January 8th

What:
Allied forces retreat from Gallipoli

Where:
Gallipoli

Year:
1916



Information and Signifigance
On January 8th, 1916, Allied forces retreated from Gallipoli. After months of bitter fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula in modern-day Turkey, French, British and ANZAC forces abandoned their positions.

The ancient Ottoman Empire had been in decline for nearly two centuries, and had lost large amounts of land and power in the Balkans and North Africa. The Ottoman sultan decided to ally himself and his empire with Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria in their fight against the Allied Powers in hopes of gaining land from Greece, Serbia and Montenegro in the Balkans and the British, French and Italian colonies that made up Northern Africa.

Winston Churchill, the British Grand Lord of the Admiralty, came up with a plan to knock the Ottomoan Empire out the war. His idea was to occupy the Dodecanese Islands and invade the European portion of the Empire. However, this resulted in a bitter stalemated, which killed many Allied soldiers and eventually forced the Allies to retreat.