When the Ottoman Empire decided to side with the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary) against Britain, France and Russia in October 1914, it closed the straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and thus preventing the passage of supplies to Russia and the eastern front from the Mediterranean. Britain at first tried to buy Ottoman support, but failed, so on 25th April 1915 a joint French and British Imperial force, which included many troops from Australia and New Zealand, landed on the Gallipoli peninsula (now Gelibolu in Turkey) and began an eventually futile and disastrous campaign which would last until 9th January 1916 and cost over 120,000 lives. Although it was an Ottoman victory, in retrospect the losses incurred in the …
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Citation: Clark, Robert. "Battle of Gallipoli". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 March 2013 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=2712, accessed 23 November 2024.]
