Atlas of Battles

battle, major, First World War

First Battle of the Isonzo

First Battle of the Isonzo was a battle fought on 23 June 1915 at Soča, in what is now Italy; it lasted 14 days. It was part of the Italian Front, which ran from 1915 to 1918. The recorded result: Inconclusive. Recorded strength: 225,000: 18 divisions against 115,000: 8 divisions.

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Northeastern Italy, 1915 - 1917 - Eleven Battles of the Isonzo, June 1915 - September 1917
Northeastern Italy, 1915 - 1917 - Eleven Battles of the Isonzo, June 1915 - September 1917. USMA (United States Military Academy), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought23 June 1915lasted 14 days
WhereSoča, Italy45.943N, 13.602E
OutcomeInconclusive
BelligerentsKingdom of ItalyagainstAustria-Hungary
Casualties and losses15,000and10,000
Part ofItalian Front1915 to 1918

Where it sits in the Italian Front

Battles of the Isonzo, 1915Battle of Monte Piana, 1915Battle of Hill 383, 1915First Battle of the Isonzo, 1915Second Battle of the Isonzo, 1915Third Battle of the Isonzo, 1915Fourth Battle of the Isonzo, 1915Fifth Battle of the Isonzo, 1916Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, 1916Battle of Doberdò, 1916Seventh Battle of the Isonzo, 1916Eighth Battle of the Isonzo, 1916Ninth Battle of the Isonzo, 1916Battle of Istrana, 1917Tenth Battle of the Isonzo, 1917Battle of Pozzuolo, 1917First Battle of the Piave River, 1917Battle of Monte Grappa, 191819151918First Battle of the Isonzo, 1915
18 placed engagements of the Italian Front in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date23 June 1915
to 7 July 1915
PlaceSoča, Italy
45.943N, 13.602E
KindBattle, First World War
Strength225,000: 18 divisions115,000: 8 divisions
Casualties and losses15,00010,000
Commanders
First Battle of the IsonzoFirst Battle of the IsonzoSixth Battle of the IsonzoEighth Battle of the IsonzoSeventh Battle of the IsonzoFourth Battle of the IsonzoBattle of IsonzoBattle of IsonzoLjubljanaVeniceGrazFerraraMariborBolzanoKlagenfurtPula100 km45.943N, 13.602E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of First Battle of the Isonzo
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of First Battle of the Isonzo today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-08-21. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 48 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 28 to 579 m, 551 m of relief, steep country and today it is 53% tree cover, 23% built-up, 17% grassland.

tree cover: 53%built-up: 23%grassland: 17%cropland: 4%tree cover 53%built-up 23%grassland 17%cropland 4%
west to east, 10.0 km44 to 206 mnorth to south, 10.0 km44 to 177 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 12 times between 1477 and 1917.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1915

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: IT 2ND & 3RD ARMIESDefender: AUS 5TH ARMY
Strength200,000100,000
Casualties14,947 (7.5%)9,958 (10.0%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1036
Outcomedefender won
Duration2 days
Front width16 km16 km
Attacker advanced0 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 296), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

First Battle of the Isonzo is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 942 in present-day Italy.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q615324, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article First Battle of the Isonzo, revision 1385499825, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.