ABSTRACT
Italian general and chief of staff. Born in Pallanza on 4 September 1850, Cadorna was the son of Raffaele Cadorna, commander of the expedition that occupied the Vatican territories in September of 1870. Cadorna entered the army in 1866 and attained the rank of major general in 1898 and was promoted to divisional general in 1905. He took command of Genoa's army corps in 1910, but, having been passed over for command of Italian forces in Libya in 1911, he was ready to retire when he was named chief of the general staff of the Italian army on 20 July 1914.
