Luigi Cadorna
General Luigi Cadorna commanded the Italian Army from Italy's entry into the war in May 1915 until the catastrophe of Caporetto in November 1917. A rigid disciplinarian of the old Piedmontese school, he launched eleven offensives on the Isonzo at a cost of hundreds of thousands of casualties for minimal gains, while enforcing the harshest disciplinary regime of any Western army — including summary executions and the ancient Roman punishment of decimation applied to units judged wanting. He sacked over 200 generals for insufficient aggression, creating a command culture of fear. When the Austro-German breakthrough came at Caporetto, his armies' brittleness was exposed in weeks of rout; his communiqué blaming the defeat on soldiers who 'vilely retreated without fighting' completed his disgrace. He was removed in November 1917 and replaced by Armando Diaz.
- Lived: 1850 CE – 1928 CE
- Nationality: Italian
- Roles: chief of staff, commander
