the great war of 1914 to 1918 is full of
memorable campaigns and battles but even
amongst the most famous engagements the
campaign in the Gallipoli Peninsula
shines through due to its
unconventionality it is widely accepted
that both sides showed exemplary bravery
and the Gallipoli campaign remains in
history as a symbol of gallant warfare
and respect between two worlds what were
the reasons for this campaign and what
happens during it let's find out
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Generals to learn more by the time of
the start of the Great War the Ottoman
Empire was considered the sick man of
Europe on the decline for more than two
centuries therefore the Ottomans were
not part of the core of either the
auntaunt nor the Central Powers both
sides courted the Turks but a number of
factors including increasing investment
by
in Turkey historical animosity with the
Russians and the confiscation of -
almost ready military ships ordered by
the ottoman empire from britain
persuaded the ottomans to join the
central powers symbolically ottoman
participation in world war 1 began on
the 27th of october 1914 when a number
of russian black sea ports were raided
by two formerly German warships Gobind
Breslau which were given to the ottomans
and attacked under the ottoman flag
the participation of the Ottoman Empire
had a significant effect on World War
one the Ottomans forced Russia to divert
some of its forces from its western
borders fighting Germany and
austria-hungary to the Caucasus front
while Britain and France had to allocate
troops to fight the Ottomans in the
Middle East
furthermore the Ottoman Empire was
blockading supply routes from Britain
and France to Russia since it controls
the Dardanelles and Bosporus hope for a
quick victory was lost by late 1914 the
Western Front was in a stalemate and the
on taunt was looking to gain an
advantage elsewhere On January 2nd 1915
the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia
requested that Britain help them against
the Ottomans who confronted the Russians
in the Caucasus Britain and France
started planning a campaign against
Turkey with an aim to take control of
the Dardanelles gained a direct supply
route to Russia and devastate the
Ottomans the first step was to gain a
foothold in the Gallipoli Peninsula
Britain's war minister Lord Kitchener
appointed General Sir Ian Hamilton to
command the Mediterranean Expeditionary
Forces troops from the Australian
Imperial force and New Zealand
Expeditionary Force the so called Anzac
Corps and the French orient
expeditionary Corps were also part of
the Filippelli campaign among the 15
allied divisions in total the Allies did
not expect strong opposition from the
Ottoman army as its military reputation
was particularly tarnished after the
recent defeats to Italy and the Balkan
states the First Lord of the Admiralty
Winston Churchill was the initiator of
the Gallipoli campaign and he believed
that 50,000 men would be enough to
defeat the Ottomans Lord Kitchener
concluded that 70,000 troops would be
necessary for a victory ethically
the leaders of the Greek army advised
the British Army about the necessity to
have 150,000 men for a victory
this was arrogantly ignored by the
British Hamilton's plan was to land in
the south of the Gallipoli Peninsula at
Cape Helles and settled Mejia moved to
the north defeats the Turks and clear
their batteries on the shores of the
peninsula and allow the Navy to move
through the Straits towards Istanbul the
Ottomans defended the Straits with the
5th army which at the beginning of the
campaign consisted of 5 divisions in all
16 divisions took part in the Caliph
early campaign on the Ottoman side the
5th army was commanded by German General
Damon von Sanders another prominent
military commander in charge of the
Ottoman defense was lieutenant colonel
Mustafa Kemal a future founding father
of the Turkish Republic the Turkish and
German commanders agreed that holding
the high ground on the ridges of the
peninsula was the best way to stop the
Allies they were unsure about the
possible Shores for the landing
therefore the Ottoman forces were
divided into three the 19th division
under Mustafa Kemal and the ninth
division were placed at Cape Helles two
divisions were at Buda here in the north
of the peninsula protecting
communication lines the rest were
stationed in land as a reserve a major
part of the campaign was the naval
attack planned by the Allies since the
Ottoman Navy was considered very weak
the Allies decided to send their older
warships to Gallipoli and keep the
modern warships for a possible naval
confrontation with the Germans in the
North Sea on the 18th of March 1915 the
Allied fleet consisting of 18
battleships numerous cruisers destroyers
and submarines attacked the Dardanelles
straits
the Ottomans were planning to defend
using shore batteries and sea mines in
theory the allied mine sweepers were
supposed to clean the Straits from mines
under supporting fire from the rest of
the Navy but the Allies were so over
confident that they ignored this
conventional tactic some of their
warships were as close to the shore as
one mile this made them easy target for
the Ottoman shore batteries
British battleships HMS irresistible and
HMS ocean were lost and HMS inflexible
was badly damaged the French lost the
battleship Bouvet with 600 of its crew
these losses forced Admiralty robic to
fall back and regroup this defeat was
devastating for the Allies and a huge
boost to be morale of the Ottomans on
the morning of the 25th of April the
Allies landed in two different parts of
the peninsula the Australians and New
Zealanders landed at what has become
known as the Anzac Cove further north
than they expected due to navigational
errors the goal of this landing was to
advance inland and secure higher ground
on Surrey by year and to cut off the
Ottoman troops in Killah spur here the
ottomans did not expect a landing there
therefore only two companies were
defending this beach while this force
was not enough to stop the Anzacs
unfavorable rocky terrain and ottoman
forces on the high ground inflicted
significant damage anzac forces lost
2,000 men on the day of the landing and
were not able to achieve any notable
progress they were ordered to dig in
close to the shore the second group
landed at helis Cove 29th division
landed on five different beaches named
sv w x & y @y beach the first battle of
krithia took place and the allies made
significant progress but were not able
to exploit the advantages of their
position due to a lack of or
the Ottoman 25th regiment prevented them
from advancing any further at W Beach
the Lancashire has lost 60% of their
forces due to the Ottomans resisting
their landing the common theme of the
landings on the 25th of April was that
the Allies failed to exploit their
advantages and continue advancing due to
lack of orders instead they decided to
dig in on the shores which proved to be
counterproductive on the 27th of April
the Ottoman 19th division and part of
the 5th division counter-attacks the
alliance at Anzac Cove could whoever
promised mundi support of naval gunfire
on the following day the Allies tried to
take the village of krithia but the
ottomans were able to stop the 29th
division halfway from Helles to krithia
after inflicting 3,000 casualties the
arrival of the Ottoman reinforcements to
Gallipoli proved that the on taunt
failed to act swiftly and the
confrontation was going to turn into a
war of attrition on the 30th of April
Mustafa Kemal attacks at Hellas and
Anzac Cove and managed to break through
the French sector but had to stop under
massive amounts of machine-gun fire the
Anzacs counter attacked on the next day
but were repulsed by the ottomans after
a little progress the ottomans were
dependent on artillery fire from high
ground on the peninsula to repulse the
allied attacks it was of utmost
importance for the Allies to take
control of these high grounds for the
success of the Gallipoli campaign on the
6th of May twenty thousand allied men
were sent to capture krithia and the
strategic high ground at ashy baba the
Allies advanced after heavy artillery
preparation and
days a fierce battle in shoes but they
fail to capture high enduring the
targets on the 19th of May 42,000
Ottoman troops aims to take the 17,000
anzacs by surprise and drive them into
the sea
birch the surprise failed since on the
previous day the Ottoman preparations
were seen by a British aircraft the
fighting went on until early June when
after thirteen thousand casualties
the Ottomans decreased the intensity of
the attack and the lines consolidated
the final major engagement started on
the 4th of June when the Allies attacked
krithia and as she baba again with b-29
division royal naval division 42nd
division and two French divisions this
attack was stopped as well and led to
another period of trench warfare
Hamilton's request for an additional
95,000 troops to secure success at
Gallipoli was rejected since another
offensive on the Western Front was
planned
Bulgaria's entry into the war on the
side of the Central Powers made the
situation for the Allies even more
precarious the decision to evacuate
troops was made first in September three
divisions were moved from Gallipoli to
Salonika despite gloomy predictions the
Allies were able to safely evacuate the
majority of their troops by the end of
the year both sides lost 56,000 people
in this short but bloody campaign
the auntaunt failed due to a lack of
coordination difficult terrain
insufficient planning the spread of
diseases overconfidence and spirited
resistance by the Ottomans as a result
of this campaign the confidence of the
Ottomans greatly increased and they
managed a victory in kurtal Amara
in 1916 against the British the attempt
by the auntaunt to support Russia and
lighten their military burden failed
which can be considered as one of the
reasons behind the eventual revolution
and the defeat of Russia Britain and
France continued prioritizing the
Western Front
despite bloody and indecisive trench
warfare
Churchill resigned from the government
and volunteered for active service as a
left tenant Colonel on the Western Front
the disaster in Gallipoli was also one
of the factors behind the fall of the
askwith cabinet the war continued for
three more years we are planning to
continue our series on modern warfare so
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