, Austria-Hungary was forced to call a general retreat from Italy, and the Italians successfully liberated all Italian lands under Austro-Hungarian control.
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