Background to World War 1
There are various reasons for the operation of the Gallipoli Campaign, all which had been building up for a long period from the start of World War 1. When the First World War began in 1914, the countries which were involved formed alliances within each other, of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy establishing the Triple Alliance, and Russia, France and Britain signing the Triple Entente. Turkey joined the war on October 28, 1914 as a part of the Triple Alliance, largely encouraged by Germany. This happened as Germany quickly realised the abundance of oil in Turkey, and how important it actually was in supporting warships and other machinery. Germany also wanted to stop Turkey from being part of the Triple Entente, and believed that gaining support of them could lead to having Romania and Bulgaria as an alliance as well (Walsh, 2013). Although Britain had already attempted to pay Turkey into being part of the allies, Turkey ultimately officially agreed to be part of the Triple Alliance on the 28th October, 1914 as they viewed the Triple Alliance to be strong due to their victories in the early stages of the war, as well as being bribed with 5 million pounds (Harlow, 1997). |
Reasons for the Gallipoli Campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign, which was to launch attack on Turkey's peninsula, was planned out by Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty in the British Government at the time. After Turkey had entered the War alongside the Triple Alliance, they strongly held and blocked all access to the shores and ports which connected the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea, a route which allowed the allies, France and Britain, to access Russia (Gallipoli Campaign - 1915, 2013). The Triple Entente was facing a number of difficulties in that their major ally Russia, was now surrounded by enemy forces on its every front. The emperor of Russia was desperately asking Britain and France for supplies of food and military enforcement since they were being attacked from every direction, but a large part of the war cabinet simply saw Russia as a distraction from the German forces attacking France. However, Winston Churchill quickly saw the state which Russia was in, and realised that its fall would not only result in the loss of a significant ally, but that the whole German force would turn their military power to the Western Front, which the allies would not be able to handle. In order to prevent Russia's fall, which included delivering reinforcements, the allies either had to travel through the Dardanelles Waterway, which was blocked by Turkey, or through the North Sea, which was too close to Germany and frozen, or the Far East, which was extremely distant. Churchill decided to propose to the war cabinet on what he believed was the most reasonable option, which was to burst through and attack the Dardanelles-a narrow sea passage connecting the Mediterranean and Black Sea (Gallipoli was not Churchill's great folly, 2011). He thought that gaining control of the 67 km of Dardanelles Waterway would not only help them transport supplies to Russia, but slow down Germany and Austria-Hungary forces on the Western Front, as they would also try to capture the whole of Turkey in the process. His proposal divided up the military, but after 7 weeks of debate and planning in the war cabinet, the first naval attacks were carried out (The Gallipoli Campaign, 2012). |
Start of the Gallipoli Campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign lasted for 8 months, two weeks and one day. It officially began on 16th February, 1915 and ended on 9th January 1916. The Campaign started out when the allies launched a naval attack towards the Turkish on the 18th March, 1915 with 18 battleships, in the hope of capturing the Dardanelles Strait. During the unsuccessful process of the naval attack, which occurred due to Winston Churchill's underestimation of the Turkish force, one French Battleship which had 600 soldiers on board was capsized. This ineffective naval operation encouraged the allied forces to assemble a land force and re-attack the Gallipoli Peninsula (Gallipoli Campaign, 2013). Australian and New Zealand forces in World War 1 were first decided to be sent to Mena Camp in Egypt, to receive training until they were ready for the proper camps in England or France. From then on, they became known as the ANZACs, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. Despite the plan of being sent to France or Britain, the ANZACs were told to be sent to the Gallipoli Peninsula, shortly after the allied Warships were defeated by the Turkish force. On 1st April, 1915, the ANZAC corps in Egypt had received orders to move to the front line of the War, and on the 25th April, 1915, they had landed on the beaches of Gallipoli."Sunday 25th April. A lovely calm spring morning. We left Port Mudros, Lemnos, at 6.10 am [for] Gaba Tepe, Peninsula of Gallipoli with other Transports, having been preceded by Advance Landing Scouts [of the] Australian Division" (Anzac diary: William Malone, 2012). |
Countries and people involved in the Campaign
The Gallipoli Campaign was a battle of conquering and defending land for both the Turkish and the allies. The allied powers which were part of the British Empire, were Australia, New Zealand, India, United Kingdom and French West Africa, which was a colony of France at the time. These countries fought to capture the shores of Gallipoli because they were colonies of Britain and France, and automatically became involved in the war. During the 1910's, Australia and New Zealand were heavily influenced by Britain, and many of its people believed that it was their duty to support their mother country. Joseph Cook, Australia's Prime Minister at the time, had stated on 5th August 1914 "...when the Empire is at war, so also is Australia" (Military history of Australia during World War I, 2013). When Andrew Fisher became Australia's Prime Minister in September 1914, he also showed Australia's support for Britain, by saying "Should the worst happen, Australia would rally to the Mother Country ... to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling."(Military history of Australia during World War I, 2013). Turkey did not retreat and fought back against the allied forces since they hand the powers to defend their land, as they were being supported by Austria-Hungary and Germany. Entering the Campaign, the allied powers made a misjudgment in that they disregarded the military power of Turkey. (Gallipoli Campaign - 1915, 2013) The commanders and leaders of the allies were Winston Churchill, Ian Hamilton and Herbert Kitchener. For the Turkish, Mustafa Kemal acted as their commander, who eventually came to have a large impact on Turkey's victory of the Campaign (Gallipoli Campaign). Mustafa Kemal later became the first president of Turkey, as well as an important founder of what now is the Republic of Turkey. He was also known as Mustafa Kemal ‘Ataturk’, which meant “father of the Turks”. (Walsh, 2013) |
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Turkish Perspectives of Gallipoli Campaign
To many of the Turkish soldiers, the war on Gallipoli was seen as holy and sacred. They believed that they were fighting the battle for the Motherland and heartland, and to a majority of the soldiers, dying for their country was seen as important and honorable. This can be seen in the statement which Mustafa Kemal, Commander of the 19th Division of the peninsula, had made."We are fighting for the sake of Allah, for the sake of God, and for the protection for the heartland, Turkey.” (Walsh, 2013). For the Turkish military, the attack of ANZAC corps on the 25th of April, 1915 was taken as a surprise. The Turkish troops who were defending the peninsula, believed that they would be overrun by the allied forces, and began to retreat. However, Mustafa Kemal stopped them from retreating, and ordered them to continue to fight back, saying “I am not ordering you to attack. I am ordering you to die. During the before we die other forces and commanders will take your place” (Walsh, 2013). Many of Mustafa Kemal's orders changed the course of the battle, and eventually led Turkey to victory. Throughout the Campaign in Gallipoli, the Turkish troops were also well known to be respectful towards the allies trying to invade their land. There were many occasions which the Turkish and allies had arrangements to cease fire and bury the dead, as well as exchange gifts. One of the moments which show the respect which they had for each other, is when a Turkish soldier had brought over a wounded British soldier from the Turkish trench during a moment of cease fire. There is a monument built in Gallipoli in honour of this act of respect, named Monument to Respect Mehmetçik (Walsh, 2013). During the length of the Gallipoli Campaign, the Turkish suffered a death of 85,000 soldiers, compared to the death of 44,000 allied soldiers. At the end of the War, Gallipoli became a large aspect of the national identity of Turkey. The commander Mustafa Kemal also became known as a charismatic leader, and later founded the modern Turkish Republic (Gallipoli - A Turkish Perspective, 2013). |
Australian Perspectives of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign which required the allied forces to land on the Dardanelles Strait of Turkey had almost no chance of success from the beginning. The plan required the allied forces to invade the Peninsula instead of simply landing, and this needed great planning and resources, both which the British or the French did not have. The commanders and leaders of the plan also did not realise that Turkey, the defending country, had all advantages. They had narrow beaches which the allied soldiers could easily be spotted in, sheer cliffs, high ridges and peaks which allowed Turkish soldiers to shoot down. The only way the strategy could have worked was if the Turkish army force were already demolished, or if they had no line of defence. However, the Turkish had an extremely strong line of defence which the British or the French powers did not expect, and the allied forces’ plan to bring down Turkey and its capital, Constantinople, failed greatly. For the small amount of soldiers who had landed safely on the Peninsula, and for those who came in later as reinforcements, life as a soldier fighting in Gallipoli was insufferable. Decent food was scarce, and a soldiers opening a tin of jam found it smothered in blowflies before being able to put it in their mouth. A New Zealand soldier Fred Waite wrote,"Countless hordes of flies settled on everything edible. The soldiers waved them off. The black cloud rose and descended among the filth on the other side of the parapet. Presently they were back again on the food,—and so on, from the jam to the corpse, and back again to the jam, flitted the insect swarm, ensuring that the germs of most things undesirable were conveyed to the soldier's system through his mouth." (Conditions on Gallipoli - the Gallipoli campaign, 2013). The extreme weather conditions of Gallipoli were inadaptable, and it did not help any of the sides in making any progress. Summer in Gallipoli was excruciating with heat, but many of the ANZAC forces were able to make it through as they were used to the equally burning Australian sun. During the winter months, snow blizzards swept through and filled up the trenches, and many of the soldiers were not equipped with proper clothing or items to deal with the coldness. Due to the unhygienic conditions in the trenches, diseases such as dysentery easily flourished among the soldiers. Bill East, a soldier, had stated "I was running all the time. I couldn't enjoy my food. We were down to skin and bone. Dysentry just ate away our intestines." (Conditions on Gallipoli - the Gallipoli campaign, 2013). On top of the horrible food and contagious diseases, the soldiers always had to look out for artillery fire from the Turkish. "I remember moving downhill in the dark. There was a bloke screaming somewhere, screaming terribly. He could have been a New Zealander. He could have been a Turk ... Scared? Sometimes you were too scared to be scared." (Conditions on Gallipoli - the Gallipoli campaign, 2013). Throughout the continuation of the harsh conditions along with the fighting and defending in the front line, many of the ANZACs lost courage and purpose in what they were fighting for. Even the strongest and bravest soldiers fell into artillery fire and diseases such as dysentery. However, many pushed through these circumstances and lack of resources, by constructing home-made bombs in empty jam tins and creating periscope rifles to get sight on the enemies without being seen (The conditions, 2012). |
The Government's Perspective
Throughout the course of the war, the allies were keen to break the German lines and bring down the Triple Alliance. The superior naval force of Britain resulted in the war cabinet planning of several attacks involving warships, including the invading of the Dardanelles Strait. During November 1914, Churchill had suggested an attack on Gallipoli, but his plan was initially rejected as it was thought to be too risky. However, Turkey's entry into the war and the allies' need to deliver supplies to Russia led them to rethink about Winston Churchill's proposal. The Campaign which involved land forces invading the Dardanelles Strait was thought to have a high chance of being unsuccessful, but in the case of its success, it had many benefits. The initial plan was to simply invade the Gallipoli Peninsula and destroy all the defence line which would then allow the allied navy forces to come in. The war cabinet highly underestimated the military force of Turkey, which resulted in the death of 44,000 allied soldiers (The Gallipoli Campaign, 2012). |
How it has affected Australia's national identity
The ANZAC's contribution in World War 1 and the Gallipoli Campaign have played a significant part in the building of Australia's national identity. Australia and New Zealand were very new countries during the time period of World War 1 compared to countries such as Britain or France, and had no particular identity than being part of the British Empire. Many European settlers believed that Australia was not a fully developed nation, and that they were still more part of the British Empire than Australia. However, after participating in WW1, the ANZAC spirit was created and Australia was finally given a separate identity of its own, which are still relevant in our society today. The ANZAC spirit was developed out of the characteristics which have been known to be shown by the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, such as mateship, being enduring, genuine, and humorous. These traits can still be seen today when describing a stereotypical Australian, and have somewhat become to centre of Australian values and society. "By dawn on December 20th ANZAC had faded into a dim blue line lost amid other hills on the horizon as the ships took their human freight to Imbros, Lemnos and Egypt . But ANZAC stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat." (Australian War Memorial, 1946). |
Bibliography
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