Battle of Gallipoli

1. How did geography matter in WWI?

• The geography of a battle zone is always a key factor of a fight, and can easily determine the outcome of a battle. The battle of Gallipoli, for example, made the British easy targets and brought them to a great disadvantage. The British map makers had an inaccurate representation of the Gallipoli zone and based all their strategy on this false information. Once they came in to fight, the British were surprised by the mountains surrounding the coast, and the Ottoman soldiers waiting and ready to attack from above. The Battle of Verdun, although fought on a entirely different area, also faced problems regarding the geography. The Eastern Front, had hills almost completely surrounding the battle zone, giving each army a clear view of their opponents. These hills, despite being highly beneficial, prevented the end battle of a stalemate which lasted several months, as advancing by foot to the top of the hills was a difficult task which not many soldiers survived. The Battle of Romani, however, brought in a whole different aspect to the variety of geographies in battles of World War I. Romani was fought in a desert which complicated things even more; mobility was extremely difficult, British soldiers were not trained to fight in these conditions, and the hot weather caused many soldiers to die of dehydration. This battle, specifically, brought many difficulties to both the Turkish and British soldiers, which caused the fight to last only two days. The terrain and climate of a battle zone often impacted the way a fight would play out and sometimes even ruined the strategy of an army, bringing tons of deaths and losses during the attack.

 

2. What was the soldier’s experience in WWI?

• Different battle zones brought different experiences to the soldiers, most went through terrible times while on battle. For instance, in the battle of Gallipoli, soldiers had to fight off the horrendous heat and and dry weather. Also, there was a lack of water for the soldiers and many died of dehydration. Besides fighting in terrible conditions, the soldiers were constantly surrounded by the dead bodies of their friends who died in the trenches. Soldiers at the First Battle of Gaza, struggled with many of the same problems. The extreme temperatures they had to fight in caused many deaths and uncomforted for the ones who survived. The Battle of Cambrai also struggled at battle, mainly because of the trenches. There were bodies on the floor of trenches, a slightly traumatic view for soldiers, and the soldiers lived with the constant fear of being shot if they stuck their head out too far. The soldier’s accounts from any battle always agree on the terrible conditions they were forced to fight in and the disturbing experiences they lived through.

 

3. How did imperialism play a role in the war? 

• Imperialism clearly came up as a common topic in most battles of World War I, many of the fights were motivated solely for the opportunity to expand their power. The battle of Gallipoli, was mainly started for the purpose of capturing the Dardanelles straights, which would give them easy access to their ally Russia and get them the power to control the Turkish capital. The Battle of Romani, very closely related, was also fought to gain control of the Suez Canal which would expand their trade routes. The Battle of Rafa, however, looked to secure the entire Sinai Peninsula. By controlling the peninsula, the British would be able to protect Egypt and appear as a threat to Palestine. Most battles were linked by the idea of imperialism which would grant the winner of the fight more territory and followers. 

 

4. In what ways were many tactics or strategies of early WWI battle still “living in the past”?

• During World War I, we see changes going on in almost every aspect of battle. Although many countries in war had improved on tactics and strategies for fighting, others were stuck in the past. In the battle of Gallipoli, for example, the Allied forces entered the war zone without proper knowledge of the land. This mistake is what cost them the entire battle. The maps they were using were completely wrong and lead them to a surprise attack from the Turks who were waiting from the top of mountains the Allied forces didn’t know about. In the Battle of Stallupönen, their mistake was the choice of weapons from the Russians. The Russians entered this battle still using swords which had been outdated for quite a long time. Their opponents, of course, used riffles which would give them and advantage and allowed them to attack from a distance. The Battle of Gaza, was also a victim to a similar problem where they used old-fashioned means of travel. Gaza was one of the last battles to travel by camel which is a very dated way to attack their enemy and clearly not the best way. The out of date strategies proved to be detrimental every time, but again and again armies tried to fight with means that could have been replaced and improved.