In 1915 the chief of staff of the Italian Army, General Luigi Cadorna, had failed to break through the Austro-Hungarian lines during the Isonzo Offensive. By the summer of 1916 Cadorna was ready to try again and launched an attack at Gorizia, 15km inland from the Adriatic coast. The town was eventually captured in August 1916, giving Cadorna his only major success of the First World War.