Gallipoli Campaign

Gallipoli campaign also called the Battle of Gallipoli, or the Dardanelles campaign existed at the beginning of the World War 1. It was a war campaign in the Ottoman Empire which was in the present Turkey. The campaign happened between April 1914 and January 1916. It had a big impact both on Turkish nationals and the outside nations especially New Zealand and Australia.

The events during the campaign

The Ottoman Empire had entered into war by 1914 and sided with the Central powers; Germany and Austria-Hungary. At that time, Turkey was fighting against the Russian empire. In the early 1915 Russia requested for support from Britain to confront an invasion of Turkey. The allies of Russia that is British and French troops together with the Australian and New Zealand Army corpperformed a naval attack on Ottoman Empire at a place called Dardanelles strait. The attack was followed by an important land invasion on April 25th. Dardanelles was a strait at the northern bank and provided a sea route to the Russian empire. The Russian allies attacked this place in an attempt to secure this sea route. The successful capture of this strait would link these partners directly with the Russians in the Black Sea. Here they would be able to plan on how to get Turkey out of war. The attempt, however, failed terribly due to the resistance by the Turkish. The allies also lacked adequate knowledge of the terrains of the Ottoman Empire.

Why the Campaign gained Fame.

The Gallipoli campaign became very famous for various reasons. One is that it was one of the greatest victories to be achieved by the Ottoman Empire during the time that it was in the war. This victory gave the Ottoman Empire troops motivation to continue fighting for their motherland. The campaign is viewed as a defining moment in the history of this country. Thirdly, the campaign was the final attempt in defending the empire as the empire crumbled shortly later. This war formed the foundation for the Turkish nationals to fight for the independence of their country and eventually the declaration of Turkey as a Republic. It also created a sense of national consciousness in Australian and New Zealand citizens. It is estimated that about 130000 soldiers died in this war.8700 and 2779 soldiers were from Australia and New Zealand respectively. This could be the reason these two countries mark that day of invasion on 25th April every year.