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At the end of the nineteenth century Italy joined the alliance of Germany and Austria, but left it just before the beginning of the World War I. In May 1915 Italian troops attacked Austria. The Soca Front was of extraordinary proportions even for World War I and is considered to be the biggest mountainous field of battle in the history of mankind. After eleven offensives along the Soca river, the Italians conquered only a small part of Slovene territory. The combined Austro-Hungarian and German army eventually broke through the Italian line and caught the Italian defence by surprise. The Central Powers carried out one of the greatest breakthroughs in the history of WW I and is in fact the first example of a blitzkrieg in history. This tactic was then used 20 years later in the WW II. The Italians declared war with Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1915. They considered the area around the Soca river the easiest way of invading the empire. But the battles on this front turned out to be among the most frightful and claimed heavy losses. Historians believe that more than 300,000 soldiers lost their lives in three years of battle but rumour has it that the real figure was over a million. The battle left behind destroyed homes, countless military graveyards, many bones , but also long military roads, stairways cut in the rocks, barbed wire, helmets and guns. Ervin Rommel, also known as the Desert Fox, was one of the most famous WW II generals. But as a young officer he excelled himself on the Soca Front and later wrote a book on the Kobarid breakthrough. Another book which describes the horrors of fighting along the Soca river, is Farewell to Arms. In the book the then eighteen-year old Ernest Hemingway recalls his memories of the Kobarid battle of 1917 when the front moved west to the river of Piave before the war ended the following year. Each year tourists and residents come across the remains of the battle, such as unexploded bombs and grenades and almost ninety years later the Soca Front sometimes still takes its toll.