Italian Front (World War I)

The Italian Front (Italian:Fronte italiano; in German:Gebirgskrieg, "Mountain war") was a series of battles at the border between Austria-Hungary and Italy, fought between 1915 and 1918 in World War I. Following the secret promises made by the Allies in the Treaty of London, Italy entered the war in order to annex the Austrian Littoral and northern Dalmatia, and the territories of present-day Trentino and South Tyrol. Although Italy had hoped to gain the territories with a surprise offensive, the front soon bogged down into trench warfare, similar to the Western Front fought in France, but at high altitudes and with very cold winters. The front caused civil population to resettle and several thousands of them died in Italian and Austrian refugee camps of malnutrition and illness. The Allied victory at Vittorio Veneto and the disintegration of Austria-Hungary ended the military operations.