Battle of Gallipoli

Battle of Gallipoli. The Gallipoli campaign, also known as the Dardanelles campaign, was a major military operation of the First World War mounted by the Allied Powers against the Ottoman Empire. The campaign aimed to secure a sea route to Russia, capture the Ottoman capital of Constantinople, and ultimately knock the Ottomans out of the war. It resulted in a costly and humiliating defeat for the Allies, becoming one of the war's most significant Ottoman victories and a defining moment in the national consciousness of several nations, particularly Australia and New Zealand.

Background

The strategic conception for the campaign is largely attributed to First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, who advocated for a naval assault to force the Dardanelles strait. This plan was supported by the War Council in London as an alternative to the stalemate on the Western Front. The goal was to open a warm-water supply line to Russia via the Black Sea and to apply pressure on the Central Powers from the south. The Ottoman Empire, having entered the war on the side of the Central Powers following the secret Ottoman–German Alliance, had fortified the straits under the guidance of a German military mission led by Otto Liman von Sanders.

Opposing forces

The Allied invasion force, eventually designated the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, was a multinational coalition commanded by British General Ian Hamilton. It included the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), the British 29th Division, the Royal Naval Division, and corps from France and the British Indian Army. Opposing them was the Ottoman Fifth Army, commanded by Liman von Sanders, which comprised six well-prepared divisions. Key Ottoman commanders included Mustafa Kemal, whose leadership of the 19th Division proved decisive, and Cevat Çobanlı, who commanded the coastal fortifications.

Land campaign

The main amphibious landings began on 25 April 1915 at multiple beaches, including Cape Helles and a cove later known as Anzac Cove. At Helles, troops from the British 29th Division faced fierce resistance at Sedd el Bahr and V Beach. The ANZAC landing at Anzac Cove became immediately bogged down in difficult terrain against determined defenders led by Mustafa Kemal. A subsequent landing at Suvla Bay in August failed to break the deadlock. The campaign devolved into brutal trench warfare, with major battles such as the First Battle of Krithia, the Battle of Sari Bair, and the Battle of Chunuk Bair resulting in massive casualties for minimal territorial gain.

Naval operations

The naval campaign preceded and ran concurrently with the land operations. An Anglo-French fleet, including British battleships HMS ''Irresistible'' and HMS ''Ocean'' and the French battleship ''Bouvet'', attempted to force the Dardanelles in March 1915. This effort failed catastrophically due to undetected naval mines and heavy fire from Ottoman shore batteries like those at Çanakkale. The loss of several capital ships led to the abandonment of a purely naval strategy and necessitated the large-scale land invasion. Throughout the campaign, submarines from the Royal Navy and the French Navy, such as HMS E11, penetrated into the Sea of Marmara with some success against Ottoman shipping.

Aftermath and legacy

The Allied evacuation, completed by 9 January 1916, was the only flawless operation of the campaign. The defeat led to the resignation of Winston Churchill from the government and contributed to the fall of the Asquith ministry. In contrast, the victory solidified Ottoman morale and the reputation of Mustafa Kemal, a key figure in the later Turkish War of Independence. For Australia and New Zealand, the sacrifice at Anzac Cove forged a potent national identity, commemorated annually on Anzac Day. The campaign is also remembered for the humanitarian service of nurses and the pioneering war reporting of correspondents like Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett and Keith Murdoch.

Category:Battles of World War I Category:History of Turkey Category:Military history of Australia Category:1915 in Turkey