Gallipoli

Gallipoli - darkometer rating : 5 - A peninsula on the European shores of the Dardanelles, the narrow strait that goes all the way to the Bosporus by Istanbul, Turkey . In World War One , Gallipoli became the site of one of the early battles that turned into the kind of carnage that WW1 later became known for more generally. For the British and their commonwealth allies it was a heavy loss, for the Turks a significant victory, albeit a particularly costly one. The Gallipoli campaign is especially legendary with Australians and New Zealanders who played a major role and suffered bitter casualties (esp. in relation to their total numbers). In modern Turkey's history Gallipoli is also important because of the decisive role Atatürk played in it. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: The battles on the Gallipoli peninsula lasted for nine months from April 1915 to January 1916 and were particularly fierce – the first senseless mass carnage that so came to characterize World War One … also in that the attacking allies achieved nothing in it. Over 130,000 soldiers lost their lives here, and many more were wounded. Total casualties numbered about half a million! It started with the Allied (well, British ) plan to seize control of the Dardanelles, the narrow strait that is the south-western end of the connection between the Mediterranean and the Bosporus. If successful, not only could access be achieved for battleships to attack Constantinople (today's Istanbul) but also to the Black Sea and hence the Russians . So in April 1915, British and French troops first landed at the southern tip of the Gallipoli peninsula, while ANZAC troops (i.e. from Australia and New Zealand ) landed further north.