Following the Italian-French victory over the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Sardinia annexed the Papal Legations in present-day Emilia Romagna.

At the outbreak of the third Italian war of independence the command covered the right flank of the main army and remained static along the river Po.

Cialdini bypassed the Austrian fortresses and main army on his left flank and marched his army all through the Veneto, dispatching one division under Giacomo Medici to invade Trentino and cut the Austrian line of retreat and three divisions under Raffaele Cadorna to march at speed to the city of Trieste.

After the Kingdom of Sardinia extended its borders northward following the war by annexing the territory of Veneto the 4th Higher Military Command was disbanded in spring of 1867.

In spring 1915, the corps under general Mario Nicolis di Robilant was moved towards the Austrian border and saw its first combat during the battle for Monte Nero (today Krn) in the Julian Alps.

In the twelfth battle of the Isonzo the corps was covering the northern flank of the Italian 2nd Army between Mount Rombon and Dolje.

The Italian defences were quickly overcome and the rapid advance cut the IV Corps' line of retreat.

Specifically in the case of war with Hitler's Third Reich the corps was tasked with manning the Alpine Wall in South Tyrol and delaying the advancing enemy for as long as possible.

Although Germany and Italy signed the Pact of Steel in 1939 the construction of the fortifications along the Alpine Wall continued unabated.

The Italian Army only performed limited patrols and remained in its positions until after France had asked for an armistice on 20 June 1940.

The next day the Italian divisions crossed the border in force, but stiff French resistance stopped them along the entire front after a few kilometres.

Within three days the Alpini found themselves flanked on both sides by Soviet armoured and mechanized units and 200 km away from the new Axis lines.

About 40,000 men formed two columns that followed the Tridentina division which, supported by a handful of German armoured vehicles, led the way westwards to the new Axis front.

On 26 January 1943 the corps' remnants finally broke free from the Soviet encirclement at the Battle of Nikolayevka and reached Axis lines on 1 February 1943.

[1] In fifteen days the soldiers covered 200 km on foot, fought twenty-two battles and spent fourteen nights camped in the middle of the Russian steppe.

The "Vicenza" hat counted 10,466 men at the beginning of the Soviet offensive, 7,760 of which were killed or missing after the division's remnants reached Axis lines.

[1] The remnants of the divisions were repatriated and, along with the IV Corps, which was at this point on garrison duty in Durrës, disbanded in September 1943 after Germany invaded Italy following the Italian-Allied armistice.

However, in 1949 the Friuli moved to Florence and the IV Army Corps only consisted of the 6th Alpini Regiment and a few support units.

In the more likely case, the Soviet and Hungarian divisions would invade Austria, march through Southern Styria, and through the Drava valley in Carinthia, the Alpini brigades would have been the first front line units of the Italian Army: To aid in the defence of the narrow mountain valleys the 4th Army Corps re-activated the fortifications of the Alpine Wall.

The Rovigo was armed with M115 howitzers and the 27th group with M110 howitzers, the nuclear shells for the 9th were stored in Longarone at "Site Pluto" and "Site River" and the nuclear shells for the Marche were stored in Reana del Rojale at the Italian Army ammunition depot "San Bernardo".

With the introduction of the second version of the MGM-52 Lance tactical surface-to-surface missile system in the 1980s the three Heavy Artillery Battalions lost their nuclear role.

Furthermore in 1995 the Savoia Cavalleria left Meran and moved to Grosseto in Tuscany where it joined the Motorized Brigade "Friuli".

The Alpine Commands main duty was the organization, preparation and conduction of Italy's contribution to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.