Abstract
The battle of Caporetto in October-November 1917, one of the most catastrophic defeats administered to any army during the First World War, continues to stir lively debate nearly one hundred years later. While analysts then and for some time after blamed the debacle on soldier defeatism, historians today find the reasons in the Italian Army’s tactical, logistical, and strategic shortcomings. Perhaps the most intriguing question before historians of the event today is why the general officer most responsible for the catastrophe not only managed to evade being charged for his failures but instead ended up as the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army. That is the subject of this article.
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Cite this article
Andrea Ungari, “The Official Inquiry into the Italian Defeat at the Battle of Caporetto (October 1917),” The Journal of Military History 76, no. 3 (July 2012): 695–726.