World History
Battle of Gallipoli
- 18 Feb 2020
- 3 min read
Why in News
India has objected to Turkey President’s comparison of the Kashmir situation to the Battle of Çanakkale/Gallipoli of World War I (1914–18). He has compared the struggle of Kashmiris with that of Turkey during World War I.
- Earlier in September, 2019 Turkey had raised the Kashmir issue in the United Nations General Assembly.
Key Points
- Gallipoli Campaign (1915-16): The Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I.
- The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits (connecting the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea) involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). ANZAC corps was created early in World War I (1914–18).
- Failure: Lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the terrain, along with a fierce Turkish resistance (Ottoman army), hampered the success of the invasion.
- Result: It is considered to be one of the bloodiest battles of World War I leading to the death of tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides.
- Legacy of the Battle : The Battle resulted in the downfall of Winston Churchill and the emergence of the Turkish military hero, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
- The event is today one of the central pillars of the modern Turkish identity.
- The campaign is also seen to have seeded Australian and New Zealand national consciousness.
- The date of the Gallipoli landings i.e April 25, 1915 is observed by Australia and New Zealand as ANZAC Day, the day of national remembrance for the war dead.
World War I
- World War I was fought between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers.
- Allied Powers: The main members were France, Russia, and Britain. The United States joined the Allies after 1917.
- Central Powers: The main members were Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
