Battle of Eski Hissarlik

The Battle of Eski Hissarlik took place on 1 May 1915 and was an attempt made by the Ottomans, commanded by Liman von Sanders to push Allied (British and French) troops back to the sea.

Prelide

On 28 April 1915, Allied troops had attempted to capture the village of Krithia on the Gallipoli peninsula. They were unsuccessful and withdrew from the First Battle of Krithia after 10 hours. On 1 May 1915, OttomanThe Ottoman Empire, also known as the Turkish Empire, was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries. The Ottomans ended the Byzantine Empire with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman Empire's defeat and the occupation of part of its territory by the Allied Powers in the aftermath of World War I resulted in its partitioning and the loss of its Middle Eastern territories. Ottoman troops made a counter-strike designed to force the Allied troops back to the sea.

Battle

At around 10:15 PM on 1 May 1915, Ottoman troops (commanded by Liman von Sanders, attacked the Allied troops defenses close to the hill of Achi Baba. The BritishThe British Empire, was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By the start of the 20th century, Germany and the United States had begun to challenge Britain's economic lead.British and FrenchFrench Third Republic was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France during World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire.French had been prepared for a night attack and inflicted heavy injuries upon the Ottoman forces. The British received far fewer casualties, and remained on the island.

Aftermath

If the Allied forces had been pushed back to the sea, the Gallipoli campaign would have been over. Instead, they remained on the peninsula. 5 days later they would again attack the village of Krithia, in the Second Battle of Krithia.

RESOURCES
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "World War", "World War I", and "Battle of Eski Hissarlik", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.