The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli or the Battle of Çanakkale (Turkish: Çanakkale Savaşı),[7][8][9][10][11][12] took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire (now Gelibolu in modern day Turkey) between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul (then still referred to as 'Constantinople' by Western nations) and secure a sea route to Russia.[13] The attempt failed, with heavy casualties on both sides. The campaign was considered one of the greatest victories of the Turks and was reflected on as a major failure by the Allies. The Gallipoli campaign resonated profoundly among all nations involved. In Turkey, the battle is perceived as a defining moment in the history of the Turkish people—a final surge in the defence of the motherland as the aging Ottoman Empire was crumbling. The struggle laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the Republic of Turkey eight years later under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, himself a commander at Gallipoli. The campaign was the first major battle undertaken by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in both of these countries.[14][15] [16] Anzac Day, 25 April, remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand, surpassing Armistice Day/Remembrance Day. The Allies were keen to open an effective supply route to Russia: efforts on the Eastern Front relieved pressure on the Western Front. Germany and Austria-Hungary blocked Russia's land trade routes to Europe, while no easy sea route existed. The White Sea in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk in the Far East were distant from the Eastern Front and often icebound. The Baltic Sea was blocked by the German Kaiserliche Marine. The Black Sea's only entrance was through the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, which were controlled by the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in October 1914, Russia could no longer be supplied from the Mediterranean Sea. By late 1914 to early 1915 the Western Front in France and Belgium had effectively become a stalemate. A new front was desperately needed.[citation needed] Also, the Allies hoped that an attack on the Ottomans would draw Bulgaria and Greece into the war on the Allied side. A first proposal to attack the Ottoman Empire had been made by the French Minister of Justice Aristide Briand in November 1914, but it was not supported. The British attempt to bribe the Ottoman Empire to join the Allied side was also not successful; their offer of £4 million was trumped by Germany's £5 million.[17] Later in November 1914, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill put forward his first plans for a naval attack on the Dardanelles, based at least in part on what turned out to be erroneous reports regarding Ottoman troop strength. He reasoned that the Royal Navy had a large number of obsolete battleships which could not be used against the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, but which might well be made useful in another theatre. Initially, the attack was to be made by the Royal Navy alone, with only token forces from the army being required for routine occupation tasks. First Sea Lord John Fisher opposed the campaign and instead preferred a direct naval landing on the north coast of Germany, but Churchill won the argument.[18] The Ottoman victory over the Allies at Gallipoli renewed Turkey's visions for the empire.[citation needed] In Mesopotamia the Turks surrounded a British expedition at Kut Al Amara, forcing their surrender in 1916. Ottoman reserves from southern Ottoman Syria were poised for deployment into the Sinai with the aim of capturing the Suez Canal, and driving the British from Egypt. However, the defeat at the Battle of Romani and lack of materials to complete the military railway necessary for such an operation marked the end of that ambition,[37] and for the remainder of the war the British were on the offensive in the Middle East. After the evacuation, Allied troops reformed and regrouped in Egypt. The Anzacs underwent a major reorganisation; the infantry battalions were increased and transferred to the Western Front, the light horse were reunited with their horses and formed into mounted divisions for operations in the Sinai and Palestine. At the Battle of Beersheba they would finally achieve the decisive break-through victory that had eluded the Allies at Gallipoli.

• published: 11 Jul 2012
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