Being an uneducated American I had to look it up.
In 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of an
Allied expedition that set out to capture the
Gallipoli Peninsula to open the way to the
Black Sea for the Allied navies. The objective was to capture
Constantinople, the capital of the
Ottoman Empire, which was an ally of
Germany during the war. The ANZAC force landed at Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Army commanded by
Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk). What had been planned as a bold strike to knock the Ottomans out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915, the Allied forces were evacuated after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. The Allied
deaths included 21,255 from the
United Kingdom, of which were some 4,000 Irish soldiers from the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an estimated 10,000 from
France, 8,709 from Australia, 2,721 from New Zealand, and 1,358 from
British India. News of the landing at Gallipoli made a profound impact on Australians and New Zealanders at home and 25 April quickly became the day on which they remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.
Though the Gallipoli campaign failed to achieve its military objectives of capturing Constantinople and knocking the Ottoman Empire out of the war, the actions of the Australian and New Zealand troops during the campaign bequeathed an intangible but powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as an "
Anzac legend" became an important part of the national identity in both countries. This has shaped the way their citizens have viewed both their past and their understanding of the present. The heroism of the soldiers in the failed Gallipoli campaign made their sacrifices iconic in New Zealand memory, and is often credited with securing the psychological independence of the nation.
