The Great War's Southern Front or Italy's Iron Road

Question

When we think of WWI, we always reflect on trench warfare.  And yet, the WWI battlefield extended waaay beyond what the average individual understands.  I've mentioned this elsewhere...but, I think it worth repeating, particularly if you're a bit more of an adrenaline junkie looking for a more profound vacation.  To do that, you'd have to travel back in time to the war's southern front in the Italian alps.

First:

Click on this to understand the Italian/Austrian campaign engineering feats:

https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2014/06/ww1-civil-engineering-achievements-at-the-great-wars-southern-front/

Then, click here to be captured by it's sheer beauty, compliments of NatGeo.:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/destinations/europe/italy/climbing-the-dolomites-via-ferrata/

Hopefully...I didn't screw it up.  If you go looking for pictures of the Dolomites alone, they are breathtaking.

Answer 1

The Central Powers did win a massive victory at the battle of Caporetto in Oct-Nov, 1917, when the Germans sent reinforcements to bolster the Austro-Hungarians, a move opposed by Ludendorff but ordered by Hindenburg. The attack brought them out of the mountains and onto the Venetian plain, to within about 20 miles of Venice. But then the Germans withdrew their forces to the Western Front, in preparation for their spring offensive of 1918, leaving the Austrians unable to follow up the Caporetto victory.

As it turned out, Ludendorff had been right all along... the war wasn't going to be decided in Italy, and so the whole Caporetto effort was pointless from a military standpoint. But maybe Hindenburg thought the Austrians needed a victory for political reasons, as their empire was on the verge of collapse.

But yes, the mountain scenery is breathtaking.

Answer 2