Hero of the Turkish Army: Mustafa Kemal and the Dardanelles Campaign
Overview
The Dardanelles Campaign: 1915-1916
On present-day Turkey’s northwest coast is a narrow strip of water, the Dardanelles strait. It connects the Aegean Sea, through the Bosporus, to the Sea of Marmara, and ultimately, the Black Sea. It has been a coveted shipping and transportation route for centuries, the Dardanelles also marks the divide between Europe and Asia. In World War I, the strait was coveted by opposing armies to transport troops between fronts, and to strategic locations. The British and French also assumed that if they could secure the Dardanelles, they would drastically weaken the already weak, Ottoman Empire, thus knocking one of the Central Powers out of the war. They would relieve the pressure Russia faced from the Ottomans and claim Constantinople.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the British failure of the Gallipoli Campaign
- Evaluate the success of Mustafa Kemal as a leader of the Turkish army
Key Terms / Key Concepts
Dardanelles: narrow strait that connects the Aegean Sea, Sea of Marmara, and Black Sea
Gallipoli: peninsula on Turkey’s northwest coast
Mustafa Kemal "Ataturk": commander of the Ottoman Army at the Battle of Gallipoli
Preparations
In 1915, the Allies began planning an attack on Turkey’s northwest coast at the strategic peninsula, Gallipoli. The Allies launched a bombing campaign over the Dardanelles in early 1915. It failed to destroy the Ottoman defenses which had been heavily fortified in advance of the Allies’ attack. Minefields and artillery defenses remained along the peninsula. As such, it was clear to the Allies that an amphibious landing was the solution. They would deploy British, French, and raw troops from Australia and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) to secure the Gallipoli peninsula. Behind the plan was the British Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
The Landings at Gallipoli
At 2:00 AM on April 25, 1915, Ottoman scouts spotting a fleet advancing toward them. An hour later, the fog rolled in, obscuring the army. But it set the Ottomans on the alert. Among the earliest to receive the news was a young commander named Mustafa Kemal. As a young officer, he had served in the earlier, Balkans Wars. Now, he led the 19th Division, and the 5th Army Reserve. Militarily shrewd, he calculated that the Allies would try to divide the Ottoman forces. To combat their attack, Kemal staged a simple plan—hold the defensive heights above the beaches. They would not surrender one inch of territory to the Allies. At dawn, he is said to have told his troops, “I am not ordering you to attack, I am ordering you to die. In the time that it takes us to die; other commanders and forces can come and take our place.” From the dawn of April 15 forward, the Ottoman troops were fiercely loyal to their staunch and pragmatic leader. When the attacks came, they would be ready and carry Kemal’s order to the letter.
ANZAC Cove
The Allies had planned two landings. The British and French forces would land at Helles Cape on the southern tip of the peninsula. The ANZACs, Australian and New Zealand troops, would land further west. Fatefully, the British and French landing would prove less deadly.
Just after dawn, the ANZACs, many of who were raw troops with no combat experience, landed at the fortified beach of Gallipoli at a cove now aptly named, ANZAC Cove. Above the beach, the terrain was rugged and steep, and heavily fortified by the Ottomans. Strips of minefields also waited for the ANZACs. Upon their landing, the ANZACs were greeted with immense artillery and machine gun fire. The ANZACs initially gained ground, only to be repelled by Kemal’s forces later in the day. Counterattacking, the Australians were driven from the heights. By the end of the first day, over 2,000 of the 16,000 ANZAC troops were dead or wounded.
For the next eight months, the ANZAC troops “dug in” in a stalemated battle at Gallipoli. They faced harsh weather and rough terrain, and epidemics of dysentery, typhoid, and rheumatic fever. The ANZACs never gained ground after the first day, and the campaign turned into a bloody stalemate. Combat often involved hand-to-hand fighting in the rocky, rough terrain. At other times, it was a battle waged by sending men “over the top” of their trenches and fortifications to charge headlong into the Ottoman machine gun nests. Further south, the British and French faced similar challenges. At the end of the year, the Allied casualties reached 500,000, not including those who perished from disease. The Gallipoli Campaign was not only a defeat, it was an Allied disaster.
Significance
In January 1916 did the Allied troops admit defeat and evacuate their positions at Gallipoli. The campaign, which had lasted a year, was over. But the cost was enormous: it remains the bloodiest campaign in the histories of Australia and New Zealand. April 25 is celebrated as ANZAC Day in both countries. It also demonstrated to the world the ability and resilience of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, who were largely untried soldiers before Gallipoli.
For Mustafa Kemal and Turkey, the significance of Gallipoli was far greater. It marked their triumph over the Allied forces. The victory catapulted Kemal into the national spotlight where he was known as the “Rock of Gallipoli.” Almost overnight, he was promoted to Brigadier General of the Ottoman Army. For the remainder of the war, he served as a main military commander for the Ottomans in multiple campaigns. Following the defeat, and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Kemal served in the Turkish wars of independence, and then turned to politics. He became a strong statesman, and in the 1920s, the founded of the Republic of Turkey. With this achievement, he was given a new title: Atatürk—father of the Turks.
Attributions
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Willmott, H.P. World War I. D.K. Publishing, New York: 2012. 76-83.