Unit IV: 1915 “A War to End All Wars” -H.G. Wells 1

Unit IV 1915: LEARNING TARGETS: 1. I can explain how even though the war begins in Europe it evolves into a World War with some very strange outcomes in strange places. 2. I understand why the alliance between the Central Powers and the Ottoman Empire is seen as an opportunity for France and Britain to carve it up. 3. I understand and can explain how trench warfare created a lifestyle and a reality that no volunteer and no General had planned for or could react well to. 4. I understand and can explain how the new technology made war 3-dimensional and why neither the air above or the sea below were safe. 2

Unit IV: 1915 V. The Gallipoli Campaign: A. January: In an attempt to support the Greeks and the Serbs, WC believes a show of support by the Allies and a land grab at the critical point of the Dardanelles would severe the Ottoman Turks from Europe and keep them distracted from an allied takeover of the Middle East. The Allied troops available are Australian and New Zealand troops recently arrived from the Pacific. B. Feb 19: the British fleet in the Med begins to bombard Turkish forts near the Dardanelles. C. Feb 20: Australian and New Zealand Troops training in Egypt are sent to the Dardanelles. D. March 18: The British lose three ships trying to force a way past the Turkish forts. E. April 25: The 30,000 Allied troops land but take so long that the Turks are able to surround the forces on the beach with only the sea to escape. F. May 26: First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill is fired. He enlists to fight on the Western Front. G. June: Brits lose 6,500 men for 400 yards. No more reinforcements. H. October 11: The British discuss pulling out of Gallipoli. How to get out. I. December 27 the evacuation of Gallipoli begins. 3

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UNIT IV: 1915 VI. The Middle Eastern Campaign: A. February 3: The Turkish Army is halted by the British at the Suez Canal. B. March and April The British invade up the Tigris and Euphrates as far as the city of Basra. Turkish counterattacks fail. C. May 11: The British move up the rivers in Mesopotamia and attempt to capture Baghdad. D. August-September the British fight their way upriver against an ever larger Turkish force. E. Dec 7 The British are pushed back and surrounded in Iraq. 5

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UNIT IV: 1915 VII. Other Incidents: A. The Armenian Genocide: 1. February 14: The Committee of Union and Progress agrees that the Armenians in North West Turkey pose a threat due to their possible ties to the Russians. Genocide ensues. 2. April to September the Turkish Army massacres or starves to death approximately 1.5 million Armenians. A further 200,000 have been forced to convert to Islam. The survivors revolt against the Turks. The genocide continues. 3. April 20: 31,300 Armenians are rescued by the Russians at the city of Van. 4. The Turkish government denies that this was a massacre and that it was anything other than part of the war. 5. There is still a strong reaction by Armenian refugee groups around the world today as they search for recognition of the genocide. 7

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UNIT IV: 1915 VII. Other Incidents: (cont’d) B. The Fight in Africa: 1. German West Africa attempts to invade British South Africa. The invasion goes badly and by July 9 the Germans in southwest Africa surrender. 2. July 11: German ship Konigsburg is sunk on the Rifiji River by the British. German East Africa is the new battlefield. 3. Many Africans are armed and trained to fight and kill whites. Most colonials find this disturbing. 10

The War in Africa 11

UNIT IV: 1915 VII. Other Incidents: (cont’d) C. In the USA: 1. June 24: 70,000 Americans meet at Madison Square Garden as a Pro-German rally. 2. July 2 nd : A bomb planted by a German student explodes in the Senate Building. D. Women: 1. Women Join the War effort and work in the factories 2. Edith Cavell: Famous English Spy executed on October 12, 1915 by the Germans. 12