The Gallipoli Wars (Çanakkale Wars) were a major struggle that changed the course of World War I, with not only military but also political, economic, and strategic consequences. Fought between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Powers (primarily Britain and France) between 1915 and 1916, the underlying reasons for these wars are based much more on long-term global conflicts of interest than on short-term military objectives.

1. Strategic Goal: Controlling the Straits

The Dardanelles Strait is a vital waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. By capturing this strait, the Allied Powers aimed to:

• Open a route to send military and economic aid to Russia,
• Revitalize Russia's grain exports to keep the Tsarist regime in the war,
• Knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war by striking its capital, Istanbul. Russia was suffering heavy losses on the Eastern Front and facing shortages of weapons and ammunition. The Allies hoped to relieve the Russian army by opening the straits.

2. The Desire to Shorten the War

By late 1914, World War I had turned into trench warfare on the Western Front, with neither side able to gain superiority. British War Minister Lord Kitchener and First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill planned to break the deadlock on the stalled Western Front by opening "a new front." If the Dardanelles fell, it was thought the Ottomans would withdraw from the war, causing the Germans' southern flank to collapse and the war to end by late 1915.

3. Striking Germany Indirectly

The Ottoman Empire had officially entered the war in November 1914 on the side of the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary). According to the Allies, the Ottomans served to strengthen Germany's eastern interests by exploiting the "sick man of Europe." Capturing the Dardanelles would mean Germany losing an important ally and being prevented from reaching oil fields in the Middle East.

4. Economic and Colonial Aims

Britain, in particular, had to protect Egypt and the Suez Canal for the security of its route to India. If the fall of the Dardanelles led to the occupation of Istanbul, Britain would be unrivaled in the Eastern Mediterranean and, together with the French, could expand their spheres of influence in the Middle East. Secret agreements signed after the war (such as Sykes-Picot) clearly reveal these partition plans.

5. The Idea of Knocking the Ottomans Out of the War

The Allied Powers underestimated the Ottoman war capacity. The belief that "the straits can be passed with a few warships and Istanbul can be taken" was widespread. However, the mines laid by the Nusret minelayer and the successful defense by the artillery resulted in a great naval victory on March 18, 1915. The subsequent land campaign would last eight months.

The Gallipoli Wars ended with the Allied Powers failing to achieve all of these strategic objectives. The heroic resistance of the Ottomans prolonged the war, prevented aid from reaching Russia, and laid the groundwork for the collapse of the Tsarist regime. This defense, symbolized by Mustafa Kemal's famous order, "I do not order you to attack, I order you to die," became the first spark of the Turkish nation's struggle for independence. The Gallipoli Wars were, on the surface, an operation to capture the straits; but in reality, they were a product of imperialist greed for partition, geopolitical conflicts of interest, and an attempt to change the fate of World War I. This victory, which demonstrated to the entire world that the straits were impassable, was also the first great challenge to imperialism in the war for independence.