Gallipoli,

• Gallipoli, 1915
• Reasons for Invading Turkey
• Reason 1: Stalemate on the Western Front
• • Trench warfare had led to stalemate in France and Belgium and the Germans were proving impossible to break through
• • Between December 1914 and March 1915 there were around 90,000 casualties attacking the Champagne region with no success
• • The Ottoman Empire was seen as the weak link in the German alliance as their Empire had been declining since the late 19th century
• Reason: Some British military tacticians began to argue that more imaginative strategy was needed the Ottoman Turks were an easy target
• Reason two: Russian Weaknesses
• • The German army had delivered a crushing blow to Russia at the Battle of Tannenberg at the start of the war and had been driving eastwards
• • On 2nd January 1915, the British government received an urgent appeal from Russia, asking for British attack on Turkey to divert the Turks from the Balkans where Russian forces were in danger of being overrun
• Reason: Russia was in danger of collapsing and the British needed to help relieve the pressure and keep the two front war going
• Reason 3: Defence of the British Empire
• • Egypt was a key territory within the British Empire due to the Suez Canal which was a vital trade route to India and Asia
• • The Suez Canal was also crucial to keeping control of the Mediterranean Sea
• • British strategists had for many years before believed that the best defence of Egypt was an attack on Turkey
• Reason: The British Empire was of vital importance to British military strategy
• Gallipoli, 1915-crisis for British
• First Phase: Amphibious landing
• • The British and ANZAC troops made an amphibious assault on the 25th April and landed their troops on the beaches at Gallipoli
• • Landing under enemy fire was especially deadly- at ‘W’ Beach soldiers of the Lancashire Regiment were able to overwhelm the Ottoman defences but it was for the loss of 600 casualties from 1,000 men
• • The troops were trapped on the exposed beaches during the landing and the Turkish troops were well dug in and heavily fortified on the higher ground
• Crisis developing: The British had expected to easily capture the beaches and the surrounding area but were held up by strong Turkish resistance
• Second Phase: Trench Warfare
• • Most allied troops did not advance more than a few hundred from the shore where they were pinned down and they dug trenches for protection
• • The ground was hard was hard and difficult to dig trenches in. The soldiers had to be entirely suppled by the sea.
• • Allied troops lacked fresh water in the terrible heat and thousands died from dysentery and disease spread
• • A new amphibious landing was launched on Suvia Bay in August but it failed and stalemate continued
• Crisis developing: The stalemate of trench warfare in terrible conditions led to the British deciding to withdraw in January 1916
• Reasons why Gallipoli failed
• Reasons 1: British Strategy and Planning
• • Nothing like it had really been attempted since the landing at Aboukir in 1801 during the Napoleonic Wars
• • The amphibious landing was extremely costly-at W Beach 600 of 1000 Lancashire soldiers were killed during the landing
• • There were no accurate maps of the territory for commanders on the ground
• • The British navy could no keep the men on the beaches adequately supplied
• Reason: British military commanders did not put together a successful strategy to ensure a successful landing
• Reason 2: Climate and Terrain
• • The beaches were exposed and overlooked by cliffs which the Turkish troops occupied
• • The ground was difficult to dig trenches in
• • The steep terrain meant all supplies had to be carried by donkey or hand to the troops on the frontline
• • Allied troops lacked fresh water with the terrible heat