Battle of Vittorio Veneto The Battle of Vittorio Veneto was fought between 24 October and 3 November 1918 , near Vittorio Veneto , during the Italian Campaign of World War I . The Italian victory marked the end of the war on the Italian Front , secured the dissolution of the Austro - Hungarian Empire and was chiefly instrumental in ending the First World War less than two weeks later . Some Italians see Vittorio Veneto as the final culmination of the " Risorgimento " nationalist movement , in which Italy was unified . Background . During the Battle of Caporetto , from 24 October to 9 November 1917 , the Italian Army lost over 300 , 000 men and was forced to withdraw , causing the replacement of the Italian Supreme General Luigi Cadorna with General Armando Diaz . Diaz reorganized the troops , blocked the enemy advance by implementing defenses in depth and mobile reserves and stabilized the front - line around the Piave River . In June 1918 , a large Austro - Hungarian offensive , aimed to break the Piave defensive line and deliver a decisive blow to the Italian army , was launched . The Imperial army tried on one side to force the Tonale Pass and enter Lombardy , on the other side to make two converging thrusts into central Venetia , the first one southeastward from the Trentino , the second one southwestward across the lower Piave . The whole offensive came to worse than nothing , the attackers losing 60 , 000 dead , 90 , 000 wounded and 25 , 000 captured . Battle . After the battle of the Piave , General Armando Diaz , the Italian commander in chief , despite aggressive appeals by Allied commanders , deliberately abstained from offensive action until Italy should be ready to strike with success assured . In the offensive he planned , three of the five armies lining the front from the Monte Grappa sector to the Adriatic end of the Piave were to drive across the river toward Vittorio Veneto , so as to cut communications between the two Austrian armies opposing them . Allied forces totaled 57 infantry divisions , including 51 Italian , 3 British , 2 French , 1 Czechoslovak , and a token American regiment , along with supporting arms . The Austrians fielded an Army of roughly equal size , but one that was demoralized , with 52 infantry divisions and an inferior number of artillery pieces . On 24 October , the anniversary of the Battle of Caporetto , the offensive opened . A first attack in the Monte Grappa sector was launched to attract the Austrian reserves . The flooding of the Piave prevented two of the three central armies from advancing simultaneously with the third ; but the latter , under the command of Lord Cavan , after seizing Papadopoli Island farther downstream , won a foothold on the left bank of the river on 27 October . The Italian reserves were then brought up to exploit this bridgehead . Svetozar Boroević von Bojna , the Austro - Hungarian commander , ordered a counter - attack on the Italian bridgeheads on the same day , but his troops refused to obey orders , a problem confronting the Austrians from that time on , and the counter - attack failed . After crossing the Piave River , the Eighth Italian Army , led by General Enrico Caviglia , took Vittorio ( " Veneto " was added to the name only in 1923 ) and advanced in the direction of Trento , threatening to block the retreat of Austrian forces . On 28 October Czechoslovakia declared independence from Austro - Hungary . The next day the South Slavs proclaimed independence , and on 31 October Hungary withdrew from the union , officially dissolving the Austro - Hungarian state . On 28 October , under these new political and military conditions , the Austro - Hungarian high command ordered a general retreat . As already mentioned , Vittorio Veneto was seized the next day by the Eighth Italian Army , which was already pushing on to the Tagliamento river . Trieste was taken by an amphibious expedition on 3 November . The 11th Italian army , commanded by French General Jean Graziani , continued to advance , supported on the right by the 9th Army . The result was that Austria - Hungary lost about 30 , 000 casualties and between 400 , 000 – 500 , 000 prisoners ( 50 , 000 by 31 October ; 100 , 000 by 1 November ; 428 , 000 by 4 November ) . The Italians suffered 37 , 461 casualties ( dead and wounded ) , including 145 French and 374 Britons . On 29 October the Austro - Hungarians asked for an armistice . On 30 October 1918 the Austro - Hungarian army was split in two . The armistice was signed on 3 November at 3 : 20 p . m . , to become effective 24 hours later , at 3 p . m . on 4 November . The Austrian command ordered its troops to cease hostilities on 3 November . Following the signing of the armistice , Austrian General Weber informed his Italian counterparts that the Imperial army had already laid down its weapons , and asked to cease combat immediately and to stop any further Italian advance . The proposal was sharply rejected by the Italian General Badoglio , who threatened to stop all negotiations and to continue the war . General Weber repeated the request . Even before the order to cease hostilities , the Imperial Army had already started to collapse , beginning a chaotic retreat . Italian troops continued their advance until 3 p . m . on 4 November . The occupation of all Tyrol , including Innsbruck , was completed in the following days . Under the terms of the Austrian - Italian Armistice of Villa Giusti , Austria - Hungary ’ s forces were required to evacuate not only all territory occupied since August 1914 but also South Tirol , Tarvisio , the Isonzo Valley , Gorizia , Trieste , Istria , western Carniola , and Dalmatia . All German forces should be expelled from Austria - Hungary within 15 days or interned , and the Allies were to have free use of Austria - Hungary ’ s internal communications . They were also obliged to allow the transit of the Entente armies , to reach Germany from the South . Aftermath . The battle marked the end of the First World War on the Italian front and secured the end of the Austro - Hungarian empire . As mentioned above , on 31 October Hungary officially left the personal union with Austria . Other parts of the empire had declared independence , notably what later became Yugoslavia . The surrender of their primary ally was another major factor in the German Empire ' s decision that they could no longer continue the war . On 30 October the Wilhelmshaven mutiny erupted , shortly afterwards the German Revolution of 1918 – 1919 started to spread from Kiel . In early November , the Germans requested an armistice .