Vrtojba

The Ninth Battle of the Isonzo was an Italian offensive against Austria-Hungary in the course World War I. Including a triumvirate of battles launched after the Italians' successful seizure of Gorizia in August 1916 to extend their bridgehead to the left of the town, it ended in further failure for the Italian Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna. The battle started with an attack on Vrtojba and the northern and central areas of the Karst Plateau. With the ninth battle fought from 1–4 November 1916 the combined casualty total from the three linked battles proved sufficiently heavy to ensure that each attack was of short duration (each less than a week). The Italians suffered 75,000 casualties and the Austro-Hungarians 63,000. As always along the Soča (Isonzo), the Austro-Hungarian Army's command of the mountainous terrain provided a formidable natural barrier to the Italians' attempts to achieve a breakthrough. Cadorna had intended to ensure such a breakthrough in the wake of the capture of Gorizia during the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, but instead the war of attrition gathered pace. Neither side could particularly afford the casualties suffered but the Austro-Hungarians in particular were finding their defensive lines increasingly stretched. Realising this they continued to call upon their German ally to provide military assistance within the sector. When the Germans finally assented (sensing the potential collapse of the Austro-Hungarian position) and constructed a combined force in time for the Twelfth Battle of Isonzo, the results were dramatic. However, with the ninth battle called off in failure on 4 November 1916 and the Italians undeniably weakened by continual offensive operations throughout the year - 1916 had seen five Isonzo operations on top of four undertaken the year before - a lengthy break was taken for the winter. Operations renewed afresh with the Tenth Battle of the Isonzo on 12 May 1917.

The Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba (pronounced [ʃɛmˈpeːtəɾ ʋəɾˈtoːjba] or [ʃəmˈpeːtəɾ ʋəɾˈtoːjba]; Slovene: Občina Šempeter - Vrtojba; Italian: Comune di San Pietro-Vertoiba) is a municipality in Slovenia. The municipality comprises the town and municipal seat of Šempeter pri Gorici and the adjacent village of Vrtojba.

Bilje (pronounced [ˈbiːljɛ]; Italian: Biglia) is a settlement east of Miren in the Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica in the Littoral region of Slovenia. The hill known as Miren Castle (Slovene: Mirenski grad) rises above the settlement to the south. The parish church in the settlement is dedicated to Saint Anthony the Hermit and belongs to the Diocese of Capodistria.Bilje is the birthplace of sculptor Negovan Nemec and philosopher Dean Komel.

Šempeter pri Gorici (pronounced [ʃɛmˈpeːtəɾ pɾi ɡɔˈɾiːtsi] or [ʃəmˈpeːtəɾ pɾi ɡɔˈɾiːtsi]; Italian: San Pietro di Gorizia. Also Localy known as simply just Šempeter) is a town and the administrative centre of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of Gorizia. Through most of its history, it was linked to the town of Gorizia (Slovene: Gorica), which is now in Italy, whence also its name, literally meaning 'St. Peter near Gorizia'. Since 1947, it has been gravitating towards the newly established town of Nova Gorica, with which it forms a continuous conurbation.

Gorizia (Italian pronunciation: [ɡoˈrittsja] ; Slovene: Gorica [ɡɔˈɾìːtsa], colloquially stara Gorica 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; Standard Friulian: Gurize, Southeastern Friulian: Guriza; Bisiacco: Gorisia; German: Görz [ɡœʁts] ; is a town and comune (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Regional decentralization entity of Gorizia and is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin town of Nova Gorica has developed on the other side of the modern-day Italy–Slovenia border. The region was subject to territorial dispute between Italy and Yugoslavia after World War II: after the new boundaries were established in 1947 and the old town was left to Italy, Nova Gorica was built on the Yugoslav side. The two towns constitute a conurbation, which also includes the Slovenian municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba. Since May 2011, these three towns have been joined in a common trans-border metropolitan zone, administered by a joint administration board.The name of the town comes from the Slovene word gorica 'little hill', which is a common toponym in Slovene-inhabited areas.

The Sixth Battle of the Isonzo, better known as the Battle of Gorizia, was the most successful Italian offensive along the Soča (Isonzo) River during World War I.

The Eighth Battle of the Isonzo was fought October 10–12, 1916 between Italy and Austria-Hungary.

The Seventh Battle of the Isonzo was fought from September 14–17, 1916 between the armies of the Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary. It followed the Italian successes during the Trentino Offensive and the Sixth Battle of the Isonzo in the spring of 1916.

Miren (pronounced [ˈmiːɾən]; Italian: Merna) is an urbanized settlement in the Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica in the Littoral region of Slovenia right next to the border with Italy. The hill known as Miren Castle (Slovene: Mirenski grad) rises above the settlement to the south.

Vrtoče (pronounced [ˈʋəɾtɔtʃɛ]) is a dispersed settlement south of Bilje in the Municipality of Miren-Kostanjevica in the Littoral region of Slovenia.

The province of Gorizia (Italian: provincia di Gorizia; Slovene: Goriška pokrajina; Friulian: provincie di Gurize) was a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. Initially disbanded on 30 September 2017, it was reestablished in 2019 as the regional decentralization entity of Gorizia (Italian: ente di decentramento regionale di Gorizia; Slovene: enota deželne decentralizacije Gorica; Friulian: ent di decentrament regjonâl di Gurize), and was reactivated on 1 July 2020.

The University of Nova Gorica, UNG (Slovene: Univerza v Novi Gorici), is the fourth university in Slovenia. It is located in the towns of Nova Gorica, Vipava, and Ajdovščina.