Follow up offensive to Caporetto

I was curious as to what the board's thoughts would be on a follow up offensive against Italy following the debacle at Caporetto; this would be in lieu of the spring offensive and be launched first good weather 1918 whilst troops in the west remain on the defensive

Is it possible Italy could be driven to the table? Would France and Britain be more open to a white type peace on the western front if Italy where to permanently collapse from the war?
 
I don't think so, the Central powers were in bad shape, lack of food and ammo and low morale makes me think that any continuation of the offensive following Caporetto would mean the same out come for them as it did the Italians in the first offensive. If you can't follow up you atack with some serious ground, might as well retreat right away. They had the manpower, but tactically there is not much they could do to tip the balance, even if they did think outside of the box, they just didn't have the strength to take the strategic positions they would need to hold out(not simply crossing the Piave you know). By 1918 the Italians will be fully resupplied and reinforced and ready to take on whatever is coming at them, a lot better than the Austrians are at repeating yet another offensive in Italy whilst inside the country things were going downhill very fast politically and economically. With morale that low, any hint of slowing down or failure(or an incompetent officer) could mean they would just start deserting the offensive before actually being halted.
 

nbcman

Donor
I was curious as to what the board's thoughts would be on a follow up offensive against Italy following the debacle at Caporetto; this would be in lieu of the spring offensive and be launched first good weather 1918 whilst troops in the west remain on the defensive

Is it possible Italy could be driven to the table? Would France and Britain be more open to a white type peace on the western front if Italy where to permanently collapse from the war?
The Italian theater was a sideshow by this point. Both sides recognized that the war was going to be won or lost in France. For the CP, it had to be won before the American forces entered the fight in enough strength to make it impossible for the Germans to win.
 
The Italian theater was a sideshow by this point. Both sides recognized that the war was going to be won or lost in France. For the CP, it had to be won before the American forces entered the fight in enough strength to make it impossible for the Germans to win.

The British and French did consider it important enough to withdraw 10 divisions from the Western Front to reinforce the Italian armies after Caporetto.
 

nbcman

Donor
The British and French did consider it important enough to withdraw 10 divisions from the Western Front to reinforce the Italian armies after Caporetto.

To avoid a catastrophe in late 1917, yes. The majority of forces other than AH and Italian armies were withdrawn during the early months of 1918 to prepare for the coming conflict in France.
 

Deleted member 1487

I was curious as to what the board's thoughts would be on a follow up offensive against Italy following the debacle at Caporetto; this would be in lieu of the spring offensive and be launched first good weather 1918 whilst troops in the west remain on the defensive

Is it possible Italy could be driven to the table? Would France and Britain be more open to a white type peace on the western front if Italy where to permanently collapse from the war?
They did, but if failed:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Monte_Grappa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Grappa
The big problem was the lack of rail lines through the Alps into the North Italian plain, which is why by summer 1918 A-H forces were starving there from lack of sufficient supplies coming in.
 
They did, but if failed:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Monte_Grappa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Monte_Grappa
The big problem was the lack of rail lines through the Alps into the North Italian plain, which is why by summer 1918 A-H forces were starving there from lack of sufficient supplies coming in.

I have been interested in contributing my first timeline along this arena. In reading it seems the Italian army was so disorganized and morale shaken, that the Germans/Austrians had a chance to do better in the battle itself with certain points of departure on their end and a slightly longer period of panic by the Italians

In particular, I do see an opportunity for them to capture Venice; would this improve their supply situation by having a large port and capturing more booty than the original timeline? My scenario also envisions them capturing a larger number of prisoners, so they will have more mouths to feed at the end of the campaign as well
 
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