Gallipoli Campaign Research Paper
What was the point of the Gallipoli campaign? Why did Gallipoli enter the ‘popular consciousness’ of Australians so readily?
By the time Australia found itself at war with the Central Powers, only fourteen years had passed since its colonies had united in federation. Australia was a new nation, trying to find its feet, and its place in the world. As they had in 1899 against the Boers of South Africa, Australians were quick to jump to the defence of Britain, declaring war on the fifth of August, 1914.
In Gallipoli, Australia would suffer 28,000 casualties, including over 8,700 fatalities in a campaign that, in the end would have very little impact on the outcome of the war. From this fiasco, came reports, letters, sketches and poems from …show more content…
The first was attempt to use the Royal navy, and the French navy to seize control of three key waterways between the Mediterranean and Black Sea, known as the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus Straits, that, at the time were under the control of Turkey. Controlling these strategic areas would give the British and French fleets the ability to bomb the Turkish capital, Constantinople into submission hopefully forcing the Turks to sue for peace. It would also mean that the Allies could safely supply their Russian allies, while relieving the Russian forces fighting in the Caucasus, and leaving them free to be moved to the western front which was considered the main theatre of war. The British and French concern was that if Russia was knocked out of the war, the Allies would have to fight the combined forces of the Central Forces all on the one front. Although the Russian army, numbering close to six million men at the outbreak of hostilities was the largest army in the world, they were inadequately equipped, and the roads and railways made deployment of these soldiers problematic. The German army had already delivered a disastrous blow to the Russians at Tannenberg at the start of the war and had been pushing eastwards. The Russians were also threatened by a Turkish advance in the south through the
By the time Australia found itself at war with the Central Powers, only fourteen years had passed since its colonies had united in federation. Australia was a new nation, trying to find its feet, and its place in the world. As they had in 1899 against the Boers of South Africa, Australians were quick to jump to the defence of Britain, declaring war on the fifth of August, 1914.
In Gallipoli, Australia would suffer 28,000 casualties, including over 8,700 fatalities in a campaign that, in the end would have very little impact on the outcome of the war. From this fiasco, came reports, letters, sketches and poems from …show more content…
The first was attempt to use the Royal navy, and the French navy to seize control of three key waterways between the Mediterranean and Black Sea, known as the Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus Straits, that, at the time were under the control of Turkey. Controlling these strategic areas would give the British and French fleets the ability to bomb the Turkish capital, Constantinople into submission hopefully forcing the Turks to sue for peace. It would also mean that the Allies could safely supply their Russian allies, while relieving the Russian forces fighting in the Caucasus, and leaving them free to be moved to the western front which was considered the main theatre of war. The British and French concern was that if Russia was knocked out of the war, the Allies would have to fight the combined forces of the Central Forces all on the one front. Although the Russian army, numbering close to six million men at the outbreak of hostilities was the largest army in the world, they were inadequately equipped, and the roads and railways made deployment of these soldiers problematic. The German army had already delivered a disastrous blow to the Russians at Tannenberg at the start of the war and had been pushing eastwards. The Russians were also threatened by a Turkish advance in the south through the