TRENDEAtlas of the Sultans · Wars, battles and treaties
Battle · 1915
The Gallipoli campaign, the Dardanelles campaign, the Defence of Gallipoli or the Battle of Gallipoli was a military campaign in the First World War on the Gallipoli Peninsula (now Gelibolu) from 19 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Allied powers unsuccessfully attempted to make the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, capitulate by taking control of the Turkish straits. They intended to expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Allied warships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. An Ottoman Empire defeat could have led to unfettered Western control of the Suez Canal and the opening of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Allied supplies headed for the Black Sea and warm-water ports in Russia.
| Date | 19 February 1915 – 9 January 1916, (10 months, 3 weeks and 2 days) |
|---|---|
| Location | Gallipoli Peninsula, Sanjak of Gelibolu, Adrianople Vilayet, Ottoman Empire, (modern-day Gelibolu, Çanakkale, Turkey), |
| Result | Ottoman victory |
| Belligerents | Allied Powers: British Empire United Kingdom India Egypt Australia New Zealand Newfoundland France Tunisia West Africa Naval support: Russia | Central Powers: Ottoman Empire Supported by: Germany Austria-Hungary |
|---|---|---|
| Commanders | Ian Hamilton John de Robeck Henri Gouraud (WIA) Maurice Bailloud Émile Guépratte | Enver Pasha Cevat Pasha Mehmed Esad Pasha Mustafa Kemal Pasha (WIA) Liman von Sanders Otto Hersing |
| Strength | 5 divisions (initial) 15 divisions (final) Total: 489,000–550,000 345,000 British (including Irish, Indians and Newfoundlanders) 79,000 French c. 50,000 Australians c. 15,000 New Zealanders Supported by: c. 2,000 civilian labourers Naval Forces Royal Navy 2 Aircraft Carriers 1 Dreadnaught 3 Battlecruisers 24 Battleships 20 Cruisers 25 Destroyers 8 Monitors 8 Submarines 12 Other ships French Navy 7 Battleships 3 Cruisers 5 Submarines Royal Australian Navy 1 Submarine Imperial Russian Navy 1 Cruiser Total Allied Vessels: 120 | 6 divisions (initial) 16 divisions (final) Total: 250,000–315,500 c. 700 Germans Coastal and Naval Artillery Batteries Naval Forces Ottoman Navy 1 Battlecruiser 1 Battleship 1 Light Cruiser 1 Destroyer 1 Torpedo Boat 1 Ironclad 1 Cruiser 1 Coastal Defence Ship 1 Minelayer Imperial German Navy 9 Submarines |
| Casualties | Allies : 252,000–300,000 casualties 43,000–61,398 dead 7 battleships 8 submarines 1 destroyer 2 troop transports 3 aircraft 25 artillery pieces | Ottoman Empire : 255,268–289,160 casualties 56,938–87,000 dead 1 battleship 1 cruiser 1 ironclad 1 coastal defence ship |
Harvey Broadbent described the campaign as "a close-fought affair" and a defeat for the Allies, while Les Carlyon called it a stalemate. Peter Hart wrote that the Ottoman forces "held the Entente back from their real objectives with relative ease" and Philip Haythornthwaite wrote of it as a "disaster for the Allies". The campaign caused "enormous damage to ... [Ottoman] national resources" and at that stage of the war the Allies were in a better position to replace their losses than the Ottomans but the Entente attempt at securing a passage through the Dardanelles failed.
Took place during the reign of Mehmed V (1909–1918). Mehmed V
Open the reign of Mehmed V on the mapText: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), adapted for the atlas.