Background
The Allies had launched their previous major offensive, on the Gothic Line, in August 1944 with the British 8th Army attacking up the coastal plain of the Adriatic and the U.S. 5th Army attacking through the central Apennine Mountains. Although they managed to breach the formidable Gothic Line defences, they narrowly failed to break out into the Lombardy Plains before the winter weather closed in and made further progress impossible. Their forward formations spent the rest of the winter in highly inhospitable conditions while preparations were made to renew the campaign when better conditions returned in the spring.
Read more about this topic: Spring 1945 Offensive In Italy
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