The first of these battles became the most famous as it brought the Austrian advance to a halt following
the Austro-Hungarian autumn offensive of 1917. The Italian Chief of the general staff general
Luigi Cadorna had ordered to construct fortified defenses on the Monte Grappa summit to make the mountain an impregnable fortress. When the Austro-Hungarian autumn offensive of 1917 routed the Italians, the Austrians, with help from the
German Army's
Alpenkorps failed to take the mountain's summit during the first battle of Monte Grappa from 11 November 1917 to 23 December 1917. Thus, the Italian front along the Piave river was stabilized and, although the Austrians could see
Venice from their positions, they would never reach it. Italian casualties totaled 12,000 and Austrian casualties 21,000. The second battle of Monte Grappa was complementary to the wider
Austrian summer offensive of 1918, which was the last offensive operation of the
Austro–Hungarian Army in World War I. The third battle of Monte Grappa started on 24 October 1918, as part of
the final Italian offensive of the war, when 9 Italian divisions attacked the Austrian positions on Monte Grappa. The Austrians answered by increasing their forces on the mountain from 9 to 15 divisions and thus committing all remaining reserves. But the worn down Austrian Army began a general retreat on 28 October, when
Czechoslovakia declared independence from
Austria-Hungary. On 3 November, the
Armistice of Villa Giusti officially ceased hostilities on the Italian front. ==In popular culture==