The walk of peace from the alps to the adriatic, a guide along the isonzo front

The Isonzo Front On 28 July 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, which meant the outbreak of the First World War. Europe turned into a vast battlefield, divided into several fronts, since two opposing “blocks” entered the war: the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey) on the one side and the Triple Entente (France, Great Britain and Russia) on the other. In spite of its partnership in the trilateral alliance with Austria-Hungary and Germany, Italy remained neutral in the first year of the war. However, it quit the alliance when it signed the Treaty of London, between Italy and the Triple Entente, and declared war on Austria-Hungary on 23 May 1915.

Thus the south-west front was opened; it was six hundred kilometres long and ran from the pass of Stelvio on the Swiss-Italian-Austrian tripoint, across Tyrol, the Carnic Alps, and through the Soča Region to the Adriatic. The ninety-kilometre section of the front that ran along the river Soča (Isonzo) from Mt. Rombon to the Adriatic was named the Isonzo Front. During the twenty-nine months of warfare, from May 1915 through October 1917, twelve offensives took place in this area. Eleven of them were launched by the Italians, the last one, the twelfth, by the soldiers of Austria-Hungary and Germany.

The First Isonzo Battle 23 June – 7 July 1915 The Second Isonzo Battle 18 July – 3 August 1915 The Third Isonzo Battle 18 October – 4 November 1915 The Forth Isonzo Battle 10 November – 2 December 1915 The Fifth Isonzo Battle 11–16 March 1916 The Sixth Isonzo Battle 4–16 August 1916 The Seventh Isonzo Battle 13–17 September 1916 The Eighth Isonzo Battle 9–12 October 1916 The Ninth Isonzo Battle 31 October – 4 November 1916 The Tenth Isonzo Battle 12 May – 5 June 1917 The Eleventh Isonzo Battle 17 August – 12 September 1917 The Twelfth Isonzo Battle 24 October – 9 November 1917 After the initial shifting, the front line in the Upper Soča Region stabilized and trench warfare began. Civilians from the settlements in the immediate vicinity of the front were evacuated and forced to seek refuge; the settlements were occupied by soldiers. The front line between the Italian and the Austro-Hungarian armies ran from the top of Mt. Rombon to the Bovec basin, along the valley of the Slatenik to the Krn range, and across Mt. Mrzli vrh, from where it ran downwards to the Tolmin basin. The hills of Mengore, Bučenica and Cvetje formed the blockade on the right bank of the Soča. In this way Austria-Hungary defended the important railway- and road connections with the inland of the monarchy. This up to 2.5-kilometre-wide territory entered history as the Tolmin bridgehead. The front line continued across the Banjška planota plateau, the Gorizia bridgehead