The Victory That Changed History: The Battle of Çanakkale in Pictures

Çanakkale hosted one of the bloodiest wars in human history, and then the most amazing epic in human history, exactly 108 years ago. The unprecedented victory of the Turkish army changed not only the history of Anatolia, but the history of all mankind. The Allied forces, deployed on the shores of Çanakkale with hundreds of warships, were planning to easily pass through the Dardanelles and reach the Ottoman capital, Istanbul, without any problems. In this way, they would be able to provide support to Tsarist Russia and end the First World War in their favor. Yes, the Entente countries may have managed to emerge victorious from the First World War. However, after defeating Çanakkale, they had to wait a few more years.

On the other hand, delaying the end of World War I was not the only significant development after this historic victory. The glorious resistance of the Turkish army in Çanakkale will lead to the collapse of Tsarist Russia and the establishment of the Soviet Union. But more importantly, after the Battle of Gallipoli, the name “Mustafa Kemal” turned into a great legend, first in all of Anatolia and then all over the world.

Step by step what you need to know about the Battle of Gallipoli and the victory

The Combined Fleet of the Entente countries reached the shores of Çanakkale on February 19, 1915.

Dozens of ships of the British and French navies were ready to hold the Dardanelles. The British and French commanders were confident that they would defeat the Turkish army and that they would soon leave the Dardanelles and head towards Istanbul. After all, the united fleet contained such “death machines” as “Queen Elizabeth” “Agamemnon” and “Lord Nelson”. The barrels of dozens of destroyers, cruisers and submarines were aimed at Çanakkale.

The Ottoman army, which had to defend Çanakkale against a scarce navy, had limited resources.

The few sea mines had to be deployed in the right place, which was done. The limited number of artillery batteries should not have missed a shot, nor did they miss …

The bombardment of the combined fleet, which began on February 19, continued until March 17.

However, during this time, the nerves of the Allied commanders at Çanakkale were frayed. Because the navy, which had reached the shores of Çanakkale a few days earlier, was very far from Istanbul as of March 17.

The Allies attacked again on 18 March.

Moreover, this attack was the fiercest and most brutal in the Dardanelles Naval War. Because the united fleet, which faced unparalleled resistance from the Turkish soldiers, could not advance even a single step, let alone cross the Dardanelles.

The mines laid by Nusrat miner on the Asian side of the strait spelled the end of the barges that tried to pass through the strait. The British ships HMS Ocean and HMS Irresistible and the French Bouvet were buried in the cold waters of the strait.

March 18, 1915 went down in history as the day the Turkish army won a rare victory.

The Dardanelles Naval War ended on March 18th. Realizing that it was not possible to pass through the Dardanelles in one piece, the Allies decided to transfer the war to land. But this time they forgot to take into account the genius of a Turkish officer named Mustafa Kemal …

The Turkish soldier, led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha, once again defeated the enemy forces that set foot on the Gallipoli Peninsula for the first time on April 25, 1915.

The last unit of the Allied forces, who realized after the bloody battles that it was not possible to cross Çanakkale by sea or land, left Çanakkale on January 9, 1916.

Çanakkale’s victory changed the course of history

This important victory of the Turkish army, which surprised the whole world, caused the continuation of the First World War for a period, the collapse of Tsarist Russia and the establishment of the Soviet Union, dragging the British Empire into great chaos and many other important matters. events. As the whole world learned, the most important genius behind this glorious victory is not to forget the name of Mustafa Kemal…