Mark Thompson (3)Rezensionen

This is a comprehensive look at the Italian fronts from WW I. In addition to covering the battles, the book also discusses the Italian politics around the war. Austrian politics and strategy are also discussed but only briefly. What was particularly useful in the book were the discussions of Italian literature, art, and journalism as impacted by the war.

Focusing on Italy actually helped me understand the wider picture of WW I. I had recently taken a long hiking trip along the Isonzo front so was familiar with many of the battle sites. Slovenia and Italy have created a memorial hike called the Walk of Peace that visits many of the WW I battle scenes.

The biggest weakness of the book is the lack of maps and the exclusive use of Italian place names. The Italians and Austrians had very different names for towns and mountains. Most of the area covered in the book is in present-day Slovenia so the Italian place names are not used in any of the current maps of the area. The maps included in the book are too few to make up for this deficiency.

Agli albori del 1915 l’Italia è una nazione ancora da forgiare: non c’è una lingua, non c’è un sentimento comune. Gli italiani devono temprarsi in una solida unità nazionale. La soluzione è la guerra, la fucina il campo di battaglia. A pagarne il prezzo saranno i giovani costretti in un fronte che corre per seicento chilometri, dalle Dolomiti all’Adriatico. Combatteranno in un biancore di pietre e di neve che dura tutto l’anno, saranno uniti nella paura e nell’angoscia, uccideranno. Nel 1919 chi alla patria aveva dato tutto si lascia conquistare dalla «trincerocrazia» di Mussolini e dall’idea che la Grande guerra costituisca il fondamento della nazione. Si prepara così la scena per l’avvento del fascismo. Valorizzando fonti come i diari dell’epoca e le interviste ai veterani, lo storico inglese Mark Thompson con La guerra bianca restituisce il pathos degli assalti alle trincee, ripercorre con sobrietà e precisione l’epica del fronte italiano, mette a nudo la foga nazionalistica e gli intrighi politici che hanno preceduto il conflitto.

My great grandfather was a Seargent Major in the Italian Infantry in this war. He was captured by the Austrians and kept for almost 3 years. He escaped late in the war and passed down a journal with his retelling of his time in the war. A tremendous treasure. This book did a great job filling in the history and details of the political climate surrounding the war that I did not know.

My great grandfather was a Seargent Major in the Italian Infantry in this war. He was captured by the Austrians and kept for almost 3 years. He escaped late in the war and passed down a journal with his retelling of his time in the war. A tremendous treasure. This book did a great job filling in the history and details of the political climate surrounding the war that I did not know.

‘La più colossale, assassina e male organizzata macelleria’. Come ben sapeva Ernest Hemingway, la Grande Guerra è stata talmente orribile che gli Alleati hanno poi concesso ad Hitler anche l’inconcedibile pur di allontanare l’inizio di un nuovo conflitto. Atroce sul fronte occidentale, lo scontro fu particolarmente insensato su quello italoaustriaco, grazie anche alla crudeltà del Comando italiano. L’inglese Thompson smonta con cura la mitologia nata attorno al ’15-‘18, anni di sangue voluti da una minoranza e pagati a carissimo prezzo dagli strati più popolari del Paese, mandati al macello a volte senza neppure sapere perché. Oltre che di pietà, leggere queste pagine è fonte di sconforto e di rabbia. Ci sono i viscidi maneggi di Calandra per forzare l’entrata in guerra nella speranza di una rapida vittoria – errore che verrà ripetuto di lì a non molti anni – e le tattiche suicide di Cadorna, al quale non si capisce come ci possano ancora essere vie e piazze dedicate; la cattiveria al limite del sadismo delle punizioni nell’esercito ed il rifiuto di inviare i pacchi viveri ai prigionieri visti come traditori; la vittoria tardiva contro un impero morente e l’avido e incomprensibile comportamento alla conferenza di pace. Il tutto inquadrato in bei capitoli dedicati alla situazione sociale e culturale del tempo che includono, fra le varie sfaccettature, una pesantissima critica ad un giornalismo servile e pernicioso: il ritratto senza sconti di un Paese fragile e già avvelenato da inquietanti segnali protofascisti.

An excellent account of a forgotten front. Italy entered the war in hope of gaining territory, and the secret Treaty of London agreed with the French and the British, who had no great respect for Italy or the Italian military but hoped they could tie up sufficient Austro Hungarian troops to make life easier on the Western front, promised an unlikely grab bag of territories including Greek islands and the coast of Turkey. The best that can be said is, yes, they did tie up enough Austro Hungarian troops to make a significant contribution to the eventual collapse of the empire - but at what frightful cost.

All of the conflict took place either on the unforgiving Carso above Trieste, or in the Dolomites. I've been to some of the Dolomite war sites, and the task Italian troops were set by their commanders looks inhuman. The Austro Hungarians basically held all the high ground. The Italian troops were invited to charge uphill, across vast no man's land, in snow mist and fog, through barbed wire they had no means of cutting, whilst being machine gunned. It was a slaughter. And one that happened again and again and again.

Unlike the Western Front, where commanders did eventually realise that mass attacks in formation across no mans land were senseless, the Italian command had no such moment of illumination. Thompson identifies 6 specific occasions where the slaughter was so bad, and so pointless, that the Austrians ordered their soldiers to stop shooting and shouted to the Italians to go back to their trenches and stop throwing their lives away. This is unparalleled in the history of warfare.

The Italian army lost nearly 700,000 men killed in the war for a gain of almost nothing. The pride, incompetence and heartlessness on many fronts that led to this is exposed by Thompson but the majority of his barbs are reserved for the Commander of the Italian Armies, Luigi Cardona. Leaders of the massed armies on the Western front were careless with their men's lives as well, but very few would have made the suicidal loss of thousands of men per day such a point of pride. Combining a fatal measure of arrogance and imbecility, a great number of the lives of the dead were his responsibility. Especially when you consider that the brutal, Roman custom of decimation (killing one in every 10 of deserting or disgraced groups of soldiers) was in place, and that as well as being shot at from the front and sides by the Austrians, the Italian soldier was shot at from behind by the carabinieri and frequently bombed by his own artillery.

But Thompson also has huge contempt for the odious Gabrielle D'Annunzio (the description of his occupation of Fiume his very amusingly told) and for the Italian political class in general.

Its a sad story, beautifully told. Wherever possible Thompson brings individual soldiers, and their stories, into the limelight. Almost inevitably they were mistaken idealists. Almost inevitably , they died on the Carso. Of the illiterate multitudes who made up the majority of the army, we get a very different picture. Mostly, they had no idea what they were fighting for. Mostly they were from the South and the displaced Italian communities of Istria that were the casus belli for the war, meant nothing to them. Mostly they wanted to go home but died in silence in pointless mass slaughter

Did this lead to the mistrust in institutions that exists in Italy even today? That's hard to say. But it would have been very difficult for the average soldier not to draw the conclusion that their government cared only for its own interests and not for theirs. And as such, perhaps the state of Italy today is another long consequence of the war½

A much-needed history of the forgotten Italian front during the First World War, its brutal and bloody battles that rival the Somme and Ypres for senseless waste of lives, and its aftermath. Thompson writes well and covers the Italian-Austro-Hungarian conflict in detail, both on the field of battle and politically. He also includes translations of war poetry written by soldiers - brining a human touch to an inhuman conflict.

I read this after seeing a documentary about avalanches and one of the 10 things you didn't know about avalanches is that in WW1 on the Italian front they were triggered deliberately by troops to attack the other side. I can't verify that to be true, it not being mentioned in this book. It did say that many men were killed by avalanche, but not that they were triggered. Regardless, it was a very interesting read. I knew Italy were on the Allied side in WW1 but my fund of knowledge stopped about there. they were somewhat an exception to the rule, entering the war with territorial gains in mind (Trento & Trestse) rather than being drawn in by a web of treaties and protecting Belgium's neutrality. I don;t deny that they were a help to the Allies, in that they tied up Habsburg empire troops that might otherwise have been deployed on the Western front. but what a disaster! Talk about how to generate and live up to a stereotype. The conduct, as presented here, would have been funny, but it resulted in unnecessary deaths and so becomes ridiculous.
I liked the way the author would cite examples of individual actions, following particular people through certain phases - especially when they were also people about whom more was known, so you can project forward (Rommel, for example was involved in the big push into Italian territory). I liked the comparison of Italian war literature and that produced by the Allies during and after the war - it appears to have a very different feel and tone. The maps were interesting and clear and a great help. The only negative comment would be that there was a certain amount of assumed knowledge. In most cases this became clear later in the book, but it did make some passages a little opaque.

The stupidity of war in all its grueling details. Very good.

Quote from a review by Donna Leon: The eventual Allied victory put an end to the killing, but history has gone on in its usual, amnesiac way. The bestially incompetent General Cadorna is remembered by many Italians as a hero, and much of the patriarchal posturing of Fascism got its start by glorying in the bloodshed of the war. Few Italians are ever taught how many died, or why. But folk wisdom remembers what happens during hopeless wars, and many Italians today believe the rumors that their soldiers in Afghanistan have been supplying weapons to the Taliban while also paying them not to attack.

After living here for almost half of my life, I find it impossible not to sympathize with their sentiments."

This very detailed contemporary account of the Balkan wars of the 1990's desperately needs a rewrite and a good editor. Thompson gets inside the politics and opinions of the various tribes that made up the former Yugoslavia, and writes with considerable honesty and detail. The problem is that the material is so dense, and so dated, that it takes a mammoth effort to persist with it. If you already know the tortured history of this area of the world there is nothing new here, and if you are seeking to understand it for the first time - well I can only recommend a simpler text. As it stands it is an excellent account of the on-the-ground experience of people living in the former Yugoslavia, but the writer is embedded so deep in the material that it is hard to keep sight of any story or theme, or anything that would lead the reader along. Which is the point that the writer makes about the entire region and its history - very few have the patience to try and understand it, and fewer still succeed. This would work extraordinarily well if the writer could be persuaded to revisit the place and the people and view it (and them and their experiences) from the perspective of both then and now. If there's any lesson here it is that this is a place where the past and the present co-exist and no story about one is complete without reference to the other. An invaluable resource for perspectives from that time, but I'd only recommend this book to folk who are delving deep into the story.½

This was a very well written book that told the singularly depressing story of the Italian campaign against Austria-Hungary in World War I. The title derives from the fact that many of the battles took place in the Southern Limestone Alps. During the winter the area was covered with snow and when the snow melted the men were fighting over mountains of white carbonate rock. The rock would splinter up in great chunks when hit by artillery shells causing many more casualties than artillery striking earth.
This is one of the few books I have seen exclusively devoted to the Italian campaign. The author writes as thoroughly about the Italian political events as the battles. There are several references to how the war led to the rise of Italian fascism. Italy went to war in order to gain territory from Austria-Hungary. The Italian Irrendenta was a movement aimed at the unification of all ethnically Italian people. Prior to entering the war the Italians negotiated the Treaty of London guaranteeing them portions of Austria-Hungary populated by Italians for their assistance to the Allies.
The author does a very good job of portraying what the war was like for the Italian foot soldiers who fought in conditions that were more than miserable. The Italian army had very poor equipment when they started the war. Their stocks of artillery and machine guns were the lowest of any major army in the war. The worst enemy of the Italian soldier was their Supreme Commander, Luigi Cadorna. Cadorna was more than a strict disciplinarian. In some cases he had groups who had failed in battle decimated. As the unit stood at attention one man out of ten was selected and shot. Cadorna forbade the practice of sending food packages to Italian soldiers who were captured. He refused to reward cowards. His favorite tactic was to group his men as tightly as possible and order them to charge straight ahead. On several occasions the Austria-Hungarians quit shooting and told the Italians to go back so no more would be killed. It was not war it was murder. Cadorna was finally fired in November of 1917 after a disastrous battle where 275,000 Italian soldiers surrendered.
In 1918 Italy's allies provided them strategic materials and they were able to fashion the weapons and munitions needed by the army. Eventually Austria-Hungary succumbed to Italy's manpower advantage as their polyglot nation fell apart at the end of the war.
It was a long book and it did drag on at times. The author seemed in full command of the source material and made excellent use of primary sources. If you want to learn about the Italian Campaign this is the book to read. You may want to ask how important it is to you before you make the commitment to read this book. This is not a history book for the general public.

Wars are no different from other human enterprises; those who conduct it can run the gamut from brilliant (few, as in any enterprise) to the truly stupid and incompetent. The problem with any hierarchical organization is that the possibility of the incompetent being in charge of the lives of millions of other human beings is very real. History has shown us time and again that this is the case with armies, where the rise to command is as much based on political influence, chance of birth or other factors as well as merit.

One of the most telling cases in point is the Italian participation in World War I, known as The White War because it was fought mainly in the mountains at very high altitudes; winters were bitter. Italy at that time was still digesting unification of the peninsula. Recently rid of Austria in the Veneto, Italy had territorial ambitions in Austrian south Tyrol and Adriatic. Playing one side against the other, Italy waited until it had favorable secret agreements from England and France before it entered the war, basically to win territory from Austria.

The history of the conduct of the war, mainly by Carona, the head of the army, is one of incredible arrogance, egotism, incompetence, cunning, and total disregard for human life. Carona actually ordered ‘decimation”, the deliberate killing of one man in ten, for various acts that he termed treason; some such acts requiring brutal discipline, were lack of respect or speaking against the government.

In addition, it wasn’t that Carona knew how to conduct a war--he didn’t. Entire armies were basically thrown away on frontal assaults against impregnable Austrian positions. Hemingway called it “the most colossal, murderous, mismanaged butchery”.

One of the results of the war was the rise to power of Mussolini, who traded on the losses and the one battle that the Italians did win--the last one--to gain his position as Italy’s dictator.

Thompson tells the story in a very straightforward, very well-written manner. He not only covers the war, but also the politics of the time and the attitudes generated which have lasted in Italy to the present time. His explanations of the Yugoslavian independence movement and the different ethnic and religious groups within the Austro-Hungarian empire are excellent background to understanding the history of today’s Central Europe, at least those areas around the Adriatic.

Highly recommended.

During the Greek War of Independence, Western volunteers often wondered where the martial spirit of the Old Greeks had gone. These modern Greeks only shared Achilles' predilection to sulk and skulk. The same holds true for Italians. Always smartly dressed and spoiling for a fight, they managed to rack up one of the most dismal martial record of any nation. The First World War proved to be no exception: They lost the war but gained the peace, mostly by bad faith. Mark Thompson has written a good account of this sorry war that unnecessarily cost so much Italian blood and mostly ill-gotten gains,

The wounds this war inflicted remain: Only since 2007 can one cross freely across the internal Schengen border from Slovenia into Italy at Gorizia/Nova Gorica. During my short stop during the early Nineties, the transfer between the two train stations and the border crossings still had a Cold War flair (marred by the fact that the Italians failed to man the designated Third Party National border station, so that anyone could simply walk into Italy unchecked). Gorizia had been the focal point of the Isonzo battles and also Thompson's book whose title is highly misleading. In the Tyrolean parts, "The White War" might be a justified title. The mass of both armies, however, met on and around Gorizia (85 meters above the sea) and its surrounding hills of 400 to 600 meters. It was not the cold and the snow that made war difficult. The rocky terrain, especially the Karst responsible for the region's famous mountain caves, was the true culprit of the atrocious conditions.

The blockheaded Italian leadership, which might have achieved most of their war goals without actually having to fight (namely the return of the Italian-speaking territories but not he Slavic or Germanic ones), Unprepared, ill-equipped, unsupported and badly led, the Italian soldiers were sent against uphill Austrian defensive positions. In contrast to the Russian and Serbian front, the Habsburgs could rely on local troops to defend their home territory. In and around Gorizia, the local population were Slovenes who did not want to be liberated and integrated into Italy. The Slovene and Bosnian troops fought well. Time and again, they repelled the Italian attacks. The downfall of the Austrians came after their greatest victory in the Twelfth Isonzo battle (featuring an outstanding young Erwin Rommel, a well told vignette in the book). Descended from their hill defenses, the Austrians opened up their troops to a war of attrition at a unsustainable rate to the Austrians. When the war ended, the Italians managed to gobble up territories they couldn't reach by military means. The account of these unfair gains is probably the best and infuriating part of the book.

Overall, it is a readable and competent account of the Italian efforts during the First World War. Curiously, the book includes Gabriele d'Annunzio's joyride aerial leaflet bombardment of Vienna only as a footnote. The concentration on the twelve Isonzo battles minimizes the Tyrolean theater which looms large in Austrian historiography. Thus, this is a worthy introduction to a WWI campaign often forgotten in English-speaking countries (despite Hemingway!). Ideally, it should be complemented with an account of the Austrian actions.

I read a third of the book instantly and was somewhat gripped by the events being described but after that I found it somewhat repetitive and although the history is well researched I felt the book could have been condensed somewhat without losing its essential quality. I found the descriptions of the Italian leaders somewhat at odds with the imaginary figures I had in mind previously and I've had it reconfirmed (yet again) that there's nothing new in the history of the world - war brings out the most terrifying aspects of mankind.

This is not a book to take on holiday.

Descrizione impietosa della catastrofe e del clima nel Paese negli anni della Prima Guerra Mondiale, con un'attenzione particolare agli atteggiamenti, richieste e pretese del Governo italiano (in primis il Min. degli Esteri Sonnino ma anche il Primo Ministro Orlando) nelle trattative prima, durante e dopo gli eventi bellici. Altro che Quarta Guerra d'Indipendenza.
Alcuni approfondimenti interessanti sui popoli sloveno, croato e serbo, che illuminano una parte importante della storia anche recente della Jugoslavia.
Pregevole l'attenzione ad aspetti generalmente non collegati in modo diretto ed esplicito all'evento, come, per esempio, gli scritti e la vita di Ungaretti al fronte, gli atteggiamenti di Carlo Emilio Gadda o il ruolo fortemente, esplicitamente e consapevolmente embedded della stampa italiana, ligia alle direttive dello Stato Maggiore (Cadorna), del Ministro Sonnino e della censura militare. Albertini (gloriosa figura di Direttore del Corriere della Sera) ne esce malissimo. Ma anche Barzini fa la sua parte.

Mark Thompson’s superbly researched account of this little known appendage to the wider 1914-18 war is a stark reminder of the impact of political ideology and the cost in human life, misery, suffering and deprivation caused by conflict. Starting from the blatant opportunist expansionist ideals of Italy’s minority intellectual and political elite, double dealing and secret negotiations which finally brought Italy into the war on the side of the Allies, through to political ignominy in Paris in 1919, he paints a picture of a dysfunctional political Italy during the decades either side of the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, which laid the roots for fascism. The Italian military was in no better state, with its antiquated command structure cum strategy, an army under resourced in essential equipment and the inhuman treatment and knowing sacrifice of its own men. A side show this may have been, but one which had little support or understanding within the population at large and who paid with casualties comparable to the Allies on the western front for little or nothing to show in territorial or political gain.

Thompson leaves little doubt that the Austro-Hungarians are the aggrieved party in this conflict, with Italy the aggressor. Indeed Italy’s claim to centuries’ old Habsburg territory appears akin to German claims over the Sudetenland in 1938 and the Russian justification of their intervention in South Ossetia in 2008. There is also little doubt that the Habsburg’s held what moral high ground there was in the conduct of the war and it is perhaps fortunate for Italy that she chose to be on the, ultimately, winning side in the larger 1914-18 war, for she was going nowhere on her own. However, with the subsequent rise of fascism under Mussolini it is questionable whether the rest of the world would agree.

Perhaps the lasting legacy of Thompson’s account, however, will be the graphic and harrowing testimony of those participants caught up in a conflict they didn’t understand or want and the wanton destruction and loss of life inflicted. Just one example, from many, illustrates the stark reality of the war, when in 1917, in a diversionary attack on Ortigara,

‘The Italians have taken at least 25,000 casualties over the 19 days of the battle, on a front of three kilometres, for no gains whatsoever’.

Shorn of its basic facts this same attack is put more poignantly by Paolo Monelli, a captain in the Alpini, when the last enemy bombardment stopped,

‘… a vast silence spreads… Then groans from the wounded. Then silence once more. And the mountain is infinitely taciturn, like a dead world, with its snowfields soiled, the shell craters, the burnt pines. But the breath of battle wafts over all – a stench of excrement and dead bodies.’

Thompson’s book is yet another lesson in the futility of war and should be mandatory reading for all political leaders and governments around the globe.

A rewarding & fascinating book, “The White War” sets out to describe the seemingly obscure Italian front in World War One. In a slightly but refreshingly unorthodox manner, the author not only describes the military & political proceedings but deals with cultural issues and their strong influence on the conflict. The chapter detailing poetry in the war zone (“Starlight from Violence”) was a particular highlight.
The issue of Italy going to war is placed in the context of Italian sovereignty being relatively new (1866) for which the process of unification or “Resorgimento” was still underway in essence if not in fact. The Italians were also the only nation amongst the Entente Powers who were actual aggressors, joining the war neither out of interest or treaty obligations, but in naked self-interest. Again, this is explained in terms of the Risorgimento and the Italian desire to include all lands where Italians lived as one sovereign country. A great deal of intrigue was involved as various factions schemed and counter-schemed. The build up to war consisted of much skulduggery & mendacity, resulting in broken treaties and damaged reputations. The Italians deserted their erstwhile allies, the Austro-Hungarians, and joined with the Entente Powers. The book quotes Woodrow Wilson, the US President, as saying “The truth is that the Italians went to the highest bidder.”
Many were keen for a war so as to serve the purpose of a providing the first unifying experience for the new nation. Characters such as D’Annunzio, a strutting popinjay who fancied himself as a warrior-poet and who was something of a precursor and role model for Mussolini, are introduced. Vivid portrayals are made and it seems some of the main protagonists are almost too strange even for fiction. For instance, the Italian Commander-in Chief, General Cordona took issue with an article in an Austrian newspaper and ordered a letter of rebuttal be sent to it. This same General was a martinet if not a sadist. Italian soldiers could expect to be treated brutally and arrogantly. Summary execution was commonplace for much of the war and at times, the Roman practice of decimation was used. The soldiery were also the worst paid and most poorly equipped of the European armies.
The image of war in the mountains might seem a touch dashing compared to the flat muddy fields of Flanders but the author dispels any such notions and provides figures that make grim reading, for just as on the Western Front but for different reasons, the front became essentially static & attritional. The weather was to combine with the terrain and add to the woes of both sides: in on particularly severe spell of weather, ten thousand soldiers were lost in avalanches in one single day.
Never mundane or plodding, I would recommend this book to even those who do not ordinarily read books on military history.½

I received this book as an early reviewer last month. Histories fall into two camps - those written as dry facts, where the dates and names all blend in to one another, and those which have life. This book was definitely one of the latter. Having read Hemingway's Farewell to Arms (and disliking it - although that is more due to my feelings towards Hemingway himself as opposed to the subject matter) I was very curious to know more about the Italian Front. Every book I have read about World War I has been either about the Western Front, or the Australian involvement, so this history really rounded my knowledge.

The book is impeccably researched, and paints an incredible picture of suffering, ineptitude, loss and futility. Yet, the book is never depressing. It is an honest expose of the politics of the newly formed country of Italy, the traditional, stagnant thinking of Cadorna, and the unspeakable conditions which the soldiers caught in this melee were expected to contend with. Of all of the armies during the Great War, it seems the Italian army suffered at the hands of their own superiors to an extent that is difficult to comprehend.

Telling the story of the Italian front from the Italian point of view made the rise of Mussolini far more comprehensible. So often we hear about the impact of Hitler on Europe and why Germany was so eager to embrace his doctrines, but for Italy - who had been an Allied nation - to follow fascism years before the Nazi party formed, it was a far more unusual story. And that story starts during the period covered by Thompson in this fantastic book.

This is an excellent book which really gripped me. It tells of Italy's role in the First World War, which was completely new territory for me, and does it very well. Mark Thompson has the great gift of being able to present histpry as highly readable narrative and I particularly enjoyed the pen pictures of the various characters whom he singles out.

A tragic story of terrible and futile waste, as with all aspects of the Great War. One should remember that alone among the Allied powers Italy was an aggressor rather than fighting for self-defence or to defend a treat obligation, and that this campaign had some huge ramifications, including making certain the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, or even enyone who wants to learn a littel more about modern Italy.½

In the UK, were are taught about the First World War. We are taught about the trenches, the slaughter and the waste. Mostly, were are taught about the British and Commonwealth soldier's experience on the Western Front. 'The White War' teaches the English reader about what they are not taught - the Italian/Austrian front.

After declaring war on Austria-Hungary for dubious territorial reasons, Italy sent hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths on the rocks of Carso near Trieste. Men, indeed, who were most likely to be peasants from places such as Calabria in the south, who barely had the vaguest idea of 'Italy' or what they were ordered to fight for. Thomson details the grim experience and grimmer treatment of these men from their superiors. The Commander-in-Chief of the Italian Army, Luigi Cadorna, even practiced the Roman-era punishment of decimation for retreating or mutineering troops. Nor was Cadorna a particularly successful commander, often conceding vast losses for pointless gains soon lost. He was replaced, eventually, but too late to save the Italian effort.

Thompson shows that this war, though being triggered by that infamous shooting in Sarajevo, was propagandised as a continuation of the Risorgimento (the 19th Century unification of Italy), even though Italy had only a partial claim to Trieste, and very little to the majority-Germanophone South Tyrol.

The writer does all this well, and even the digressions into Italian war literature (no doubt inserted as a counterpoint to Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, 'Dulce et Decorum est' school) are fairly tolerable - though the well-aimed kicking given to D'Annunzio is amusing. Faint praise is not what this book deserves, however. It deserves to be read, and read especially by those whose sole exposure to WW1 history is the Western Front. They will learn something, even if it may be different to the lessons of Ypres and the Somme.½

I have just finished reading “The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1918 by Mark Thompson which is a study of a 1st World War front that is often forgotten but where Italy lost 689, 000 solders( Britain lost 662,000 + 140, 000 reported as missing). That we tend to associate the infantry war with the plains of Flanders and Russia reveals the common myth as this part of the struggle was mountain warfare albeit also with trenches.

The conduct of the war exposed the weak hold of liberal structures and politics on the Italian population and the defeat of victory quickly let in 20 years of fascist government. The collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, and take over the successor national states by the communists has made it difficult to get a sense of what really went on: Italians and other non Germanic nationals did fight for the Emperor, many of the feature of Fascism (a puppet parliament, a muzzled press, a romantic nationalism, a militarised state) had their roots on the political conduct of the war.
What made the book an interesting read is that Mark Thomas does more then hold to the historical arc of the events from the turmoil in Italy leading to its ripping up of a long standing agreement to be allied with the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary ( It took on a secret 30 pieces of silver territorial deal with the Allies). And ending with the desperate mad dash to occupy land vacated by the collapsing Hapsburg armies-it made the most of the cock-up where as the armistice agreement ended the war one day earlier for Austria-Hungary. What he does is switch the narrative in cinematographic terms from wide/long shots, medium to close-ups as the narrative unfolds. So we take the long view at the ideas affecting Italian practice in politics, art and military such as Romantic Vitalism or the ideas of Friedrich Nietzsche. Or the impact of how Italian unification actually unfolded. We then have medium shot accounts of how individual battles unfolded from both of the combatant’s perspectives or the power struggles and conduct at military and political levels. And finally the close-up accounts of artists, reporters, and survivors that expose the official accounts or help to explain the mindset of the elites.
It was this rounded and varied explanation that held my attention, as I tended to wander in the step by step of accounts of the battles(my attention span rather then the quality of the writing, although these are necessary to understand the appalling and arrogant way that the soldiers were used. For example, Military discipline justified the ancient Roman practice of randomly killing 1 in 10 solders if the platoon had infringed any rules which could be just turning up late from leave. The fact, with no interest shown in the reason was enough for summary execution. This is because the Italian army leadership took the most extreme view of all the armed forces in the 1st world war that the solders were only cannon fodder to do the will of the supreme commander. An attitude they paid for when Austria-Hungarian forces with direct support of Germany developed a forerunner of Blitzkrieg and took back all the territory fought over in the past three years and swept down to the pre 1866 national boundaries.

The resource imbalance between the foes and the deteriorating political realties for the Central Powers meant that this could not be turned into a knock-out blow. But with Russia out and embroiled in Revolution and no significant Allied victories, the collapse of the Central Powers as Germany struggled to avoid the fate of Austria- Hungary created the German Nazis myth of a stab in the back. It also confirmed the lack of democratic populist support for liberalism.

So why should you read this book? Well it gives you a clear account of one part of the wider First World War front that is only now becoming clear and even possible to study. (Attempts to clear the names of those summarily executed is still politically sensitive in Italy.) But a more important reason is that it offers insights into the conduct of events now. If History has anything to teach, its that we the ordinary people wont get a true picture what our masters have been doing in our name until we are pushing up the daisies.. In knowing what was going on behind closed doors then, we can question what the media, cultural elites, military strategists, politicians are doing now. But of course if you think we have the straight line on the War on Terror, then give it a miss.

Yugoslavia History