ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

Zealanders were wounded; and 7,594 Australians and
2,431 NZs were killed. The final death-poll alone at the
Gallipoli Campaign: 33,000 allied and 86,000 Ottoman
troops died in the eight month fight campaign which
achieved none o f its objectives.
The Turkish nation who lost about 253,000 men at battle
had managed to emerge in honour against the Allied
forces.
This was the biggest failure o f Winston Churchill and o f
the Allies o f course. They had underestimated the military
skills o f Mustafa Kemal Atatiirk and his brave soldiers.
General map o f the Battle o f the Dardanelles which reached a
high point in April 1915 but in fact lasted from March through
into the autumn and constituted a permanent threat to the secu­
rity o f the capital o f the Ottoman Empire.
The allied fleet began bombarding the Turkish batteries at
the entrance to the Straits already 3rd November 1914
and it continued intermittently until 12th March 1915.
Having failed their own two offensives at the Caucasian
front and at Suez the Ottomans were now faced with an
offensive by the Allies. From the beginning o f 1915
onwards it became evident, from intelligence reports o f
enemy naval and troop movements that the French and
the British Empire forces were assembling on the islands
before the Dardanelles - mainly at Imbros.
TH E A N G L O -F R E N C H A TTA C K ON
CO N STA N TIN O PLE,
TH R O U G H TH E N A R R O W S AND
A C R O SS TH E SEA OF M A R M A R A , WAS
N OW IM M IN EN T. DATE: A P R IL 24!
The 18th March 1915 marks the real beginning of the Darda­
nelles campaign under the commander Admiral de Robeck.
The mood o f the Turkish population o f Istanbul reached a
low point. First the failures o f the Caucasian and
Egyptian campaigns and now the threatening situation of
the Ottoman capital... Some o f the people o f
Constantinople, also from the remaining Turks, began to
talk despondently about the capture o f the city as though
it had already occured.
Most o f the Turks who could afford it or had well situated
relatives in Anatolia began to leave for inner Anatolia.
The governement prepared two spezial trains for the
Sultan and his entourage while the administration was
ready for evacuation to Eskishehir where the gold o f the
Ottoman Bank and the statetreasure had already been
brought.
These days o f danger produced two results, one outstanding
and one which had to be expected as "normal".
The right man at the right moment at the right place: Mustafa
Kemal (bright uniform) with his abslutely loyal and enthusias­
tic staff o f the 3rd OttomanArmy.
The outstanding event was the reappearance o f Enver
Pasha, who had kept out o f the public eye since his defeat
in the Caucasus. All at a sudden, he, the son in law o f the
Sultan, behaved like a true Ottoman prince. He declared
that the Allied forces would never succeed to gain the
Dardanelles because the fortifications at the straights
were impregnable. His behaviour was absolutely calm
and confident and finally Enver was proved right.
"Normal" was the attitude o f the Armenian citizens o f
Constantinople. They were ready to fight - side by side
with the Allies while the Greek community waited silently
for the outcome o f the events.
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