The 3rd Army ( it, 3ª Armata) was a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

field army of the Royal Italian Army and the only army-level command of the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

during the Cold War.

World War I

At the start of the participation of Italy in World War I (May 1915), the 3rd Army occupied the southern part of the

Isonzo Front The Battles of the Isonzo (known as the Isonzo Front by historians, sl, soška fronta) were a series of 12 battles between the Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies in World War I mostly on the territory of present-day Slovenia, and the remaind ...

. It was commanded by Prince Emanuele Filiberto, Duke of Aosta and consisted of the * VI Corps (Lieutenant General Carlo Ruelle), * VII Corps (Lieutenant General

Vincenzo Garioni Vincenzo Garioni (19 November 1856 – 24 April 1929) was an Italian general. He was the governor of Tripolitania (1913-1914), and later had become the governor of both of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica. After being promoted to colonel in 1900, he c ...

), * XI Corps (Lieutenant General Giorgio Cigliana). The 3rd Army participated in all eleven Battles of the Isonzo (1914-1917). It withdrew in relative good order during the Caporetto disaster of October 1917 and played a leading role in the final victory offensive a year later. This gave it its name "La Armata Invitta" ("The undefeated Army").
There is a museum of the 3rd Army in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

World War II

In June 1940, the 3rd Army was formed and based in Southern Italy, Sicily and Sardinia. It was disbanded on 20 December 1940.
Its commander was General

Carlo Geloso Carlo Geloso ( Palermo, 20 August 1879 – Rome, 23 July 1957), was an Italian general during the Second World War. In 1939, he assumed command of the Italian forces in Albania. In 1940, he served as commander of the 11th Army during the Greco-I ...

Cold War

As a founding member of NATO Italy was obliged to assign in case of war its military forces to NATO's integrated military command. While the

Italian air force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

would have come under Fifth Allied Tactical Air Force (5 ATAF) in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

, the Italian Army would have come under

Allied Land Forces Southern Europe Allied Land Forces Southern Europe (LANDSOUTH) was a military command of NATO's Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) command. Based in Verona in Northern Italy LANDSOUTH was tasked with defending Italy north of the Apennine mountains against a ...

(LANDSOUTH) in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

. However tensions between Italy and

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

over the

Free Territory of Trieste The Free Territory of Trieste was an independent territory in Southern Europe between northern Italy and Yugoslavia, facing the north part of the Adriatic Sea, under direct responsibility of the United Nations Security Council in the aftermath ...

were high and as Yugoslavia was not a

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...

member any conflict between the countries would have likely not involved NATO. Therefore on 1 May 1952 the Italian Army re-activated the 3rd Army in

to be able to circumvent NATO's chain of command in case a war would break out between Italy and

. 3rd Army duplicated the functions of LANDSOUTH with a purely Italian staff. To not violate NATO's integrated military command Italy described 3rd Army in all official documents as "the command designated "3rd Army"". On the same date as the command designated "3rd Army" the army also activated two corps commands: the IV Army Corps in

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

and V Army Corps in

Vittorio Veneto Vittorio Veneto is a city and ''comune'' situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the northeast of Italy, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers, borders with the following municipalities: Alpago ( BL), Bellun ...

, followed by the VI Army Corps in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

in 1956 and the III Army Corps in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 1957. During peacetime the corps' were assigned to the army's General Staff in Rome, while during wartime, depending on who the enemy would have been, the corps would have been assigned either to 3rd Army or LANDSOUTH. However with the easing of tensions between Italy and Yugoslavia, which culminated in the division of the Trieste Free Territory with the

Treaty of Osimo The Treaty of Osimo was signed on 10 November 1975 by Italy and Yugoslavia in Osimo, Italy, to definitively divide the Free Territory of Trieste between the two states: the port city of Trieste with a narrow coastal strip to the north-west (Zone ...

, the army decided to disband the command designated "3rd Army", along with VI Army Corps on 1 April 1972, with all the functions of higher command resting with LANDSOUTH from that date onward.

References

{{Large formations of Italy in World War II Field armies of Italy in World War I Field armies of Italy in World War II