. Battlefields of the World War, western and southern fronts; a study in military geography . zone isat one extremity. Imagine Cali-fornia to be about half its presentwidth, surrounded by water onboth sides, and threatened at thenorthern end by an enemy able toconcentrate quickly from manydirections (Fig. 125). Such isItalys situation. Over 55 percent of her man power comes fromsouth of the constriction near thelatitude of Bologna and mustjourney to and through that con-striction on four main railway lines, of which three must traversethe Apennine mountain barrier and two can be destroyed from
. Battlefields of the World War, western and southern fronts; a study in military geography . zone isat one extremity. Imagine Cali-fornia to be about half its presentwidth, surrounded by water onboth sides, and threatened at thenorthern end by an enemy able toconcentrate quickly from manydirections (Fig. 125). Such isItalys situation. Over 55 percent of her man power comes fromsouth of the constriction near thelatitude of Bologna and mustjourney to and through that con-striction on four main railway lines, of which three must traversethe Apennine mountain barrier and two can be destroyed fromthe sea. Italys geographic form thus makes her peculiarly de-pendent upon the natural defensive qualities of her northernfrontier, which a fraction of her man power must be able todefend successfully against greatly superior numbers until thewhole can be mobilized. The labyrinth of ridges and peaks form-ing the Battlefield of the Trentino is admirably suited to performthis function. When we add the fact that Italys vital indus-trial regions are in the north, centering about Milan, and de-. Fig. 125—Comparison of Italyand California, same scale andorientation, to illustrate the diffi-culty of mobilization to meet anattack along the northern frontier,owing to the long, narrow form of theItalian peninsula. Italy has, however,the advantage of more railways. STRATEGIC POSITION 499 pend for their protection on the defense of the Alpine bar-rier, the strategic significance of this northern battlefield canreadily be appreciated. Relation of the Trentino and Isonzo Battlefields The full importance of the Battlefield of the Trentino doesnot become apparent, however, until we consider it in relation
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectworldwar19141918
