During World War I, the 1st Army bore the responsibility of a long front from Stelvio Pass on the Swiss-Austrian Italian tri-border to the Asiago plateau.

[2] The 1st Army during the conflict participated in conquests, various setbacks and reconquests (primarily the so-called White War) until the final battle of Vittorio Veneto.

[6] The 1st Army, however, was to carry out limited offensives to ensure the security of the Italian border, and occupy any enemy territory, wherever this was possible and convenient.

[9] However, starting from August, after the failure of new attacks against the Austro-Hungarian permanent fortifications (on the Vézzena Plateau) that guarded the head of the Val d'Astico (east of the previous successes), General Cadorna directed the 1st Army Command back to the defensive mode.

These were to be the preparations for the so-called Strafexpedition, planned by the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Royal Austro-Hungarian Army, Field Marshal Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf.

In disagreement with Cadorna, Brusati deployed the defense at the end of the advanced positions[12] counting on the solidity of the strengthening work carried out until then.

In the second half of April General Cadorna visited the lines of the 1st Army and on that occasion he even refused to meet Brusati because, according to some, he already had plans to dismiss him.

On 8 May[13] Brusati was relieved from command by Cadorna[14] and replaced by General Guglielmo Pecori Giraldi, eight days before the Austro-Hungarian counter-offensive began.

In November 1916 the 1st Army with Cardorna's consent, had planned "Action K" (Code Name) a small counteroffensive targeting Monte Ortigara using General Mambretti's Truppe Altipiani as well as the XVIII Corps.

The 1st Army did, however, defend the Asiago Plateau during the Battle of Caporetto which helped the retreating Italian troops to set up a strong defensive line at the Piave River in November.

[19] However, the White War continued in 1917 for the 1st Army through a series of small actions (between June and October) in the high isolated valleys of the Trentino mountains.

Cornone (Altopiano di Asiago), Tre Monti and the Val Lagarina subsector (Conca dei Laghi and Castello Mori), and the Vallarsa (Mt.

The march of the 32nd Division in Vallagarina began in the early afternoon; a unit of Arditi, under the command of Major Gastone Gambara, and three Alpine battalions advanced into the valley and occupied Rovereto.

In the Adige valley the disintegration and collapse of the Austro-Hungarians became catastrophic; materials and vehicles were abandoned, the trains heading north were stormed by the soldiers, as panic and lack of discipline spread.

On the afternoon of 3 November, the troops of the 1st Army reached Trento: the 1st units to enter the city were the cavalry regiment "Alessandria", the XXIVth Arditi, the Alpini of the IVth group; the infantry of the Pistoia brigade arrived later.

By 1942, after the defeat of Panzer Army Africa (Panzerarmee Afrika) at the Second Battle of El Alamein and after the Operation Torch landings, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was forced to make one of the longest retreats in history.

He withdrew from the "Western Desert" of Egypt and Libya and established a defence on the French-built Mareth Line in southern Tunisia.