The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 (58 page)

Read The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919 Online

Authors: Mark Thompson

Tags: #Europe, #World War I, #Italy, #20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, #Military History, #European history, #War & defence operations, #General, #Military - World War I, #1914-1918, #Italy - History, #Europe - Italy, #First World War, #History - Military, #Military, #War, #History

BOOK: The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919
9.86Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

5

we found the troops getting pelted
’: L. I. L. Ferguson.

6

flatter than you would think
’: Acland.

7

a mighty expanse of water
’: Gladden, 67.

8

some seven miles long
’: Gladden, 29.

9

played in the waters
’: Acland.

10

we could sit around
’: Gladden, 38.

11
men who were judged less reliable
: Schindler, 278.

12
he devolved more operational decision-making
: Procacci [2000], 76.

13
no objection to the formation
: Gratton, 24.

14
An internal report in November
: Gian Luigi Gatti, 55.

15

The best system for fighting
: Gian Luigi Gatti, 71.

16

the conviction of the absolute
’: Gian Luigi Gatti, 69.

17

the flower of the Italian
’: Gian Luigi Gatti, 122.

18

Every movement in civic life
’: Gian Luigi Gatti, 72.

19

our growing superiority
’: Gian Luigi Gatti, 133.

20
exhibited around the country, while propaganda
: Procacci [1989b].

21

a profound transformation
’: Labita.

22

To be or not to be
’: Orlando [1923], 123. 

23
united in dedication to a supreme purpose
: Procacci [1999], 323.

24
a war of political adventure turned
: Minniti, 25.

25
The press bayed for strong government
: Procacci [1999], 309.

26
158
pro-war deputies formed
: Pieri [1965], 171.

27
A man from Viterbo got three months
: Procacci [2006], 302. 

28
Industrial action continued throughout June
: Procacci [1999], 138.

29
a gesture that backfired
: Procacci [1989a] and Procacci [1989b].

30

repression of dissent
’: Corner & Procacci.

31

anyway everyone knows
’: Labanca, Procacci, Tomassini, 31.

32

the arrival of the Austrians
’: Corner & Procacci.

33
an
incident at a primary school
: This episode occurred in October 1917, just before or after Caporetto. Franzina [2003], 13.

34

military model
’: Procacci [2006], 284.

35
not much different from the Bourbon tyrants
: Monticone [1982], 37.

36
Dallolio, an effective Under-Secretary
: Isnenghi & Rochat, 300.

37
Francesco Nitti, a deputy
: Forsyth, 67–8.

38
by no means inevitable
: L. Segreto quoted by Zamagni, 221.

39
pricing policy was slack
: Forsyth, 85. 

40
industries had incentives
: Zamagni, 35, 221, 223, 225.

41
aeronautical industry grew
: Toniolo, 129.

42

now looked upon Italian war aims
’: Rothwell, 158.

43

made no mention whatever of our aspirations
’: Sonnino, 252.

44

it is perfectly hopeless trying to get Sonnino
’: Seymour [1928], vol. 3, 287, 286, 290.

45
urged by the American ambassador
: Zivojinovic, 95.

46

More and more the war has ceased
’: Lippmann.

47

the completion of her national unity
’: From a speech in February 1918. Orlando [1923], 122.

48

most cynical’ of all the secret treaties
: H. W. Massingham, ‘The Diplomacy of the Knock-out Blow’,
The Nation
, 9 February 1918. Quoted by le Cornu.

49
his

paltry masterpiece
’: Sforza [1944], 46.

50
refused to sanction the use of propaganda
: Sforza [1944], 49

51
persuaded Albertini to help organise: Mack Smith [1978], 214.

52

inexplicable and grievous misunderstanding
’: Orlando [1923], 174–5. 

53

The Italians and Yugoslavs are
’: Cornwall [2000], 290.

54
only one in every thousand
: 3,800 from a total of 3,800,000. Melograni, 529.

55
Wilsonian ideals filled a vacuum
: Melograni, 526 ff, quoting Harold Lasswell,
World Revolutionary Propaganda
:
a Chicago Study
(New York: Knopf, 1939), 114–15.

56

All branches of the Slav race
’: Cornwall [2000], 265, 323.

57

a free and united Yugoslav state
’: Cornwall [2000], 338

58
Orlando probably encouraged this
: Mack Smith [1978], 215.

59

consonant with the principles
’: Mamatey 314; Lederer.

60
Boroević did not believe
: Bauer, 111.

61
Some 200,000 Hungarian soldiers had deserted
: Bernardi, 115.

62

mass rallies at which oaths for unity
’: Cornwall [2000], 213.

63

no longer moved by incessant
’: Cornwall [2000], 281.

64
Boroević openly criticised the shortages
: Blašković, 396.

65

For this, gentlemen, could well be
’: Bernardi, 128.

66
despite everything, Habsburg morale ran high
: Schindler quotes General August von Cramon, chief German liaison officer with the Austrian army: ‘The troops’ offensive spirit was the best.’ Schindler, 283.

67
may have been time-expired
: Blašković, 396.

68
The Austrian gunners only had the advantage
: Dalton, 206–7.

69

Hold your positions, I implore you
’: Bernardi, 129.

70
the German high command stepped in
: Bauer, 122.

71

the only proper national battle
’: Minniti, 69.

72

the mountains were bare
’: Neža Rejec, quoted by Fortunat Černilogar, 217.

73

a
mass of famished barbarians
’: Horvath-Mayerhofer, 153.

74

heterogeneous masses
’: Türr.

75
images of ‘Italia’ had from the start
: This was observed by Robert Musil, the Austrian novelist, then serving in the Trentino. His sentence continued, ‘who actually does not look Italian at all’. Musil [1999].

76
civilian morale rose
: Cornwall [2000], 398.

77

most rapes were carried out
’: Ceschin [2006b], 179.

78
people believed that time was on their side
: Cornwall [2000], 361.

79

an air of utter emptiness
’: Gladden, 200, 202.

80
when the war was already over
: Most of this information comes from Procacci [2000], a ground-breaking study.

81
shrank from 650,000 to 400,000
: Cornwall [2000], 406. 

82
The average body weight
: Cornwall [2000], 406.

83

We have been officially notified
’: Cornwall [2000], 278.

84
normal language in the newspapers
: Cornwall [2000], 286.

85

Most of the men are apathetic
’: Cornwall [1997].

86
German ambassador estimated
: Cornwall [2000], 429.

87

internal political questions
’: Rothenberg [1976], 214, 215.

Other books

River Road by Suzanne Johnson
The Blazing Star by Erin Hunter
The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs by James P. Blaylock
Wolf's Tender by Gem Sivad
Star Watch by Mark Wayne McGinnis
The Corner Booth by Ilebode, Kelly
Graveyard Plots by Bill Pronzini
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
Promise of Forever by Jessica Wood
Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns by J. California Cooper