The Great War (1959) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Oreste attempted to bribe his way out of conscription, but his scheme failed. Both were eventually conscripted like all Italian youths in 1916. When they met again on the train heading to the front, their initial anger at seeing each other gave way to reluctant sympathy as they realized they shared the same pragmatic goal of surviving the war.

Foreshadowing: The film's opening establishes their shared fear of conscription and sets up their inevitable journey to the front lines.

• oreste jacovacci
• giovanni busacca
• conscription
• dodging army
• italian soldiers

After the devastating defeat at Caporetto in 1917, Oreste and Giovanni were reassigned as relay runners because their commanders considered them the least efficient troops. This was one of the most dangerous roles in the military, requiring soldiers to run messages under fire across exposed terrain, essentially using them as expendable personnel.

Foreshadowing: Their earlier failures and self-preservation tactics during training and combat led to this perilous assignment.

• relay runners
• least efficient
• caporetto
• dangerous military roles
• italian army

After completing a relay mission, they were sleeping in a stable near the front line when a sudden Austrian advance swept them behind enemy lines. In a moment of fear and improvisation, they swapped into the coats of the Austro-Hungarian army, hoping to blend in and slip through the advancing enemy lines undetected.

Foreshadowing: Their instinct for self-preservation leads them to make a desperate, dangerous choice that only deepens their trouble.

• austrian coats
• captured
• enemy territory
• disguise
• espionage accusation

Faced with the firing squad and certain death, Oreste panicked and blurted out that they possessed crucial information about the Italian counterattack on the Piave River, hoping this knowledge would bargain for their lives and mercy from the Austrian officers.

Foreshadowing: This desperate attempt at survival ultimately backfires, as it gives the Austrians a reason to keep them alive for interrogation.

• piave river
• counterattack
• italian offensive
• oreste jacovacci
• interrogation

Despite revealing the information to save themselves, the Austrian officer's arrogance and contemptuous joke belittling Italians ignited fierce pride in both men. This insult hardened their resolve to protect the military secret rather than betray their country, leading them to pretend they knew nothing despite facing the firing squad.

Foreshadowing: Their earlier cowardice transforms into quiet defiance as national dignity overrides their survival instinct.

• silence
• espionage
• execution
• italian pride
• austrian officer
• counterattack secret

The crushing Italian defeat at Caporetto in 1917 was a turning point that irreversibly altered their outlook. The chaotic retreat and devastation around them sharpened their awareness of their own fragility. After Caporetto, they were reassigned as relay runners, marking a shift in their journey from simply trying to avoid danger to actively participating in the war's flow.

Foreshadowing: This catastrophic defeat reshapes their character arc and the dangerous calculus of their survival.

• caporetto
• 1917 defeat
• italian army
• turning point
• world war 1

Throughout the film, the two men move from skeptical pragmatists who only want to survive without drawing danger to themselves, to reluctant heroes who choose collective honor over personal survival. Their bond deepens through shared fear and hardship, culminating in their decision to sacrifice themselves by staying silent about the Piave counterattack, an act that reveals their deeper character.

Foreshadowing: The film gradually shows how the war tests and transforms their moral compass.

• character arc
• evolution
• heroism
• self-preservation
• sacrifice
• italian soldiers

After Oreste is shot and Giovanni survives, the Italian counteroffensive at Piave leads to victory and reconquest of the position. Their captain remains completely unaware of their heroic act of staying silent to protect military intelligence. He comments approvingly about their supposed clever escape, viewing it as simple luck rather than a selfless sacrifice. The film closes with this tragic misperception, highlighting the unnoticed heroism of ordinary soldiers.

Foreshadowing: The captain's misunderstanding is set up early when he dismisses their capabilities as soldiers.

• captain
• unrecognized sacrifice
• heroism
• italian victory
• piave
• bernard blier

During the confrontation with the Austrian officer, Oreste is shot as the culmination of their defiance. Giovanni survives the encounter, though he bears the weight of their shared decision to stay silent. The exact mechanics of who gets shot depends on the chaos of the moment, but Oreste's death represents the ultimate price paid for their choice to protect military secrets.

Foreshadowing: The foreshadowing earlier shows both men prepared to face the consequences of their defiance.

• oreste death
• giovanni survival
• execution
• shot
• sacrifice

The ending balances tragic loss with quiet dignity. Oreste dies for their act of silent resistance, yet their sacrifice saves valuable military intelligence that helps win the battle at Piave. However, this heroism goes completely unrecognized, the captain thinks they simply escaped cleverly. The film closes on this somber note, highlighting the tragedy of silent heroism in war where those who make the ultimate sacrifice are often forgotten.

Foreshadowing: The narrative builds toward this moment of unacknowledged valor throughout the film.

• bittersweet ending
• tragic hero
• sacrifice unrecognized
• italian victory
• war heroism

In the opening scene set in 1916 Rome, Oreste Jacovacci arranges a corrupt deal to avoid serving, attempting to bribe his way out of conscription. He deceives Giovanni Busacca by promising help in exchange for money, though the scheme falls apart. This encounter establishes their fraught but lasting alliance and sets up their parallel journeys toward the front lines.

Foreshadowing: This initial deceit establishes the moral complexity of both characters and their eventual transformation.

• military district
• rome
• bribery
• conscription
• alberto sorrdi
• vittorio gassman