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Which of the four factors given was most to blame for the failure of the Dardanelles campaign to achieve its military objective?

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Which of the four factors given was most to blame for the failure of the Dardanelles campaign to achieve its military objective? In 1915, World War One spread to the Pacific Ocean, in the Dardanelles. They decided to attack here, because on the Eastern and Western fronts, the trench-warfare in these areas has resulted in a stalemate. This meant a 'quick victory' which the allies had hoped for, had been halted. They now needed another alternative, to attack the Germans. The new 'war council', which was set up to achieve new alternatives, decided to attack through the Dardanelles, to capture Constantinople, and to knock Turkey out of the war. The decided to do this, as if Turkey were knocked out, neighbouring countries like Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania, would join the allies. At the time, it was thought that these three countries would be joining the Central Powers. On the 28th January 1915, the war council decided on an attack on the Dardanelles, using naval ships. However, on the 16th February, they decided also on providing soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC's), to assist the Navy, on the ground attack. ...read more.


The Navy then withdrew the rest of the men. With the situation of the hill being the perfect spot for Turkish snipers to sit and look down onto the beach, this is exactly what they did. The Turkish fired on the British, from the exact moment from when the departed the landing boats: "Many were killed in the water, many, who were wounded, were swept away and drowned; others, trying to swim in the fierce current, were drowned by the weight of the equipment." John Maesfield Also, due to how the trenches were positioned, and the great torrents of rain that followed, the trenches themselves, flooded with horrifying consequences: "...In one trench when the flood rose, a pony, a mule, a pig, and two dead Turks were washed over the barricade together..." John Maesfield The second reason for the failure of the Dardanelles campaign, was bad organisation. The first factor why this meant failure for the campaign was of the campaign was that the officers did not synchronise their watches. ...read more.


rations, also lead to sickness among the troops. With bad weather, and poor medical supplies, the situation got worse: "At dark the sleet increased, the mud froze, and there our men lay, most of them without overcoats, and many of them without food..." John Maesfield Also, lack of water was another major problem. As the troops were so far away from fresh water, pipes had to be run into trench, for the troops to drink out of. Shrapnel, enemy troops, and allied troops that had gone 'mad' pierced the supply hoses: "Several men went raving mad from thirst, others assaulted the water guards, pierced the supply hoses, or swam to the lighters to beg for water..." With all of this confusion and exhaustion led to the allied forces advancing in any way, towards the Turks. In conclusion, I do not think that any one factor was to blame for the failure of the campaign, it was a mixture of all of the factors. However, I do believe that the ill thought out plan and poor organisation was probably the main factors to blame, if I had to choose one. I think this because, these two are basically linked, and so they have the most factors to consider. ...read more.

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