was injured at Zanzur in 1912. First World War On the outbreak of World War I, Diaz was assigned to the high command as head of the unit's operations, under General Luigi Cadorna. Promoted to two-star general in June 1916, he assumed the command of the 49th division and then the 23rd army corps. The Battle of Caporetto, in October 1917, was disastrous to the army, and on 8 November 1917, Diaz was called to succeed the harsh and incompetent Cadorna as chief of general staff by 9 November. Having recovered what remained of the army, he organised the resistance in 1917 on the Monte Grappa massif and along the Piave River, which successfully halted the Austro-Hungarian offensive in the First Battle of Monte Grappa. In the summer of 1918, he oversaw the victory in the Battle of the Piave River, and later that year, he led the 1.4 million Italian troops in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto, which ended the war on the Italian front. With his famous Bollettino della Vittoria (Victory Address), he communicated the rout of the Austro-Hungarian army and the victory of the Italians in the war. Postwar On 1 November 1921, Diaz was in Kansas City to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Liberty Memorial, which was being constructed there. Also present that day were Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral David Beatty of Great Britain, Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, and General John J. Pershing of the United States. One of the main speakers was US Vice President Calvin Coolidge. In 1935, bas-reliefs of Jacques, Foch, Diaz, and Pershing by sculptor Walker Hancock were added to the memorial. Also, during his visit to the United States in 1921, General Diaz toured New Orleans where he planted a ceremonial, live oak tree in Audubon Park and was honored by the city during that visit which named a street after him. General Diaz St. is located in Lakeview, New Orleans. After the war, Diaz was appointed as a senator. In 1921, he was ennobled by King Victor Emmanuel III and given the victory title of 1st Duca della Vittoria ("Duke of the Victory"). Benito Mussolini named him Minister of War, and upon retirement in 1924, he was given the honour of Marshal of Italy (Maresciallo d'Italia). He died in Rome in 1928 and was buried in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei