Ambrosio

Abstract

If the purpose of the civilian authorities in Slovenia was to “Italianize” the new province, the duties of the Eleventh Army Corps formed part of the wider responsibilities of the Second Army, to which it was attached. These responsibilities were excellently summed up by Giacomo Zanussi: “To give a certain margin of security to the territories that had become part of the Kingdom…; to guarantee the free movement of train and road communications, and, at the same time, to ensure the gas supply so necessary for the country (the so-called ‘petroleum railways’ Fiume-Ogulin-Karlovac-Zagreb and Zagreb-Ljubljana- Trieste).”¹ Soldiers found themselves involved in an exhausting struggle for control of the territory, the lines of communication, and, in particular, the railway lines, which were extremely difficult to protect from acts of sabotage. For these duties Slovenia was divided, roughly speaking, into three zones, with the Isonzo division guarding the eastern section, the Granatieri di Sardegna controlling the western area and the capital, and the Frontier Guard had the responsibility of patrolling the area of Logatec, on the old Slovenian-Italian border.