CAPORETTO, BATTLE OF. This is the title given to the disastrous, but not irretrievable defeat of the Italian force in Venezia. Beginning on Oct. 24, 1917, the Austro-German drive was finally thwarted on the general line of the Piave in December. The Italian offensive of Aug.-Sept. 1917 (see WORLD WAR) had reduced Boroevic's armies to the limit of resistance, so much so that, as Ludendorff records, "in the middle of September it became necessary to decide for the attack on Italy in order to prevent the collapse of Austria-Hungary." There was a clear difference of opinion on the Italian side as to the best way of meeting the forthcoming attack. Cadorna felt he must stand on the defensive. Capello, who commanded the II. Army, was anxious to anticipate the enemy's move by an attack north-east from his positions on the Bainsizza plateau. His army was in the main aligned for attack, for a continuation of the offen sive which had been broken off in September, and he judged it impossible, given the difficulty of communications and the risk of imminent attack, to take up the positions best adapted for de fence. In this idea he had the support of more than one of his corps commanders, but Cadorna did not think that he could throw in the forces necessary for such an attack when he was uncertain as to the direction of the forthcoming blow.