Gallipoli Campaign: A History from Beginning to End

The Gallipoli Campaign is known as one of the worst blunders committed by the Allied forces during the First World War. Despite being first thought up long before the beginning of the war, it was ultimately a hastily arranged campaign that the British hoped would knock the Ottoman Empire—one of the Central Powers—out of the war and slow the German war machine. With Germany finding success on every front, the Allies were desperate for new ideas.

It was Winston Churchill’s enthusiasm that encouraged the British War Council to give the campaign the green light, yet he would later lament the timing. Although it was a bold plan, a myriad of factors conspired to make Gallipoli one of the most futile operations of the war. Nevertheless, the lives lost from battles fought there would go on to echo throughout modern history. Turks, Australians, and New Zealanders, on the battleground and at home, would reconsider their nations’ place within their respective empires in the aftermath. In this way, the slaughter at Gallipoli would lead to the creation of new national identities.