What was the Gallipoli campaign?

Presentation objectives To understand what was the Gallipoli campaign. To examine the motivation of why the Gallipoli campaign was drawn up. To examine what points of the Gallipoli campaign were unrealistic.

What was the Allied position in the First World War in 1915? By the beginning of 1915, it was clear that no immediate breakthrough would be made on the Western Front. The Russians became under increasing attack from Germany in the east. Britain was worried that Russia would fall which would lead to Germany being able to move more troops from the east to fight on the Western Front. Under the leadership of Winston Churchill, who was First Lord of the Admiralty, the British put forward a plan to help the Russians fight the Germans in the east.

What was the plan of the Dardanelles attack? The Dardenelles is a strait of water and was an important supply route to Russia. Gallipoli is the peninsula at the mouth of the Dandanelles strait.

What was the plan of the Dardanelles attack? The aim of the plan was to knock Turkey, Germany’s ally out of the war and to support Russia.

What was the plan of the Dardanelles attack? Allied troops were to be landed on the Gallipoli peninsula by ship. Allied troops would capture the Turkish forts on the peninsula and then move north-east to capture the Bosporus strait. At the same time, the navy would sail through the Dardanelles and attack through the sea.

What were the advantages of the plan? It could knock Turkey out of the war. If successful, the Allies could attack Austria and Germany from a different front, forcing them to split their armies. Control of the Dardanelles and Bosporus would allow Allied ships to supply Russia safely and keep the Eastern Front going. It could bring the war to an end quickly.

What were the disadvantages of the plan? Lord Fisher, the First Sea Lord, did not want to commit his best ships to the campaign. He wanted his best ships to counter the German threat in the Baltic. Fisher was sceptical of the plan fearing that Allied ships could be an easy target for Turkish guns and German submarines. All of the Gallipoli beaches were in range of the Turkish forts. Lord Kitchener thought that Allied troops would be better used on the Western Front. The Allies intelligence on Turkish defences at Gallipoli was very poor. Gallipoli was a remote area which the Allies would find difficult to reach. The nearest Allies bases were 600 miles away in Egypt.