THE BATTLE OF GALLIPOLI

WW1

1915

The Basics

• Britain and Germany are on opposing sides of the war

• Germany is allied with Turkey• Britain is allied with the French, Russia, Italy,

and USA

Why the battle happened

• The Western Front, in France and Belgium, had effectively become blocked.

• A new front was desperately needed (Through the eastern front) for Britain to defeat Germany

• Also, Britain hoped that an attack on the Ottomans (Turkey) would draw Bulgaria and Greece into the war on their side.

• First Lord of the Admiralty (Head of the British Navy) Winston Churchill created a plan…

THE PLAN• Winston Churchill created

a plan for a naval attack on the Dardanelles, which would create a direct waterway entrance into Constantinople, a major city in Turkey.

• The plan was eventually approved by the British

The Dardanelles

At the Battle..• British naval ships began to attack Turkish forts at the Dardanelles

• Britain bombarded the Turkish forts, but lost several battleships to mines forcing them to withdrawal from the sea

• It was then decided by the British that the only way to win the battle was to fight on land

• Amphibious operations were a new and unperfected form of warfare leading to poor communications, troop deployment and supply.

• The Turks placed themselves on the high ground pouring artillery and machine gun fire

down upon the British

• The battleground soon resembled that of the Western Front - both sides peering at each other from fortified trenches, forced to die in futile frontal attacks on well defended positions. The stalemate continued through the fall of 1915 until British forces withdrew at the end of the year.

Significance/Effects

• Approximately 252,000 casualties, or 52% for the British• The Turks suffered about 300,000 casualties, or a rate of

60%. • Gallipoli proved to be the Turks' greatest victory of the

war. • In London, the campaign's failure led to the demotion of

Winston Churchill and contributed to the collapse of Prime Minister H. H.

• The fighting at Gallipoli proved a liberating national experience for Australia and New Zealand, who had not previously fought in a major conflict.

• As a result, the anniversary of the battle, April 25, is celebrated as ANZAC Day and is both nations' most significant day of military remembrance.

Sources

• http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwari/p/gallipoli.htm

• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/gallipoli.htm

• http://www.canakkale.gen.tr/eng/

• http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_02/gallipoliL1904_468x289.jpg