"As the main theatre of action on the Western Front in France and Belgium became bogged down in trench warfare, the Allies searched for an alternative weak spot where the interests of the enemy could be damaged. One such spot could be the Gallipoli peninsula (which connects the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea), then controlled by the Ottoman Empire and a vital route for shipping."
"It was hoped that the Gallipoli Campaign would ultimately secure Constantinople (modern Istanbul), which would then permit supplies to be freely sent to Russia. Indeed, the Russian Empire had requested its allies to open up a new front in the Dardanelles. Another advantageous outcome would be Germany removing troops from the Western Front to bolster its Ottoman ally."
The Gallipoli Campaign took place on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey in 1915–16 during the First World War. British, French, Australian, and New Zealand (ANZAC) forces launched a naval and land expedition to force the Dardanelles and open a Black Sea supply route to Russia. Ottoman defences remained strong, producing an eight-month trench stalemate and attritional fighting that ended in an Allied evacuation. The operation aimed to secure Constantinople, compel German troop redeployments from the Western Front, and answer a Russian request for a new front. The campaign caused about 250,000 Allied casualties and ended in strategic failure with political consequences for Winston Churchill.
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