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/worldwa
ri/p/gallipoli.htm
• http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/gallip
oli.htm
• http://www.canakkale.gen.tr/eng/
• http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/04_02/
gallipoliL1904_468x289.jpg