Battle of Gallipoli

1. How did geography matter in WWI?

• Geography was a really important factor in the battles of WWI since it could really benefit one country or be totally against them. In the Battle of Gallipoli, the British had drawn out a totally different map of the Ottoman Empire as what it really was. Therefore, when the British arrived they didn’t have anywhere to hide since they really didn’t know the terrain and the Turks were shooting them from behind the mountains so thousands of British soldiers dies in seconds. The mountainous beach of the Turks favored them and caused the British’s attempt to control the sea route fail. In the Battle of Romani the geography was an advantage for the British because they were prepared for it. In contrast, the turks were in trouble because of the sand dunes, the transportation was really hard and also the machinery took a long time to get there so the Turks were in disadvantage. In the Somme Battle the terrain wasn’t a trouble, but the weather was. There were lots of snowstorms and rain so it made the German trenches really muddy. And so it became really difficult for the soldiers to keep on fighting. The geography during these battles took a major role for the reason that it consistently resulted as a disadvantage to one of the countries and an advantage to the other country.

 

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

• For most of the soldiers, their experience of the battles in WWI was really bad since thousands of them ended up injured or dead. In the Battle of Gallipoli, the hot, dry climate caused soldiers to dehydrate and also a lot of them had an infection of intestines so they had diarrhea with blood and mucus; this infection soon led to their deaths. Also, the British soldier were very disappointed because their plan failed and there were so many dead bodies around them. In the Somme Battle, thousands of soldiers died because of the trench warfare. Wether they took their head out of the trench and immediately got shot, or they drowned in the mud and disappeared. In the Battle of Romani German soldiers were very disappointed because they attacked and failed terribly. Throughout all these battles, the soldiers at the beginning were probably exited and with enthusiasm and energy but by the end they were devastated and tired of fighting.

 

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

• Imperialism took a big part of WWI for the reason that most of the time countries battled for their desire of control over places. The reason why the Battle of Gallipoli took place was because the allied forces, wanted to control and take over the sea route from Russia to Europe through the Dardanelles. In the battle of Ypres, the city of Ypres was yearned for by many other countries because its location. It was advantageous, it had flat land, canals, and rivers. Because of all these things that the city of Ypres had, the British wanted to take over it and in due course conquer the land. For that sole reason the battle, took place. Also, in the Battle of Gaza the British wanted to take over Palestine. We can see how in all this three battles Britain has a very important role of imperialism. Since they want to take control over many places so they fight for it.

 

4. What kinds of technological innovations were used in WWI?

• Throughout the battle of WWI technology innovation was huge. For a country to have been better than their rival, they needed to have better weaponry, better transportation, and in general a better battle strategy. In the Battle of Gallipoli, the Turks had the latest riffles for trench warfare which were called the periscope riffles; this was a huge advantage for them. With these periscope riffles, soldiers didn’t have to take the risk of putting their heads over the trench to see their rivals and shoot. Instead, this new riffle allowed them to watch everything from inside the trench. In the Somme Battle, Germans had a big technological advance which allowed them to fight easier and faster, the tanks. Also, an other battle that had good technological advances was the Battle of the Marne. They innovated to the American boats which were bigger and faster; now they could carry more tools and resources for war. Furthermore, they invented the temporary bridges which helped them go quickly from one place to an other. It was very important for the countries in the battles to have a better technology than their rival, this is why we see so many advances in technology during WWI.