Early automobiles - Zerschossenes Auto

The automobile was first invented and perfected in Germany and France in the late 1890s. Americans quickly came to dominate the automotive industry after WWI. Throughout this initial era, the development of automotive technology was rapid. Hundreds of small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included the electric ignition system, independent suspension, and four-wheel brakes. Transmissions and throttle controls were widely adopted and safety glass also made its debut. Henry Ford perfected mass-production techniques, and Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler emerged as the “Big Three” auto companies by the 1920s. Car manufacturers received enormous orders from the military during World War II, and afterward automobile production in the United States, Europe, and Japan soared.

The Isonzo Front was one of the First World War’s most brutal campaigns: 29 months of trench warfare, and 12 major battles leading to more than 500,000 casualties including 200,000 Austro–Hungarian troops. Italian death toll was awful: 300,000 of half of the entire Italian losses in the First World War were along this 90km stretch. Thousands of Slovenian civilians from the Goriza and Gradisca region died from malnutrition in Italian refugee camps during the campaign. Stretches of fortifications have been restored and a ‘Walk of Peace’ has been created threading through the truly beautiful Slovenian landscape linking sites of unimaginable suffering.