Review of 'Venice during the Great War' by Michael O’Brien (November 2023)

After Italy joined the Allies in 1915 by declaring war of the German-Austria alliance, a decision made to reclaim ‘ItaliaIrredenta’, those parts of Austria-Hungary, especially Istria(along the Dalmatian coast) that had once, historically, been Italian, Venice was always going to be close enough to the enemy for both air raids and threats from the Austro-Hungarian navy.

During 1915 there were five attacks along the Isonzo River by the Italian Army, each reaching stalemate, even when the Italian army outnumbered the Austrians, due to the terrain and Italian logistics. A repeat in 1916 led to a similar result. Also in 1916, an Austrian attack on the Italian army on the Asiago plateau also reached a stalemate once the Italian army had pushed the Austrians back.

Only in 1917, at Caporetto, did the Austrian army, with the help of German Divisions, breakthrough the Italian lines and pushed forward until the Italian army retreated to the Piave river.

During this, Venice was threatened by Austrian aircraft (sea planes usually) on forty-two missions from the Austro-Hungarian base at Pola (Pula to the local Croatian community). When these occurred, the immediate reactions in Venice were those of terror and indignation. Most of these attacks caused only minor damage, but Venice put on its own defences. Bombing raids were approximately monthly between 1915 and 1918.The usual targets were the Arsenale (a complex of shipyards and armouries), munition factories and the railway station. As the aiming was inaccurate, these bombs fell on surrounding areaswhich were usually residential. The horses from the front of St Mark’s Basilica were removed, and a wall of sandbags was built in front of the façade of the church. Wooden shelters were built above statues to protect them from shrapnel. Air defences including staff of hotels (especially those at the Gritti Palace) to build a platform on the roof and to practise firing rifles in unison to deter aircraft by creating a barrage of bullets to upset the pilots. On the occasion of an Austrian plane ‘ditching’ in the Venetian Lagoon, it had to be removed as it would have been a hazard for the movement of ships, the lagoon being so shallow. There was one occasion (1916)when a Zeppelin dropped bombs which landed in front of St Mark’s Basilica.

Pola was one of two bases for the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the Great War. Here were based the dreadnoughts, cruisers, destroyers and submarines (at its maximum there were 33 U-boats based here, one, SM U5, was commanded by Captain Georg Ritter von Trapp). In 1915, the Allies established a barrage across the Adriatic Sea, called the Otranto Barrage, between Brindisi and the island of Corfu. It consisted of a fleet of drifters equipped with steel nets, 6 pounder guns and depth charges. This only kept surface ships from leaving the Adriatic and threatening Allied operations in the Mediterranean, it had little or no effect on submarines, especially those based at the port of Cattaro (modern day Kotor in Montenegro). As the Venetian lagoon was so shallow, only submarines had any major effect on the city.

In August 1915, SMU12 set out from Pola for Venice looking for suitable targets. Unfortunately, U12 was rammed (probably by accident) by the Italian destroyer Rosolino Pilo and sank in the Lido inlet of the Venetian Lagoon. Two days later, while Italian workers were dredging the lagoon an explosion was heard. Divers discovered U12 with its stern blown off and all the crew dead. When the submarine was salvaged, the bodies of the Austro-Hungarian crew were removed and interred in the San Michele cemetery.

Gabriele d’Annunzio (born 1863), the poet and Italian patriot, toured Italy making speeches in favour of the war, especially in favour of taking back Italia Irredenta, the land along the Dalmatia coast which had been part of the Venetian Empire. In February 1918 he took part in the Buccari raid. This was a raid by three MAS (Motoscarfo Armato Silurante – torpedo-armed motorboats) on the port at Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). The raid was led by Captain Constanzo Ciano and Lt Luigi Rizzo and was a propaganda coup for Italy after the defeat at Caporetto. The Motoscafos fired two torpedoes each, all of which missed their targets, but they escaped before the Austro-Hungarian warships could catch them. Although no damage was done, the raid was a psychological blow to the Austro-Hungarian Navy. Lt Luigi Rizzo, commanding MAS 96,went on to sink the Austro-Hungarian dreadnought SMS Szent Istvan during a raid on Pola in June 1918.

D'Annunzio was the leader of the raid on Vienna in August 1918. This was a raid to drop propaganda leaflets (he was forbidden to drop actual explosive bombs) on Vienna. He led a squadron of 11 Ansaldo SVA-9 aircraft (each of which had a lion of St Mark painted on its fuselage) from their base in the Veneto on a 750-mile round trip to drop 50,000 leaflets on the Austrian capital. These leaflets were three-coloured cards (green, white and red, the colours of the Italian flag) with text written by d’Annunzio in Italian, but not translated into German, chiding Austria’s continual participation in the war. The aircraft also dropped 350, 000 leaflets in German pointing out that this raid had only dropped leaflets, another raid might well drop bombs if Austro-Hungary continued supporting the war.

The end of the war arrived quite quickly for Venice – after the victory at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto (24 Oct 1918), the Austro-Hungarian army retreated and asked for an armistice on October 29th .The armistice was signed at Villa Giusti near Padua on November 3rd and Italy’s war came to an end.

Report by Peter Palmer