CONFERENCE ON MILITARY TRANSPORT ON THE ISONZO FRONT IN THE PARK OF MILITARY HISTORY PIVKA

A conference entitled “Fighting Behind the Trenches” which took place in the Park of Military History on 20 April 2022 saw experts discuss and analyse military transport on the Isonzo Front from multiple angles. This event represented an addition and complementation to its namesake permanent exhibition which opened in the Park at the start of April and offers visitors an insight into military transport of the Austro-Hungarian Army on the Isonzo Front from setting up new transport systems on roads, cableways and railways to the logistics of transporting military units and enormous amounts of weapons, ammunition and other material.

This expert discussion organised as part of the project “WALKofPEACE – The Sustainable Development of First World War Heritage Between the Alps and the Adriatic” hosted esteemed museum professionals, historians, archaeologists and professors. As experts of the discussed subject matter, they presented to the expert public the lesser known aspects of this vast chapter of military history. The opening speech was made by the Park's director M.Sc. Janko Boštjančič who expressed his delight over the invitation extended by the Walk of Peace Foundation to collaborate on the project which allowed the Park to give an often overlooked subject of military transport on the Isonzo Front its time in the spotlight.

The expert part of the conference was opened by Mihael Uršič from the Walk of Peace Foundation with his presentation of the foundation’s mission in the field of preserving First World War heritage. The string of lectures was continued by the curator of the Kobarid Museum M.Sc. Jaka Fili with a presentation of transport in the Upper Soča Valley during the First World War and M.Sc. Ivan Gardelin who gave an overview of the Austro-Hungarian military transport network for the supply of the Isonzo Front. In his piece, Dr. Gregor Antoličič, a fellow at the Milko Kos Historical Institute of ZRC SAZU (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and lecturer at the Department of History of the Faculty of Arts in Maribor, presented the context of setting up the Command of the Southwestern Front and some of the logistical challenges in the First World War, while professor Vinko Avsenak presented the Predil Tunnel (“Štoln”) as an innovative solution of the Austro-Hungarian Army to supply the battlefield in the Upper Soča Valley. Dr. Uroš Košir, lecturer at the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, then presented military transport on the Isonzo Front from a different perspective in his lecture on Vršič as the rear of the Isonzo Front. In the final part of the event, the Park’s director M.Sc. Janko Boštjančič placed military transport in the context of the local environment and presented the role of Št. Peter na Krasu (present-day Pivka) during the First World War, which became an important logistical centre due to its significant strategic position in the rear of the front. The discussion was thematically concluded by M.Sc. Grega Žorž, a fellow at the Cultural Heritage Directorate of the Ministry of Culture, with a lecture on the use of surface laser scanning data, historical maps and online search engines of the Cultural Heritage Register for the purpose of researching the Isonzo Front. Participants continued the lively debate at the casual gathering after the conclusion of the formal part of the event.