The Dardanelles Campaign was a conflict that was fought over a narrow 60-mile-long strip of water that divided Europe from Asia. This passage overseas held great importance and strategic significance during WWI and the other World Wars, as it was the route to Constantinople. What attempts were made to take this passage? What was the reasoning behind the campaigns? And how did it result in 250,000 Turkish, 205,000 British, and 47,000 French casualties?
Dardanelles Campaign Summary
For centuries the Dardanelles has been recognised as a strategic advantage. For this reason, it has also been closely controlled. The Dardanelles Campaign stemmed from this normality.
Fig. 1 - 1915 War map of the Dardanelles and Bosporus
- Before conflict arose, the Dardanelles, heavily fortified by Turkey, were closed to warships but open to merchantmen ships.
- During the first few weeks of WWI, before Turkey declared hostilities, they closed the Straits to all shipping. Cutting the Allied supply line to Russian Black Sea ports.
- The Gallipoli campaign aimed to re-establish this line of trade and communication for munitions into the Black Sea.
The Germany-Ottoman Alliance
August 2, 1914, the Germany-Ottoman Alliance was formed to strengthen the Ottoman military and give Germany safe and efficient passage to British colonies nearby. This was partly caused by the closing of the Dardanelles.
Dardanelles Campaign Timeline
The timeline below outlines the key dates across the Dardanelles Campaign.
| Date | Event |
| October 1914 | The closing of the Dardanelles and the entrance of the Ottoman Empire into WWI as a German ally. |
| 2 August 1914 | A Treaty between Germany and Turkey was signed on 2 August 1914. |
| Late 1914 | Fighting on the Western Front had come to a stop, and Allied leaders suggested opening up new fronts. |
| February-March 1915 | Six British and four French ships started their naval attack on the Dardanelles. |
| 18 March | The fighting resulted in a heavy setback for the Allies because of a large number of casualties among Turkish mines. |
| 25 April | The military landed on the Gallipoli peninsula. |
| 6 August | A new assault was started, and the Allies launched it as an offensive in an attempt to break the deadlock. |
| Mid-January 1916 | The attack on the Dardanelles was ended, and all allied troops were evacuated. |
| October 1918 | An Armistice was signed. |
| 1923 | The Treaty of Lausanne. |
The Treaty of Lausanne.
This treaty meant that the Dardanelles were closed to military operations, it was open to the civilian population and any military traffic that wished to pass through would be supervised.
Dardanelles Campaign WW1
In the Wider War, the Dardanelles have always been considered with large importance in terms of strategy. The Dardanelles and its geographical advantage are the link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, providing the only way to access Constantinople across seas. During WWI, Turkey recognised the Dardanelles as an asset to protect and fortified it with shore batteries and minefields.
Fig. 2- Lancashire landing Location: Gallipoli Peninsula
- The Allies were competing with the Central Powers for support in the Balkans
- The British hoped that a victory against Turkey would convince the states of Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania to join the Allied side in WWI
- British Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, thought that the approach of this large and powerful Allied fleet against the centre of the Ottoman Empire could potentially provoke a coup d’état in Constantinople
- This coup d’état in Constantinople would potentially lead to Turkey abandoning the Central Powers and returning to the neutrality it used to be
Dardanelles Campaign Churchill
The First Lord of the Admiralty at the time, Winston Churchill, backed the Dardanelles Campaign. Churchill believed that by removing the Ottomans from the War, Britain would be undermining Germany. He theorised that if the Dardanelles Campaign was successful, the following would occur:
- Britain's Middle Eastern oil interests would be secure
- It would secure the Suez Canal
- Bulgaria and Greece, both Balkan states that were undecided on their standpoint during this time, would be more inclined to join the Allied side
But there was one issue, the Dardanelles Campaign was created and put into action on the false belief that the Ottomans would be easy to defeat!
The most spectacular catastrophe of World War I is known today by one word: Gallipoli. Yet this campaign in 1915 to knock the Ottoman Empire from the war is often described as a good idea gone bad.
- Ted Pethick 1
Fig. 3- Winston Churchill 1915
Did you know?
Winston Churchill went on to become Conservative Prime Minister twice! Serving from 1940 to 1945, and from 1951 to 1955.
The Dardanelles Campaigns
The consequences of the Dardanelles Campaign are summarised by E. Michael Golda as a...
Failure of British diplomacy [that] resulted in a treaty between Germany and Turkey, signed on 2 August 1914, that gave the Germans de facto control of the Dardanelles, the long and narrow passage between the Aegean and the Sea of Marmara (which is connected in turn to the Black Sea by the Bosporus). 2
Dardanelles Naval Campaign
There was a strong possibility of an attack from the Allied naval forces, and the Turks knew this. As a precaution, they enlisted German help and enhanced the defence sectors throughout their region.
As expected, the Franco-British fleet attacked the forts located towards the entrance of the Dardanelles in February 1915. These forts were evacuated by the Turks just a few days later. A month had passed before the naval attack continued, and the Franco-British force pushed forwards, attacking the key fortifications just 15 miles from the Dardanelles entrance. To Turkey's advantage, the monthly interval in-between military conflict in the Dardanelles had allowed Von Sanders to strengthen these locations.
Von Sanders
German general in charge of defensive operations.
Fig. 4 - Von Sanders 1910
During the attack at the narrows, Turkey's defence sent floating mines among the current of the Black Sea. This was a successful tactic as when it hit the Bouvet, a French ship, it sunk. It was the defeat and damage done to their naval battleships that led to the Allied fleet admitting defeat and retreating from the campaign.
Did you know?
Three Allied battleships, Britain’s Irresistible and Ocean, and France’s Bouvet were sunk during this campaign, and two more were damaged!
As a strong believer in the possible success of this campaign, Churchill had argued for the attack on the Dardanelles to be revisited the next day, claiming that this would benefit them as he believed the Turks were running low on munitions. The Allied war command chose not to do this and delayed the naval attack on the Dardanelles. They would then go on to combine the naval attack on the Dardanelles with a ground invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Gallipoli Dardanelles Campaign
The Gallipoli Dardanelles Campaign was a continuation of the attack in April 1915, this campaign began with two Allied troops' landings on the Gallipoli peninsula. The Gallipoli peninsula was valued as it was the point of defence for the Dardanelles entrance, and as we have already established, a very strategic waterway.
Gallipoli peninsula
The Gallipoli peninsula forms the north shore of the Dardanelles.
The Allied forces aimed to capture Constantinople, the Ottoman Capital, to remove the Ottoman Empire from WWI. The capture of the Dardanelles straits and the naval transport it provided would give the Allied nation communications with Russia across the seas. This would mean that they had more geographical freedom in ways to attack the Central Powers. The allied landing forces made no progress in their aims to unite and push against Turkish forts, and after multiple weeks passed, and many reinforcements were enlisted, a deadlock arose.
August offensive and Chunuk Bair
The Allies started a major offensive to try to break the deadlock in August 1915. The aim was to land British forces at Suvla Bay, and also capture the Sari Bair Range and have access to the land that overlooked the Anzac sector. Chunuk Bair was captured by forces under Major-General Sir Alexander Godley’s New Zealand and Australian Division.
- The British made no progress inland from Suvla
- An Ottoman counterattack forced the troop out of Chunuk Bair
The Allied forces were finally evacuated from Gallipoli from December 1915—January 1916, and German-Turkish control continued over the Dardanelles until the end of WWI.
Fig. 5- Gallipoli Location: Gallipoli Peninsula
Dardanelles Campaign Failure
The Allied landing on Gallipoli was met with a fierce Turkish defence, inspired by Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish leader. And the warships were unsuccessful in forcing a way through the straits known as the Dardanelles, both resulting in many casualties:
- 205,000 casualties for the British Empire
- 47,000 casualties for the French Empire
- 250,000 Turkish casualties
Not only did this campaign's failure lead to many losses, but its failure impacted the Allied war command's reputation, damaging it. Winston Churchill was demoted and resigned from his position before transferring to command forces on the Western Front.
Important Fact!
The only success that the Allied forces had from the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns was to get the Ottoman Empire's ground forces to distance themselves from the Russians.
The Ottomans
Founded towards the end of the 13th century, the Ottoman Empire's success was centralised around its geography. Its control over an important chunk of the world's naval communications and trade led to its notable wealth and improved military, all factors that contributed to its victory during the Dardanelles campaign. The Ottoman Empire and its victory over the allied forces was a proud and notable achievement for the Ottomans. But this victory cost the Ottoman Empire 87,000 men. In Turkey, the campaign marked the beginning of a national revival.
National revival
A period in which there is a national awakening, promoting self-consciousness and political movements inspired by national liberation.
Mustafa Kemal became known as the Ottoman Hero of Gallipoli, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Kemal was also made the founding President of the Turkish Republic. Gallipoli also helped foster a developing sense of national identity in New Zealand.
The Turkish Republic
Once known as the Ottoman Empire. With Mustafa Kemal as its first president, the Turkish Republic was proclaimed on 29 October 1923. It is now a transcontinental country in Western Asia. Turkey would now be run by a form of republic government.
Republic Government
In a state without monarchy, instead, the power is adopted by the people and its representatives which they chose.
Importance of Dardanelles Campaign
Historian Fabien Jeannier suggests that "the Gallipoli Campaign was a relatively minor event during the First World War", which "had very little impact on the outcome of the war" bar the many casualties that it saw. 3 But today, the campaigns are recognised and remembered as important events.
- There are 33 Commonwealth war cemeteries on the Gallipoli peninsula
- Two memorials recording the names of the British and Commonwealth soldiers who died can be located on the Gallipoli peninsula.
- Anzac Day was established from the pride in the Ottoman victory, they use this day to remember their country’s first significant engagement in WWI.
- The battlefields are now part of the Gallipoli Peninsula Historical National Park.
Dardanelles Campaign - Key takeaways
- The Dardanelles Campaign was the campaign by the Allied fleet, which aimed to take the Dardanelles in 1915.
- The Dardanelles campaign was important because of the strategic route that the Dardanelles provided, the possibility of Greece, Romania and Bulgaria joining the Allied forces in WWI if it was a success and its influence on the national revival in Turkey.
- The campaign failed because the British and French battleships that were sent to attack, failed to break through the Dardanelles.
- Winston Churchill is often blamed for the failure of the Gallipoli campaign, as he was First Lord of the Admiralty, and involved in the Campaign.
- The Dardanelles campaign resulted in vast casualties: around 205,000 British Empire losses, 47,000 French casualties and 250,000 Turkish casualties.
References
- Ted Pethick (2001) THE DARDANELLES OPERATION: CHURCHILL'S DISGRACE OR THE BEST IDEA OF WORLD WAR I?
- E. Michael Golda as, ( 1998 ). The Dardanelles Campaign: A Historical Analogy for Littoral Mine Warfare. Pg 87.
- Fabien Jeannier, (2016). The 1915 Gallipoli Campaign: the significance of a disastrous military campaign in the forging of two nations. 4.2 The Significance of the Campaign.
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