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Join us for an epic journey Inside the Story as we explore the Museo della Battaglia di Vittorio Veneto! From rare artifacts and trench life to wartime secrets and wild stories, this episode is packed with surprises and laughs. Dive into history with us and discover something new! Don’t forget to subscribe for more adventures, and tell us in the comments what fascinated you most! #history #travel #museum #WWI #adventure
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@dentrolastoria
0:00 - Introduction and Museum Arrival
1:04 - The Memorial and its Significance
3:27 - Trench Route and Soldier Life
6:09 - Chemical Warfare and Information
9:15 - Armory and Industrial War
11:51 - Austro-Hungarian Occupation and Multiculturalism
14:42 - End of War and Collapse of Empires
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with https://www.youtube.com/@dentrolastoria
0:00 - Introduction and Museum Arrival
1:04 - The Memorial and its Significance
3:27 - Trench Route and Soldier Life
6:09 - Chemical Warfare and Information
9:15 - Armory and Industrial War
11:51 - Austro-Hungarian Occupation and Multiculturalism
14:42 - End of War and Collapse of Empires
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LearningTranscript
00:00Welcome back, friends, to Inside the Story, our third episode on the road, traveling together.
00:06And today we're going to a truly historic place.
00:09Travel with us.
00:43Friends, Inside the Story, I promised you a truly, genuinely historic place.
00:48And what could be better than the Museo della Battaglia di Vittorio Veneto?
00:53If you don't know it, you should definitely check it out because it's absolutely worth it.
00:57I'm here with a great friend, Stefano Gambarato, the curator of this museum.
01:02Thank you, Stefano, for being with us.
01:03Thank you for coming to visit us.
01:05This is a special wing. Would you like to explain it to us?
01:08Yes, here we are, inside the so-called Memorial of the Knights of Vittorio Veneto,
01:13a structure that preserves the names of 1,200,000 members of the Order of Vittorio Veneto,
01:20a chivalric order that was established in 1968, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the victory.
01:27The 50th anniversary of the victory was on October 24, 1918, when the decisive battle of Vittorio Veneto began.
01:35Here, we also find some remarkable pieces of artillery, like this one, for example.
01:39This is particularly interesting because it is an Austro-Hungarian mortar that has a special feature, its rarity.
01:47Because, at the time, only 100 units were built, and it is a weapon that operates with compressed air.
01:54Imagine that, with the addition of a special extension, which unfortunately we don't have here at the museum,
01:58it was able to launch a 20-kilogram projectile over a kilometer away.
02:04And it was a particularly dangerous weapon because you couldn't hear the incoming projectile.
02:09The wonders of technology.
02:11After all, the Great War was a testing ground for so many new technologies.
02:16Maybe that's also why it was such a difficult and long war.
02:20Yes, well, as you can easily, and actually, as you well know, I'd say, Federico,
02:24So, the First World War was a war that couldn't be won on the battlefields, given the enormous size of
02:31the armies.
02:32You could only wear down the opponent and force them to exhaust all their resources with a series of successive
02:38attacks.
02:39That's exactly why it's said that the Great War was the first industrial war in history,
02:45a true clash of industrial power, because it had been understood.
02:50It was understood that, essentially, victory would go to the nation that was able to project its industrial power onto
02:57the battlefronts.
03:00As happens in today's wars, as well as we are seeing,
03:03whoever manages to continuously supply the battlefronts with men and equipment
03:08has a clear advantage over the opponent.
03:11All right, and now let's take a look around this extraordinary museum.
03:25We are still inside the Vittorio Veneto Battle Museum.
03:29A curiosity for those who don't know, during the Battle of Vittorio Veneto,
03:33there was also the intervention of an American regiment that was attached to the Third Army,
03:38the one led by the Duke of Aosta.
03:40And here we have a memento of this particular unit that fought alongside the Italians,
03:46but also alongside the British and the French, as well as the future Czechoslovaks,
03:51here in this area, for victory in the Great War, and to create a new kind of Europe.
03:56Far from the logic of the 19th century, and toward a new century,
04:01the one that would be called the Short Century.
04:05We are at the entrance of the Battle Museum.
04:07Here begins one of the historical paths inside the museum.
04:11It's the one called the Trench Route.
04:14It shows how they fought, but also how the soldiers lived in that war,
04:18the first modern war, which was also, above all, a static war,
04:23not a war of movement, but one of position.
04:26Stefano, what awaits us in here?
04:29Yes, absolutely.
04:30We are about to enter an installation that we have renamed Trench.
04:37Basically, the material that we will soon see on display is organized along a path
04:42that is laid out like the trenches of the Great War.
04:45So, it imitates the movement of a snake slithering on the ground
04:49in an undulating pattern, if you'll allow me to use that term,
04:54because in the reality of the conflict,
04:56if an enemy got close enough to the trench and jumped in,
04:59he didn't have a clear line of fire along the entire length of the fortification.
05:05But he was forced to follow all the bands that made up the path,
05:09not knowing what was waiting for him around the band.
05:12The setting you will see is at night,
05:15because on the Italian front, between one major offensive and another,
05:19there was basically a stalemate.
05:21So, during the day, practically nothing happened.
05:24Most of the activity, patrols, and everything else took place,
05:28all at night.
05:29That's why the setting of this installation is at night.
05:33On the wall, there is a whole series of objects from the soldiers' daily lives.
05:38As you rightly said,
05:40shortly after the war began,
05:43the fighters realized that 19th century conflict,
05:46defined by swift battles of maneuver,
05:48unfortunately belonged to the past.
05:50And they buried themselves inside the trenches,
05:53where they spent the entire war.
05:56Basically.
05:56So, come with us.
05:58Please.
06:08The Great War also means chemical warfare.
06:12Gas warfare.
06:14From the Second Battle of Ypres in Belgium onward,
06:18these deadly gases made their appearance on the battlefields.
06:21They are extremely insidious weapons that claim victims.
06:25And even if they don't kill,
06:27they still leave deep irritations on the skin and eyes.
06:31They are a different kind of weapon than usual,
06:33and the first countermeasures are being developed against this weapon.
06:37Here we see, for example, Stefano.
06:39Some gas masks, among the earliest models, let's say,
06:43used against this new weapon.
06:45Yes, one important thing to point out is that these gases didn't just attack the respiratory system.
06:51You rightly mentioned master gas a moment ago.
06:54Master gas was also a gas capable of causing huge ulcers on the flesh.
07:01So, it was no longer enough to just have a gas mask,
07:04but you also needed clothing capable of repelling chemical agents.
07:19Barbaric methods, drastic countermeasures.
07:22The Italian Royal Army issued a directive specifically against the use of these weapons.
07:29So, any enemy soldier found in possession of these spiked clubs
07:34or other similar weapons would have been immediately executed.
07:39No Geneva Convention.
07:42No respect in this case for the laws of war.
07:45Because when faced with brutality,
07:47you can only respond with more brutality.
08:00The Great War also means information.
08:03Information for the soldiers.
08:05Here we see examples of newspapers aimed specifically at the troops.
08:09La Trodotta, for example, was a very popular newspaper,
08:13even though we should remember that at the time,
08:16illiteracy among the troops was very widespread.
08:19If we consider the fact that the first major reform of Italian education,
08:23the Zanardelli reform, had taken place less than 20 years earlier,
08:28it quickly becomes clear how difficult it was to spread the written word
08:32within the ranks of the Italian Royal Army.
08:35Things were a bit better in the Imperial and Royal Austro-Hungarian Army
08:40because there, in the Kingdom and Empire of Austria-Hungary,
08:45compulsory schooling was already guaranteed and free
08:48up to the third year of middle school,
08:51until the age of 14.
08:52These issues are first and foremost social,
08:56even before being military.
08:58They will reverberate over time with the subsequent school reforms
09:02that will begin with the Gentile reform after the Great War
09:05and will continue in the post-World War II period.
09:13Another section of the Museo della Battaglia di Vittorio Veneto.
09:18This is the famous armory.
09:20Stefano, it's an impressive collection.
09:23Yes.
09:24This is the so-called Marson Armory,
09:27the original core of the collection,
09:29put together by our founder, Luigi Marson.
09:34The weapons you see on display are actually just a small part
09:37because we have over a thousand of them.
09:40Weapons that also belong to the Second World War,
09:43contemporary weapons that have arrived as a result of donations.
09:46In this room, you will find on display
09:49only those directly connected to the First World War.
09:53We use this particular area of the museum
09:56to help our visitors understand,
09:58to clarify the concept we mentioned earlier,
10:01that of industrial war.
10:03If you think of a 19th century weapon,
10:06the classic muzzle-loading pistol,
10:09you know, the one you see in movies,
10:11to produce an object like that,
10:14a craft-based setup was enough,
10:17along with a good network of craftsmen.
10:21Instead, to produce the objects that are kept in this room,
10:24you need an industrial system.
10:27Meaning an assembly line?
10:29Exactly.
10:30One that is capable of producing millions of these objects,
10:33and then you need a logistics chain
10:35that can transport them all the way to the front.
10:39That's why it's called industrial war,
10:41a clash of industrial power between nations.
10:44So let's say three chains.
10:46The supply chain,
10:47meaning the chain for sourcing raw materials,
10:50the assembly line,
10:52and the distribution chain.
10:54The point they made earlier at the beginning
10:56about the importance of supplies.
10:58Why were Austria, Hungary, and Germany defeated?
11:01Then you all know that they weren't defeated on the battlefield.
11:05They were strangled by the economic blockade of the Entente,
11:09which in fact prevented these two empires
11:12from receiving the raw materials, for example,
11:14that were needed to fuel their industry.
11:16So you understand the importance of controlling raw materials,
11:19and above all, of economic and industrial development.
11:24It all starts from here.
11:26Every war is fought also,
11:28and above all,
11:30not so much in the trenches or on the battlefields,
11:33but even before that,
11:34inside the production offices,
11:36inside the ministries,
11:38and inside the strategic offices
11:40to decide how to develop the armaments,
11:43and that is, how to distribute them.
11:46Especially in the big industrial centers,
11:48absolutely yes.
11:49For example, I saw...
11:51Six.
11:52There, there he is.
11:53Number six.
11:54This would be the sweet one.
11:56The German steel aerial bomb,
11:59the 50 kilogram one,
12:02170 centimeters high.
12:04On the other hand,
12:05let's remember that the Great War
12:06is also the war that established air power,
12:09that air arm which first appeared
12:11on the battlefield during the Libyan war.
12:13a few years earlier,
12:15in 1911.
12:17It was we Italians
12:18who first experimented
12:20with the use of airplanes,
12:21which had existed for such a short time,
12:24on the battlefield.
12:26But during the Great War,
12:27we see the first fighter missions,
12:29but above all,
12:30bombing missions,
12:31with the specifications of the aircraft
12:33that little by little,
12:35little by little,
12:36begin to specialize.
12:37But they will become even more specialized
12:39with the Second World War.
12:48Another wing of the museum
12:49is dedicated to the Austro-Hungarian occupation.
12:53After the defeat at Caporetto
12:55in the autumn of 1917,
12:57the Royal Italian Army
12:59is forced to retreat,
13:00leaving behind many heavy weapons
13:02and withdrawing behind the Piava Line.
13:05And what happens
13:06in the occupied territories?
13:07Some residents are displaced.
13:09Others stay
13:10and endure the occupation.
13:12An occupation that aims,
13:14first of all,
13:14to draw on local manpower,
13:16local raw materials,
13:18on whatever is needed.
13:20It manages to secure supplies
13:22to support the war effort,
13:24to support the fighting troops.
13:26But a very interesting thing
13:28is the multilingual factor.
13:31Because if the Italian troops,
13:33even though it was still difficult
13:34to impose the Italian language,
13:36which, after all,
13:37is a rather new language,
13:39still had a strong dialectal element.
13:41Within the troops
13:42of the Imperial Royal Austro-Hungarian Army,
13:47multiculturalism
13:47and multilingualism
13:49were everyday life.
13:51Here we see, for example,
13:53a collection of wartime periodicals
13:55in various languages.
13:58Bohemian, Polish,
14:00Stokavian, Romanian,
14:03Hungarian,
14:04and, of course, German.
14:06This shows how important it was
14:09to maintain proper information
14:11within the Imperial Royal Army.
14:15Respecting the multiculturalism
14:17that was part of the very heart
14:19of the Empire,
14:20something that for many centuries
14:22had distinguished the impact
14:24of the Imperial Royal Government
14:27on the governed territories
14:29and also, essentially,
14:31the daily life
14:31of all the subjects.
14:42Domenica del Corriere
14:43and Domenica della Gazzetta
14:45are practically identical
14:47with the same graphic layout,
14:48but the latter
14:50is used for propaganda purposes.
14:52Supplement of the Gazzetta del Veneto.
14:54So, here it is.
14:55Because, instead of the Gazzettino,
14:57what happens?
14:58The Gazzettino disappears
14:59and the Gazzetta del Veneto arrives,
15:02which is printed in Udine
15:03and, of course,
15:05is used to spread propaganda.
15:08Using, among other things,
15:09the font used for the leaflets,
15:11but not all of them.
15:12For example,
15:13I see the typeface
15:15used for the Hungarians.
15:16It's an attempt to,
15:19let's say,
15:19psychological warfare.
15:21An attempt to win favor.
15:23And here we see,
15:24for example,
15:25the front pages
15:25of the Domenica della Gazzetta,
15:28which imitated
15:29the very famous
15:30La Domenica del Corriere
15:32with the illustrations
15:33by Achille Beltrame.
15:35And they are,
15:36as you can see,
15:37all images
15:38that glorify
15:39the war efforts
15:40of the Austro-Germans.
15:42It's a way
15:43to influence public opinion
15:44and win it over
15:46to the occupier's side.
15:47We were only in
15:501917-18,
15:52more than a century ago.
15:53Talk about
15:54psychological warfare.
15:55People can't read,
15:56so the empire
15:57is seen as an octopus
15:59spreading its tentacles
16:00over all of Europe.
16:02Or, alternatively,
16:03as a snake
16:04to be strangled.
16:05Even if you can't read,
16:07you instantly
16:07understand the message.
16:09Exactly.
16:29The Battle of Vittorio Veneto
16:32basically ends the war,
16:33the Great War,
16:34on the Southern Front,
16:35the Italian Front.
16:36A front that,
16:38for a long time,
16:38had become stagnant
16:39after the Battle of the Solstice,
16:41the great defensive success
16:43of the Royal Italian Army,
16:44and that now experiences
16:46this final act,
16:47also driven by politics,
16:49by the need to win a victory
16:51on the Southern flank,
16:52so on the Italian Front,
16:54while the French,
16:55together with their
16:56new American allies,
16:58were pressing
16:58from the other side.
16:59A victory demanded
17:01by Italian politics,
17:02but also an intervention
17:04requested by the French,
17:05by Marshal Foch.
17:07The French and British forces,
17:10their political leadership,
17:14the political leadership
17:15of both countries
17:16were pushing
17:17for an offensive
17:18on the Italian Front,
17:20which, on the other hand,
17:21let's say,
17:22the military leadership
17:23of our country
17:24did not want to do
17:24because of a whole series
17:26of fears.
17:26So much so
17:27that General Diaz,
17:29who had taken command
17:30of the Royal Italian Army
17:31after Cadorna's removal,
17:33was even threatened
17:34with replacement
17:35at a certain point.
17:36General Giardino.
17:37If he doesn't take action.
17:39In the end, then,
17:41we decide to attack
17:42and launch
17:43this long-awaited offensive
17:45that will mark
17:47the end of the conflict
17:48on the Italian Front,
17:51then triggering
17:52a whole series of mechanisms
17:54that will lead
17:54to the end of the war.
17:56Because by now,
17:57there was a real risk
17:58that the German forces
18:00deployed on the French Front
18:01could be attacked
18:02from the rear
18:03by the Italian forces.
18:04And not only that,
18:06within the battle
18:07of the Torrio Veneto,
18:09the actual disintegration
18:10of Austria-Hungary
18:11takes place,
18:12with the Hungarian troops
18:14being among the first
18:15to leave the battlefield
18:16and head back home,
18:18refusing to fight,
18:19because by now
18:20the Austro-Hungarian model
18:22had entered
18:22an irreversible crisis.
18:24And from that moment on,
18:26it would be nothing
18:27but a continuous disintegration,
18:29with the government
18:30in Vienna
18:31trying in vain
18:32to save at least part
18:33of what was possible.
18:35For example,
18:36by creating
18:36the short-lived state
18:38of the Slovenes,
18:39Croats,
18:40and Bosniaks,
18:41which would later
18:42become Yugoslavia,
18:44and trying somehow
18:45to obtain
18:45more favorable conditions.
18:47But in the end,
18:49it would come
18:50to the armistice
18:51of Villa Giusti.
18:52The interesting thing
18:53to point out,
18:54in my opinion,
18:54is that the real collapse
18:56begins with the rear lines,
18:58that is,
18:58the old veterans.
18:59Those who were on the front
19:01actually wanted
19:02to keep fighting
19:03against the Italians.
19:04It's in the rear lines
19:06that the collapse begins.
19:07Rear lines
19:08that are reached,
19:09for example,
19:10by newspapers,
19:11bringing news
19:12of what's happening
19:12back home.
19:13That's where
19:14the real collapse
19:15of the Austro-Hungarian army
19:16begins.
19:17Riots in Vienna,
19:18riots in Prague,
19:20riots in Budapest,
19:21but also the news
19:22that will come
19:23from Germany,
19:23where the Imperial Navy
19:25has mutinied
19:25and demanded
19:27the abdication
19:27of the Kaiser
19:28and the birth
19:29of the Republic.
19:30The Great War
19:31ends like this,
19:32with an allied victory
19:33on the battlefields,
19:34but even more so
19:36with an economic
19:36and social collapse
19:38of the central powers.
19:39But it will only
19:40be the beginning.
19:41It will only lay
19:42the foundations,
19:43sow the seeds
19:44in the ground
19:44for what will happen
19:46in the following years.
19:47The Great Depression,
19:48the difficulties
19:49and the crisis
19:50of democracies,
19:51the era
19:52of totalitarian regimes,
19:54and finally,
19:54the tragedy
19:55of the Second World War.
19:56But that is another story.
20:37Welcome, friends.
20:38Inside history.
20:39No, wait.
20:40No, damn.
20:41I said it too.
20:42Crap.
20:42Loopers at full throttle.
20:44No.
20:44Some moo.
20:45No.
20:47No, don't start filming
20:48because we're backwards.
20:50Okay, can you hear me?
20:52Ah, ah, ah.
20:52Test, test.
20:53One, two, three.
20:54Give me the go-ahead.
20:56Great War.
20:57No.
20:58Let's go.
20:59Follow me.
21:00We're going to a new section.
21:06Fatal?
21:07Fatal?
21:08Fatal?
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