Il duca, il generale e Caporetto. Appunti sui rapporti fra Tommaso Gallarati Scotti e Luigi Cadorna

Abstract

During the First World War Duke Tommaso Gallarati Scotti, a fine intellectual and writer from the highest nobility and a future ambassador, was a junior officer in the secretariat of Luigi Cadorna, the Supreme Commander of the Italian Army. They established a close and friendly relationship which lasted until the General’s death, based on common religious and political ideas, the Duke’s admiration for Cadorna and his very valuable support. After the defeat of Caporetto, which caused the General’s dismissal and inaugurated a period in which he was attacked for his conduct of the war, Gallarati Scotti remained loyal to Cadorna and collaborated in many ways to his rehabilitation. Based also on the Duke’s unpublished papers, the article sheds new light on Cadorna’s personality and his relations with prominent military and political personalities