1. Marshal of Italy Luigi Cadorna, was an Italian general, Marshal of Italy and Count, most famous for being the Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from 1914 until 1917 during World War I Commanding the Italian army on the Italian front, he acquired a reputation for rigid discipline and the harsh treatment of his troops.
Luigi Cadorna was born to General Raffaele Cadorna in Verbania Pallanza, Piedmont in 1850.
In 1860 Luigi Cadorna became a student at the "Teulie" Military School in Milan.
In 1870, as an officer in the 2nd Regiment of Artillery, Luigi Cadorna participated in the occupation of Rome as part of a force commanded by his father.
Luigi Cadorna wrote a manual of infantry tactics, which laid stress on the doctrine of the offensive.
Luigi Cadorna had been offered the post of Chief of Staff for the first time in 1908, which he had rejected over the issue of political control during wartime.
Luigi Cadorna was again offered the position in July 1914, as the Triple Entente and Central Powers girded for war.
When Italy entered the war in May 1915 on the side of the Entente, Luigi Cadorna fielded thirty-six infantry divisions composed of 875,000 men, but with only 120 modern artillery pieces.
Luigi Cadorna was accordingly obliged to reverse long-established strategic plans while discovering that the army was ill-prepared for war against Austria-Hungary and Germany.
Luigi Cadorna launched four offensives in 1915, all along the Isonzo River.
Italy's allies Britain and France insisted on the dismissal of Luigi Cadorna and sent eleven divisions to reinforce the Italian front.
Luigi Cadorna was reassigned as the Italian representative to the Allied Supreme War Council set up in Versailles.
Luigi Cadorna claimed that he had no responsibility for the defeat, despite fleeing to Padua during the battle and abandoning the entire Italian Second Army to its fate.
Luigi Cadorna's reputation reached its height in 1916, after the victories at the battles of Asiago and Gorizia, but subsequent allegations of the introduction of ancient Roman decimation alienated him from his troops.