Italian prisoners captured during the Second Battle of the Isonzo, 1915.
Italian prisoners captured during the Second Battle of the Isonzo, 1915. Today 108 years ago, on July 18, 1915, the Italians launched the Second Battle of the Isonzo against the Austro-Hungarians on the Italian Front. On June 23, 1915, the Italians opened up the Isonzo Front by launching the First Battle of the Isonzo, resulting in minimal Italian gains at the price of 15,000 Italian casualties and 10,000 Austro-Hungarian casualties. Though the Italians believed the Austro-Hungarian lines were near collapse and immediately began planning for yet another offensive on the Isonzo. For this battle the Italians brought up some 290,000 troops and many artillery guns, which they believed was the factor which caused the defeat in the first battle. The Austro-Hungarians had also received reinforcements from the Eastern Front, but were still outnumbered 2:1. Since the first battle they had improved their defensive positions in the rocky terrain near the Isonzo, expecting further Italian off...