Ottoman Empire Fights for Survival - World War I

0:11 Spring 1915 found the Ottoman Empire stretched

0:14 thin at every border and tested from within.

0:17 In the Caucasus, Russian advances fed on the violence aimed at Armenians,

0:21 while in Mesopotamia and Persia,

0:23 the Entente targeted strategic cities while exploiting regional rivalries.

0:28 The Gallipoli front and the looming threat to Istanbul

0:30 added a fourth theater to the empire’s burdens.

0:33 Ottoman officers, Arab deputies, Armenian communities,

0:36 and Kurdish auxiliaries faced loyalty dilemmas,

0:39 fear, and survival under pressure.

0:41 Yet, resolute and defiant, the Ottomans stand firm,

0:45 vowing to defend their borders and to confront

0:47 the great powers arrayed against them.

0:49 The Entente will pay dearly for every inch

0:52 of Ottoman soil in the Spring and Summer of 1915.

0:59 The Caucasus Campaign& Armenian Resistance Enver Pasha’s

1:24 Sarıkamış campaign left the Ottoman 3rd Army devastated,

1:42 creating a large salient on the southern flank of the Caucasus front.

1:46 The Ottomans had to defend a front exceeding 600

1:49 kilometres with only 50,000 troops and 130 artillery pieces.

1:53 Meanwhile, their massacres against the Armenians disrupted supply lines.

1:58 From June to July 1915, Ottoman forces bombarded Muş,

2:02 before storming the city in street-by-street combat,

2:05 massacring all who failed to escape.

2:07 Seizing the opportunity, on May 6th,

2:10 General Nikolai Yudenich’s Russian Caucasus Army

2:12 advanced through the Tortum Valley toward Erzurum,

2:15 taking the city of Van en route.

2:17 They were initially checked by the Ottoman 29th and 30th divisions,

2:21 but by July, they captured numerous

2:23 locations as they approached the Kop-Kurmunj border.

2:25 Concerned about the threat to their right flank,

2:28 the Ottoman 3rd Army reinforced Van

2:30 province with the independent Right Wing Group,

2:32 led by Major General Halil Pasha.

2:34 On the 16th, the Ottoman 9th Corps and the Right Wing Group,

2:39 totalling about 40,000 men,

2:40 counterattacked the 4th Caucasus Corps’ right flank around Muş.

2:44 Sensing the enemy’s strength, Yudenich ordered a withdrawal toward Malazgrit,

2:48 and the Ottomans pursued, capturing much of the Russian baggage train.

2:52 On the 20th at Malazgrit, General Petyr Oganovski committed his reserves

2:56 to a counterattack but was repelled;

2:59 Ottoman forces pressed east, securing territory north to Kop and south to Van.

3:04 This caused over 200,000 Armenian and Christian refugees to flee east,

3:08 further complicating Russian logistics.

3:10 Spurred by victory, Kerim Pasha moved through the Eleşkirt

3:14 valley and the Ağrı mountains in pursuit of Oganovski’s remnants,

3:18 thinning Ottoman lines.

3:19 With his left flank threatened, Yudenich built a strategic reserve at Karakurt

3:23 and ordered the 1st Caucasus Cossack

3:25 Corps under General Nikolai Baratov to support

3:28 a counterattack by the 4th Caucasus Corps.

3:30 On the 27th at Kara Kilise,

3:32 Baratov struck the Ottoman left flank as they were pinned by Oganovski,

3:36 routing them and forcing a retreat.

3:38 The Ottomans abandoned much of their supplies;

3:41 a hurried defense near the Mergemir Pass allowed

3:43 some to escape as the Russians pressed west.

3:46 The Turkish 29th Division was dispatched from Passinskaya

3:49 Valley to halt the Russians near Mergemir,

3:52 but the Russians inflicted heavy losses:

3:55 upto10,000 Ottoman casualties and 6,000 taken prisoner.

3:58 By early August, Russians established a front from Mergemir Pass to Burnubulag.

4:03 They reoccupied Manzikert, withdrew from Van,

4:05 and set defensive positions at Bargiri, Saray, and Oshap.

4:10 The Mesopotamia Campaign After the victory at Shaiba in April 1915,

4:12 the Indian Expeditionary Force,

4:14 commanded by General Sir John Nixon, aimed to seize Amara,

4:18 believing it would open the route to Baghdad.

4:21 On May 31, General Charles Townshend,

4:23 leading the 6th Poona Division, advanced from Qurna toward Amara,

4:27 supported by an armada of steamboats armed with cannons and machine guns.

4:31 On the eastern flank, the 22nd Punjabis of the 17th Brigade

4:35 capture several fortified islands along the western bank.

4:38 On June 2, Abu Aran was bombarded as Townshend’s

4:42 mini flotilla and ground forces pursued the retreating Ottomans,

4:45 engaging Ottoman barges near Ezra’s Tomb.

4:48 By the 3rd, about 3,000 Ottoman defenders

4:51 attempted to withdraw from Amara as a British

4:54 steamer with a 12-pounder forced the surrender

4:57 of 11 demoralized Ottoman officers and 250 men.

5:00 Roughly 2,000 troops fled upriver.

5:03 The next day, Townshend raised the Union Jack over Amara’s customs house,

5:09 capturing a further 800 Ottoman troops.

5:11 With Amara secured, Nixon ordered the next phase

5:14 of the campaign up the Euphrates to Nasiriyya,

5:17 Basra’s largest southern Mesopotamian supply depot.

5:19 The Ottoman defense along the Euphrates consisted

5:22 of roughly 4,200 troops supported by Bedouin tribesmen,

5:26 and it was hoped Nasiriyya’s capture would

5:28 win over Euphrates Bedouin to the Entente cause.

5:31 On the 27th, Lt.

5:33 Gen.

5:33 George Gorringe led the 30th Brigade toward Nasiriyya,

5:37 and Sek-es-Sheyukh fell without a fight;

5:39 however, entrenched Ottoman resistance halted further progress.

5:42 Meanwhile, a revolt in Najaf saw Bani

5:45 Hasan tribesmen burn government buildings, a hospital,

5:48 and over 200 Persian dwellings,

5:50 and Karbala declared independence from the Ottoman Empire.

5:54 Harsh heat and mosquitoes ravaged Gorringe’s force,

5:56 necessitating reinforcements, and by mid-July,

5:59 Bedouin tribesmen shifted their allegiance

6:01 and began raiding Ottoman supply lines.

6:04 On July 24, Gorringe bombarded Ottoman positions,

6:07 and the infantry attacked, with fighting continuing into the night;

6:11 Ottoman casualties neared 2,000, about 950 were taken prisoner,

6:15 and the remnants retreated to Kut.

6:18 The Nasiriyya objective was captured,

6:20 but the British-Indian force suffered 533 casualties in the operation.

6:25 The Persian campaign While the Ottomans were busy defending themselves

6:27 against the Russians in the Caucasus and the British in Mesopotamia,

6:30 events were transpiring over in Persia.

6:33 Tangestani tribes of Delvar led by Ra’is’Ali Delvari were eager to overthrow

6:37 British influence in the region after being provoked by the German spy,

6:41 Wilhelm Wassmuss and his agent Helmuth Litzmann.

6:44 Beginning on July 12th, Delvari attacked the small British garrison at Bushehr,

6:49 killing Major Oliphant, but was ultimately repelled.

6:51 By the 16th, Britain had resolved to occupy

6:55 Bushehr and perform a punitive expedition against Delvar.

6:58 On August 8th, a force consisting of 500 British-Indian

7:01 cavalry led by Major Trevor from Basra occupied Bushehr.

7:05 The next day, Trevor dispatched four companies of the 96th Berar Infantry,

7:09 led by Major Wintle, to land in Delvar supported by Royal Marines.

7:14 By the 10th, they began surveying the coast,

7:17 finding entrenched Tangistani forces on the 13th.

7:19 They naval bombarded them and fired from their boats

7:22 using Maxim guns and rifles before landing at 11 am.

7:26 At 3:30 on the 15th, Wintle’s men stormed Old Delvar and by the afternoon

7:31 began attacking New Delvar and its fort.

7:33 Wintle had demolition teams destroy the fort and burn the villages.

7:37 By this point, the Tangistani’s had amassed a roughly 600-strong force,

7:41 so Wintle re-embarked and returned to Bushehr.

7:44 The British-Indian forces suffered 15 dead and 38 wounded.

7:49 The Central Arabian Campaign During spring, conflict broke out in Arabia.

7:52 At the outbreak of World War I, Britain allied with Abdulaziz Ibn Saud,

7:56 the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa,

7:57 to counter the pro-Ottoman Emir of Jabal Shammar, Saud bin Abdulaziz Al Rashid.

8:02 A minor battle on January 24th saw Ibn Saud

8:05 abandoned by Ajman tribesmen under Dhaydan bin Hithlain and defeated,

8:09 suffering 600 casualties and the death of his adviser, Captain Shakespear.

8:14 In June 1915, Ibn Saud camped near Jabal Kanzan

8:17 with 4,000 troops to negotiate with the Ajman tribesmen,

8:21 roughly 3,000 men strong.

8:22 Internal dissent arose when the Emir of Nejd’s brother, Saad bin Abdul Rahman,

8:27 opposed peace and pressed for a night assault; Saad was killed,

8:31 and Ibn Saud’s forces were encircled, beginning a six‑month siege.

8:35 Intervention by Ibn Saud’s cousin Saud Al Kabeer

8:38 and half‑brother Muhammad Abdulaziz eventually broke the stalemate.

8:42 The Saud forces inflicted 350 casualties, mostly upon Ajman women and children,

8:48 while suffering 2400 casualties and losing

8:51 credibility amongst their British allies.

8:54 The South Arabian Campaign In southern Arabia by early June 1915,

8:57 Aden’s defenses became strained as British

8:59 units were redeployed to Red Sea operations.

9:02 Seizing the moment, General Ali Said Pasha led

9:05 a substantial mixed force of around 2,000 Turks,

9:08 and a few thousand Yemeni and Arab troops from Taiz,

9:11 Yafi’, and Al-Hawashib, plus 20 artillery pieces, toward Aden’s hinterlands.

9:15 They crossed into Lahej,

9:17 prompting Sultan Ali bin Ahmed Al-Abdali of Lahej to request British assistance.

9:22 General Shaw organized the Aden Mobile Brigade,

9:25 consisting of 250 rifles and two mortars under Lt-Colonel Pearson,

9:28 to advance toward Lahej as the Ottomans reoccupied Chiekh Said.

9:33 On the 13th, the Ottomans attacked Perim,

9:36 but the on-island British-Indian garrison held out.

9:39 Shaw then dispatched Aden Camel Troops for reconnaissance,

9:42 which found a strong Ottoman presence near Nubia Dakim

9:46 before joining the Aden Mobile Brigade’s vanguard entering Lahej.

9:50 By July 4, the British joined several hundred of the Sultan’s

9:53 forces to repel the Ottoman attack upon Lahej’s capital initially.

9:57 They faced four Ottoman battalions,

9:59 20 artillery pieces and thousands of allied Arab tribesmen.

10:02 Meanwhile, the rest of the Aden Mobile Brigade struggled with desert

10:06 logistics and failed to reach Lahej in a timely manner.

10:09 By the 5th, Arab camp-followers deserted the British,

10:13 taking camels and leaving the force exposed.

10:16 3 British officers were wounded,

10:17 and Sultan Ali bin Ahmed Al-Abdali died from wounds received in battle,

10:21 prompting the British to withdraw to Kawr.

10:24 The Ottomans occupied Lahej and Shaikh Othman,

10:26 damaging British prestige and shifting the strategic initiative.

10:30 On July 20, a composite force under Lt-Col.

10:33 Elsmie launched a surprise attack at Shaikh Othmen,

10:36 routing the Ottomans and inflicting about 60 casualties, with hundreds captured.

10:41 Over a two-month period, British naval support,

10:43 most notably HMS Philomel at Waht, helped drive Ottoman forces from Lahej

10:48 and reasserted some control over the Aden hinterland.

10:51 The Gallipoli Campaign Meanwhile,

10:52 closer to the Ottoman capital, after the Gallipoli landing,

10:55 the Entente fielded over 50,000 men,

10:57 but failed their objectives of seizing Achi Baba and Ariburnu.

11:01 Had these tasks succeeded, the Allies could have silenced shore batteries,

11:05 forced the straits, and possibly seized Istanbul with naval support.

11:10 Instead, entrenched Ottoman positions around Anzac

11:13 Cove and Cape Helles prevented meaningful gains.

11:16 On April 27, the Turkish 19th Division,

11:19 reinforced by six battalions from the 5th Division,

11:22 counter-attacked the 6 Entente brigades at Anzac Cove.

11:25 With naval gunfire support, the Allies withstood the assault through the night.

11:29 The following day, French troops landed from Kum Kale

11:32 on the Asiatic shore to the line’s right near Morto Bay,

11:37 reinforcing Allied positions.

11:38 In the Hellas sector, on the 28th,

11:40 the British 29th Division, under Major General Hunter-Weston,

11:43 and the Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient,

11:45 under General d’Amade, began an offensive against Krithia.

11:48 The French were to hold the right,

11:50 enabling a British pivot toward Krithia before

11:52 attacking Achi Baba from the south and west.

11:55 Hunter-Weston’s command distance from the front hindered coordination.

11:58 A naval bombardment opened at 08:00

12:01 as the advance pressed through pockets of Ottoman resistance,

12:05 but the terrain obstructed progress.

12:06 On the left, the 87th Brigade stalled at Gully Ravine;

12:10 the assault soon ground to a halt and was abandoned by 18:00.

12:15 Of the approximately 14,000 troops engaged,

12:17 the British suffered 2,000 casualties, while the French losses were 1,000.

12:23 By the 30th, the Royal Naval Division,

12:26 under Major General Archibald Paris, landed.

12:28 Ottomans, led by Lt.

12:29 Col.

12:30 Mustafa Kemal, believed the Allies were near defeat and began pushing

12:33 forward through Wire Gulley toward the 400 Plateau and Lone Pine.

12:38 Eight Ottoman battalions departed Istanbul the following day,

12:41 and that afternoon, Ottoman counterattacks struck Helles and Anzac Cove.

12:45 The Ottomans briefly breached the French sector,

12:48 but Entente machine-gun fire repulsed the assaults.

12:51 That night, Birdwood ordered the New Zealand and Australian Division

12:52 to attack from Russell’s Top and Quinn’s Post toward Baby 700.

12:53 The night advance, aided by naval and artillery bombardment,

12:54 made limited progress and left the force exposed on the left flank;

12:58 they were repulsed, suffering about 1,000 casualties.

13:01 After the collapse of the First Battle of Krithia,

13:04 the British 29th Division consolidated and endured

13:07 Ottoman counter-attacks on May 1 and 4.

13:10 Counter-attacks at Anzac Cove on May 2 were repelled,

13:13 enabling Birdwood to judge the front secure enough to redeploy two brigades

13:17 to Helles for Krithia’s anticipated assault as both sides reinforced the area.

13:22 The Entente plan called for a broad-front advance across the peninsula:

13:26 the French would strike the right against Kereves Spur;

13:29 the British center would pivot left to seize Fir Tree Spur and Gully Spur,

13:33 then capture Krithia; together they would take Achi Baba.

13:36 The May 6 assault began with the 88th

13:39 Brigade over Fir Tree Spur toward Fir Tree Wood,

13:42 while the 6th “Howe” Battalion bogged down over Kanli Dere.

13:45 On May 8, the 88th Brigade was relieved by the New Zealanders,

13:49 who faced machine-gun fire from Gully Ravine.

13:52 At 17:30, Hamilton ordered a full-front

13:54 advance to capture Krithia and Achi Baba.

13:57 The Australian 2nd Brigade advanced from Tommy’s

13:59 Trench but incurred roughly 50% casualties;

14:02 the New Zealanders attempted the Daisy Patch

14:05 crossing but were halted short of Ottoman trenches.

14:08 The French captured Bouchet Redoubt but were pushed back from Kereves Dere.

14:12 Over one-third of the Entente forces became

14:15 casualties before Hamilton ordered to dig in.

14:18 Prolonged trench warfare then settled along the lines,

14:21 with sporadic raids and sniper fire common.

14:24 The Ottomans planned another major counterattack against

14:27 Anzac Cove under Major General Essad Pasha.

14:30 By the 17th, roughly 42,000 Ottoman troops faced the Anzac Corps,

14:35 consisting of two divisions and about 17,300 men, with 43 artillery pieces.

14:40 On the 18th, Entente reconnaissance detected Ottoman preparations.

14:43 The 19th saw the Ottoman assault on the Anzac

14:47 lines commence with a tense stand-down in No.

14:49 2 Section as Ottoman forces from the 2nd,

14:52 16th, and 5th Divisions pressed against Australian trenches.

14:56 The Australians and New Zealanders responded

14:58 with decisive fire from multiple sectors, blunting the first wave;

15:02 Turkish advances were repeatedly repulsed near Johnston’s Jolly,

15:05 German Officers’ Trench, and Wire Gully.

15:07 South of Lone Pine, a joint Australian trench

15:10 extension along the Turkish 16th Division created a chokepoint;

15:14 Turkish forces briefly breached Wire Gully and even reached Australian

15:18 trenches before being driven back by artillery and infantry fire.

15:22 Turkish efforts against Quinn’s Post,

15:24 Courtnay’s Post, and adjacent positions similarly failed,

15:27 and by daylight, Turkish momentum had collapsed along the line.

15:32 Anzac casualties for the day were 468 wounded and 160 dead,

15:37 while Ottoman losses were heavy,

15:39 with about 3,000 killed during approximately 13,000 total Ottoman casualties.

15:44 A truce brokered on the 24th by Colonel Aubrey Herbert and Mustafa

15:48 Kemal allowed both sides to bury the dead in No Man’s Land,

15:51 a gesture reminiscent of the Western Front’s Christmas truce of 1914.

15:55 In the Helles sector, the British and French forces had moved forward by night,

16:00 gradually approaching the Ottoman front line.

16:02 After two failed attempts,

16:04 Hunter-Weston’s renewed attack on Krithia–Achi Baba demanded limited objectives:

16:09 capture forward Ottoman trenches,

16:10 advance 500 yards to establish a new trench line,

16:13 and use eight armored cars to push along

16:16 the Krithia road in support of the Royal Naval Division.

16:19 On June 4, bombardments and a feint preceded

16:22 a noon assault as Ottomans withdrew into their trenches.

16:25 The left-flank Indian Brigade faltered,

16:27 though the 1/6th Gurkha Rifles achieved progress along the Aegean shore.

16:32 The 14th King George’s Own Ferozepore Sikhs

16:34 Regiment suffered heavy losses in Gully Ravine, with 80% officers lost.

16:38 At the same time, the 2nd Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment

16:42 advanced along Fir Tree Spur but lost contact with the Sikhs.

16:46 Ottoman strongpoints, largely intact after the bombardment,

16:49 halted much of the British advance.

16:51 The 42nd Division captured the first Ottoman

16:54 trench line and advanced about 1,000 yards,

16:56 and its 127th “Manchester” Brigade reportedly took 217 prisoners.

17:01 The Royal Naval Division captured trenches,

17:04 but their second wave was decimated by enfilade fire and failed to reform.

17:09 Subsequent attempts to achieve the second objective failed,

17:13 resulting in a retreat.

17:14 By 16:00, Hunter-Weston ordered consolidation as Ottoman

17:18 counterattacks intensified against the 127th Brigade.

17:21 The brigade faced a three-sided attack within an hour and withdrew.

17:26 The third attempt produced substantial casualties: 4,500 British, 2,000 French,

17:31 and 9,000 Ottoman, for only 250–500 yards gained over a one-mile front.

17:37 The road to Krithia cost the Entente about 20,000 casualties per mile.

17:42 In preparation for a renewed push, separate flank attacks were planned.

17:46 On the 21st, the French, backed by overwhelming artillery,

17:49 seized two redoubts on Kereves Spur,

17:52 taking Haricot Redoubt and the Quadrilateral by June 30.

17:55 Captain Kemal Bey, wounded on the line, died the next day.

17:59 The French suffered around 2,500 casualties,

18:02 while Ottoman losses reached about 6,000.

18:05 On the 28th, a left-flank assault targeted Gully Spur,

18:09 Gully Ravine, and Fir Tree Spur.

18:11 The British 29th Division and its 29th

18:13 Indian Brigade attacked Gully Spur and Gully Ravine,

18:16 while the 156th “Scottish Rifles” Brigade struck Fir Tree Spur.

18:21 After two days of bombardment, fighting began at 10:45 on the 28th.

18:26 The 2/10th Gurkha Rifles and Royal Fusiliers advanced to Fusilier Bluff

18:30 as the Border Regiment seized the Border Barricade in the Ravine.

18:34 On the right, Fir Tree Spur attacks faltered,

18:37 with the 156th Brigade suffering 800 casualties.

18:41 The Ottomans, leveraging manpower but constrained

18:43 by limited artillery and machine guns,

18:46 launched persistent counterattacks culminating on July 5,

18:49 but these were repulsed.

18:50 Repeated bayonet assaults failed to seize

18:53 the hills above Gully Ravine and Kerevizdere,

18:55 resulting in Ottoman losses up to 16,000, roughly four times the Entente losses.

19:00 A final center assault near Krithia Road and Achi Baba Nullah,

19:05 led by the 52nd Division’s remnants,

19:08 the 155th and 157th Brigades, began with bombardment and proceeded in two waves.

19:13 While early progress suggested the first Ottoman trench had fallen,

19:17 overextension, loss of contact, and intense fire halted the advance.

19:21 A disorderly retreat followed the next day,

19:24 with a limited resumption under pressure.

19:26 The Entente sustained about 2,500 casualties while

19:29 the Ottomans sustained approximately 9,000 casualties and 600 prisoners.

19:34 After two months of brutal fighting, Gallipoli settled into another stalemate.

19:39 Conclusion The Spring Offensives of 1915 left

19:42 the Ottoman Empire battered but still unbroken.

19:45 Across the Caucasus, Persia, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli, and the Arabian Peninsula,

19:49 the Ottomans faced relentless pressure from Russia, Britain,

19:52 France and internal enemies, testing loyalties and eroding supplies.

19:56 By summer, trenches and stalemate dominated the front lines,

20:00 with both sides paying steep prices,

20:02 echoing the horrors found on the Western Front in Europe.

20:05 However, the war was far from over for the ailing Ottoman Empire.

20:09 In the next episode, we will discuss the end of the Gallipoli campaign

20:13 and its impact on the other fronts of the war,

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