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22-782: The region stretches from the Julian Alps ( Triglav ) in the north down the Soča River to Nova Gorica and the Karst Plateau in the hinterland of Trieste . It encompasses the following municipalities (from north to south): It is entirely included in the Gorizia Statistical Region , except for the southernmost municipalities of Komen and Sežana, which are part of the Coastal–Karst Statistical Region . Goriška borders on Upper Carniola in

44-836: A mountain range of the Southern Limestone Alps that stretch from northeastern Italy to Slovenia , where they rise to 2,864 m at Mount Triglav , the highest peak in Slovenia . A large part of the Julian Alps is included in Triglav National Park . The second highest peak of the range, the 2,755 m high Jôf di Montasio , lies in Italy . The Julian Alps cover an estimated 4,400 km (of which 1,542 km lies in Italy). They are located between

66-630: A much smaller area, and are located mainly in Italy . Only the Kanin group lies in part in Slovenia. The main peaks by height are: Important passes of the Julian Alps are: Battles of the Isonzo 1916 1917 1918 White War (1915–1918) The Battles of the Isonzo (known as the Isonzo Front by historians, Slovene : soška fronta ) were a series of twelve battles between

88-768: A staunch proponent of the frontal assault who claimed the Western Front proved the ineffectiveness of machine guns , initially planned breaking onto the Slovenian plateau, taking Ljubljana and threatening Vienna . The area between the northernmost part of the Adriatic Sea and the sources of the Isonzo River thus became the scene of twelve successive battles. . As a result, the Austro-Hungarians were forced to move some of their forces from

110-841: The Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia , and the remainder in Italy along the Isonzo River on the eastern sector of the Italian Front between June 1915 and November 1917. In April 1915, in the secret Treaty of London , Italy was promised by the Allies some of the territories of Austro-Hungarian Empire which were mainly inhabited by ethnic Slovenes, Croats and Austrian Germans. Italian commander Luigi Cadorna ,

132-792: The County of Görz , which they retained even after the Friulan territory of Aquileia was conquered by the Republic of Venice in 1420 and incorporated into the Domini di Terraferma . When the House of Gorizia became extinct in 1500, their county fell to the House of Habsburg ; with neighbouring Carinthia and Carniola it was administrated within Inner Austria . From 1754 onwards, the region belonged to

154-685: The Karst Plateau into the eastern Bassa Friulana , then part of the Lombard Duchy of Friuli . After Charlemagne had defeated the Kingdom of the Lombards at the 774 Siege of Pavia , the territory was incorporated into the Carolingian frontier March of Friuli . Margrave Berengar had himself crowned King of Italy in 888, while the adjacent marches of Carinthia (former Carantania) and Carniola had become part of East Francia upon

176-522: The Sava Valley and Canale Valley . They are divided into the Eastern and Western Julian Alps. The Julian Alps were known in antiquity as Alpes Iuliae , and also attested as Alpes Julianae c. AD 670, Alpis Julia c. 734, and Alpes Iulias in 1090. Like the municipium of Forum Julii (now Cividale del Friuli ) at the foot of the mountains, the range was named after Julius Caesar of

198-532: The Soča (Isonzo) was the only practical area for Italian military operations during the war. The Austro-Hungarians had fortified the mountains ahead of the Italians' entry into the war on 23 May 1915. Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna judged that Italian gains (from Gorizia to Trieste ) were most feasible at the coastal plain east of the lower end of the Soča (Isonzo) River. Cadorna had not expected operations in

220-665: The Vipava Valley and the relatively low north-eastern edge of the Postojna Gate to Inner Carniola and Ljubljana. Italian troops did not reach the port of Trieste , the Italian General Luigi Cadorna's initial target, until after the Armistice . With the rest of the mountainous 640-kilometre (400 mi) length of the front being almost everywhere dominated by Austro-Hungarian forces,

242-511: The gens Julia , perhaps due to a road built by Julius Caesar and completed by Augustus . There are many peaks in the Eastern Julian Alps over 2,000 m high, and they are mainly parts of ridges. The most prominent peaks are visible by their height and size. There are high plateaus on the eastern border, such as Pokljuka , Mežakla , and Jelovica . The main peaks by height are the following: The Western Julian Alps cover

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264-668: The 843 Treaty of Verdun . When in 951 the East Frankish king Otto I of Germany invaded Italy, he seized the Friulan lands as part of the larger March of Verona , ruled by the Bavarian , later Carinthian dukes. In 1077 King Henry IV of Germany enfeoffed the Patriarchs of Aquileia with Friuli; the town of Gorizia ( Görz ) became the power base of their advocates from the comital Meinhardiner dynasty. They were able to acquire and consolidate an immediate home territory,

286-682: The Austrian Kingdom of Illyria with its capital at Ljubljana ( Laibach ). Part of the Austrian Littoral from 1849, the Soča Valley was the site of the fierce Battles of the Isonzo on the Italian front of Austria-Hungary during World War I . According to the 1919 Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , the whole Littoral region passed to the Kingdom of Italy . Together with the adjacent Inner Carniolan and Istrian lands, it

308-606: The Eastern Front and a war in the mountains around the Isonzo River began. The 138 kilometres (86 mi) long Soča River at the time ran entirely inside Austria-Hungary in parallel to the border with Italy, from the Vršič pass in the Julian Alps to the Adriatic Sea , widening dramatically a few kilometers north of Gorizia , thus opening a narrow corridor between Northern Italy and Central Europe, which goes through

330-544: The Isonzo sector to be easy. He was well aware that the river was prone to flooding—and indeed there were record rainfalls during 1914–1918. Further, when attacking further north the Italian army was faced with something of a dilemma: in order to cross the Isonzo safely it needed to neutralise the Austro-Hungarian defenders on the mountains above, yet to neutralise these forces the Italian forces needed first to cross

352-663: The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca , a crown land of the Habsburg monarchy . When in 1809 Napoleon created the short-lived French Illyrian Provinces , he drew the border with the re-established Kingdom of Italy in the west along the Soča/Isonzo River. After the 1815 Congress of Vienna , the entire crown land of Gorizia and Gradisca with Trieste and the March of Istria as well as Carinthia and Carniola formed

374-780: The Soča River. Austro-Hungarian losses, while by no means as numerous, were nevertheless high at around 200,000 (of an overall total of around 1.2 million casualties). More than 30,000 casualties were ethnic Slovenes, the majority of them being drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army , while Slovene civilian inhabitants from the Gorizia and Gradisca region also suffered in many thousands because they were resettled in refugee camps where Slovene refugees were treated as state enemies in Italian refugee camps, where thousands died of malnutrition. With almost continuous combat in

396-527: The area, the precise number of battles forming the Isonzo campaign is debatable. Some historians have assigned distinct names to a couple of the Isonzo struggles, most notably at Kobarid ( Caporetto , Karfreit ) in October 1917, which would otherwise form the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo. The fact that the battles were always named after the Isonzo River, even in Italy, was considered by some

418-613: The newly established Yugoslav republic of Slovenia , while the town of Gorizia itself with Gradisca and the territory downstream the Isonzo River to the Adriatic coast were left to Italy. Well-known people from the region include 45°57′19.06″N 13°38′5.36″E  /  45.9552944°N 13.6348222°E  / 45.9552944; 13.6348222 Julian Alps The Julian Alps ( Slovene : Julijske Alpe , Italian : Alpi Giulie , Venetian : Alpe Jułie , Friulian : Alps Juliis , German : Julische Alpen ) are

440-604: The northeast and Inner Carniola in the east. In the south, it is confined by Slovenian Istria and the Trieste city limits. Together with the adjacent Italian provinces of Gorizia , Udine and Pordenone in the west, it may be considered part of the larger Friuli region. Upon the Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps from about 600, Slavic tribes in contact with the neighbouring principality of Carantania moved into

462-423: The river. Despite the huge effort and resources poured into the continuing Isonzo struggle, the results were invariably disappointing and without real tactical merit, particularly given the geographical difficulties that were inherent in the campaign. Cumulative casualties of the numerous battles of the Isonzo were enormous. Half of the entire Italian war death total — some 300,000 of 600,000 — were suffered along

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484-705: Was incorporated into the Julian March administrative region. The border with the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was confirmed in the 1920 Treaty of Rapallo . During the Fascist regime the Slovene minority was submitted to a violent policy of Italianization , against the resistance of the TIGR movement. After World War II , the present borders were established: most of the Slovene-inhabited areas were ceded to

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