cadorna was born in verbania in 1889, the son of the first world war field marshal luigi cadorna and grandson of general raffaele cadorna. in 1909 he was named sub-lieutenant, becoming part of the italian troops that fought the italo-turkish war. during the first world war, he was a lieutenant and later promoted to captain. in the early years of the 1920s, he was part of the allied commission for the new border of germany. he was later named military attaché to the italian embassy in prague.