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Battle for Gallipoli: February 1915 - January 1916The word Gallipoli has profound meaning to the people of New Zealand and Australia. It was the first major campaign in which the ANZACs1 fought, and because of the extremely heavy casualties, it seems that every family in these young colonies was affected. By 1915 the Western Front was clearly deadlocked. Allied strategy was under scrutiny, with strong arguments mounted for an offensive through the Balkans or even a landing on Germany's Baltic coast, instead of more costly attacks in France and Belgium. These ideas were initially sidelined, but in early 1915 the Russians found themselves threatened by the Turks in the Caucasus and appealed for some relief. The British decided to mount a naval expedition to bombard and take the Gallipoli Peninsula on the western shore of the Dardanelles, with Constantinople as its objective. By capturing Constantinople, the British hoped to link up with the Russians, knock Turkey out of the war and possibly persuade the Balkan states to join the Allies. The naval attack began on 19 February. Bad weather caused delays and the attack was abandoned after three battleships had been sunk and three others damaged. Military assistance was required, but by the time troops began to land on 25 April, the Turks had had ample time to prepare adequate fortifications and the defending armies were now six times larger than when the campaign began. Against determined opposition, Australian and New Zealand troops won a bridgehead at 'Anzac Cove' on the Aegean side of the peninsula. The British, meanwhile, tried to land at five points around Cape Helles, but established footholds in only three before asking for reinforcements. Thereafter little progress was made, and the Turks took advantage of the British halt to bring as many troops as possible onto the peninsula. This standstill led to a political crisis in London between Churchill, the First Lord of the Admiralty and the operation's chief advocate, and Lord Fisher, the First Sea Lord, who had always expressed doubts about it. Fisher demanded that the operation be discontinued and resigned when overruled. The Liberal government was replaced by a coalition and Churchill, though relieved of his former post, remained in the War Council. Amid sweltering and disease-ridden conditions, the deadlock dragged on into the summer. In July the British reinforced the bridgehead at Anzac Cove and in early August landed more troops at Suvla Bay further to the north, to seize the Sari Bair heights and cut Turkish communications. The offensive and the landings both proved ineffectual within days, faced with waves of costly counter-attacks. The War Council remained divided until late 1915 when it was decided to end the campaign. Troops were evacuated in December 1915 and January 1916. Had Gallipoli succeeded, it could have ended Turkey's participation in the war. As it was, the Turks lost some 300,000 men and the Allies around 214,000, achieving only the diversion of Turkish forces from the Russians. Bad leadership, planning and luck, combined with a shortage of shells and inadequate equipment, condemned the Allies to seek a conclusion in the bloody battles of the Western Front. Furthermore, Gallipoli's very public failure contributed to Asquith's replacement as Prime Minister by David Lloyd George in December 1916. Assignments 1) Translate the text paying special attention to historical terminology. 2) Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following: Western Front, scrutiny, landing, to mount a naval expedition, battleship, adequate, determined, sweltering 3) Give definitions to the following: reinforcements, standstill, doubts, footholds, shortage 4) Answer the questions on the text: - When was the Western Front deadlocked? - Where did the British land? - What did Fisher demand? - What were the results of Gallipoli's failure? - Who replaced Asquith in December 1916? 5) Put questions to the underlined words in the text. 6) Speak on this issue adding extra information from other sources. Interactive content: http://www.anzac.govt.nz Unit 27 Daily Mirror Headlines: The Battle of the Somme, Published 31 July 1916 The Daily Mirror publishes details of the British and French offensive against German forces at the Somme. 'The General Situation is Favourable' (British Official) General Headquarters, Sunday 10.15pm: Heavy fighting has taken place today in the area between the Ancre and the Somme, especially about Fricourt and La Boisselle. Fricourt, which was captured by our troops about 2pm, remains in our hands, and some progress has been made east of the village. In the neighbourhood of La Boisselle the enemy is offering a stubborn resistance, but our troops are making satisfactory progress. A considerable quantity of war material has fallen into our hands, but details are not at present available. On the other side of the valley, on the Ancre, the situation is unchanged. The general situation may be regarded as favourable. Later information of the enemy's losses show that our first estimates were too low. Yesterday our aeroplanes were very active in co-operation with our attack north of the Somme and afforded valuable assistance to our operations. Numerous enemy headquarters and railway centres were attacked with bombs. In one of these raids our escorting aeroplanes were attacked by 20 Fokkers, which were driven off. Two enemy machines were seen to crash to the earth and were destroyed. Some long-distance reconnaissances were carried out in spite of numerous attempts by enemy machines to frustrate the enterprises. Three of our aeroplanes are missing. Our kite balloons were in the air the whole day. British Capture 3,500 Prisoners General Headquarters, 5.30pm: Substantial progress has been made in the vicinity of Fricourt, which was captured by our troops by 2pm today. Up to noon today some 800 more prisoners have been taken in the operations between the Ancre and the Somme, bringing the total up to 3,500 including those captured on other parts of the front last night. 'All-Day Fighting in our Favour' (French Official) Paris, Sunday: The following official communiqué was issued tonight: North of the Somme fighting continued all day in our favour in the region of Hardcourt and Curlu. To the east of the latter village in particular we carried a quarry which had been strongly fortified by the enemy. To the south of the Somme we gained a footing at numerous points in the second German position between the river and Asservillers. The village of Frise fell into our hands as well as the Mereaucourt Wood, situated farther to the east. The able-bodied prisoners captured by the French troops during July 1 and July 2 at present exceed 6,000 in number, including at least 150 officers. Guns and a great quantity of material also fell into our hands. Thanks to the very complete and effective artillery preparation and thanks also to the dash of our infantry, our losses have been very slight. (Reuters) Assignments 1) Translate the text paying special attention to historical terminology. 2) Give Ukrainian equivalents to the following: neighbourhood, considerable, valley, losses, valuable, headquarters, favour, farther, able-bodied, preparation 3) Give definitions to the following: stubborn, quantity, available, favourable, raid, kite balloons 4) Answer the questions on the text: - When was Fricourt captured? - Where were 800 more prisoners taken? - Were long-distance reconnaissances carried out? - How did fighting continue north of the Somme? - Why were losses very slight? 5) Put questions to the underlined words in the text. 6) Speak on this issue adding extra information from other sources. Interactive content: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/ Unit 28 Date: 2015-02-16; view: 692
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