The Gallipoli Campaign

The Gallipoli Campaign (also known as the Dardanelles Campaign) was an allied invasion of the Ottoman Empire (modern day Turkiye, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and parts of Saudi Arabia) during the First World War. The campaign lasted from 1915-1916 and took place in the Dardanelles Strait and the Gallipoli Peninsula. It had around 300,000 Allied losses and 250,000 Ottoman losses.

Why it happened

The Gallipoli Campaign began on April 25, 1915. It started with British, French, and Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) troops landing on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They invaded to gain control of trade between Russia and Western Europe [via the Black Sea, the Bosporus Straight, and the Mediterranean Sea (at least that was the southern route)].

How it started

On April 25, 1915, British, French, and ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Eastern Thrace. Many of them were immediately cut down by Ottoman fire from a nearby hill. Luckily for the allies, they managed to get two small footholds on the peninsula (they were Helles, which was on the southern tip of Gallipoli, and Gebe Tepe on the Adriatic coast).

The march inland

After securing Helles on the southern tip of the peninsula and Gaba Tepe (later called ANZAC Cove in honor of the Oceanic soldiers), they didn’t make much progress. In order to break the stalemate, the allies attempted a landing at Suvla Bay on August 6. The troops at Anzac Cove also attempted a northward invasion to meet up with the Suvla Bay troops. However, having to maintain three positions delayed the Allies, allowing the Ottomans to strengthen their defences.

The evacuation

After a few months of fighting, the British leaders agreed that they should evacuate the remaining 105,000 allied troops out of Gallipoli. Evacuations began on December 7 (it is just a coincidence that this happened on the same day that the attack on Pearl Harbor began, but 26 years earlier), 1915, for the troops in Suvla Bay, and the last troops left Helles on January 9, 1916.

Results

In the end, the allies counted 300,000 casualties out of the estimated 405,000 troops. The Ottomans had 250,000 casualties, which was barely better than the allied losses. Ultimately, the landings at Gallipoli had little to no effect on the outcome of the war. Unfortunately, the Gallipoli campaign, and the half a million soldiers killed, have been mostly forgotten by history.

Images from the Gallipoli Campaign: Top is Ottoman soldiers and generals, middle-left is Allied ships in the Dardanelles Strait, middle-right is Allied troops landing, bottom-left is Ottoman troops in their trenches, and bottom-right is most likely Ottoman fortifications. Picture is from Wikipedia.

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Article written by Rio. The HISTORY Gallipoli Campaign article, Imperial War Museum Gallipoli article, and UK National Army Museum Gallipoli article were used for research.

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