Blackwell Reference Online

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Attempt made between February 1915 and January 1916 by a joint British, Commonwealth, and French amphibious force to open the dardanelles , thus creating supply routes to Russia and forcing Turkey (see turkey and europe ) out of world war i . An initial naval assault, the brainchild of churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty, had to be abandoned when three battleships were lost and others damaged. Local commanders then commenced a land assault to take the Gallipoli peninsula. Turkish forces, under German operational command, had some local success, but could not prevent landings of the British 29 th Division (the only regular unit with the expedition) and French troops. Further north, the Anzac forces (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) were confronted by units led by Mustapha Kemal (see atatürk ). From May to July 1915, a grim and ultimately deadlocked struggle took place, with the Turks defending the heights and the Allies the shore. Cholera and dysentery as well as munitions took a heavy toll. In August, large reinforcements permitted renewed Allied assaults which came close to success, but the Turks held their ground and the campaign was abandoned. A brilliantly executed evacuation of Allied forces took place during December 1915 and January 1916, but overall the operation failed disastrously. It had cost the lives of some 46,000 Allied and 200,000 Turkish military ... log in or subscribe to read full text