Far too many still don’t get Gallipoli and stubbornly insist the 1915 effort to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war by taking the Dardanelle Straits was a colossal waste. The Australian War Memorial itself hasdeemed the operation a “failure” that had “no influence on the course of the war,” and a writer in these pages recentlyopined the only good thing that happened at Gallipoli was the “evacuation”. Not long ago,New Zealand’s Governor-Generalsaid New Zealanders had “nothing to gain” from the fight there,and a Radio New Zealand program last yeardeclared it a “horrific disaster.”
But those views are tragically misleading,leaving errant national narratives in place with harmful consequences. Gallipoli may not have succeeded in the classic sense,but it was certainly successful in a very important way.
The campaign’s ultimate objective was to knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war with one swift strike. Of course,that didn’t happen. But then again,real war isn’t as easy as Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star.
Real wars are always a slog. Historian Cathal Nolan haspointed out that most winners simply outlast the other side. World War I is a perfect example of this slow,swampy version of success. Most wars come down to this—not who’s better,but who’s left.
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There were any number of efforts during World War I to break the stalemate:poison gas,aerial bombardment,submarines and tanks,and new tactics that took advantage of radio communication and widespread watch-wearing to synchronise movement and attack. Unfortunately,every technological and tactical edge was undercut by another,with barbed wire,machine guns and devastating artillery usually delivering a knockout checkmate in response.
In this environment,war’s objectives aren’t binary. Failing to achieve a high strategic objective doesn’t negate positive military gain. What matters most when you’re fighting a war that includes 65 million troops from 40 countries is the brutal science of battlefield mathematics.
Casualty figures from World War I can show some frustrating range,but clearly demonstrate the Dardanelle campaign’s value to the Allied cause. The New Zealand government’s historical recorddocuments that the Allies (including Australians,British,Canadians from Newfoundland,French,Irish,Indians and New Zealanders) sustained 141,547 casualties (dead,wounded and missing) at Gallipoli – among those numbers were 44,150 dead. The Ottoman Empire forces present on the peninsula sustained 251,309 casualties,including an astonishing 86,692 dead.