Gallipoli Movie Appraisal

The Gallipoli Campaign, pitfall of Winston Churchill’s early career, was a strategic World War I campaign designed to seize the Dardanelles strait, allowing the Entente powers a sea route to Russia, and, eventually, the Ottoman capital of Constantinople (currently Istanbul). The capture of the capital would knock Turkey out of the war, which would end the fighting in the Middle Eastern theatre. Although not a large front, a ceasefire in the Middle East would save the British and Entente forces millions of dollars and troops which could then be spent or redeployed elsewhere. While predicted to be a success, the campaign ended in tragedy and the loss of thousands of lives. The Battle plan was under developed and the Turks were astonishingly underestimated. Approximately sixty thousand lives were lost during the nine month long operation. Australian film director Peter Weir tackled the task of portraying the pointlessness and disparity caused of a battle within the campaign in his 1981 film, Gallipoli. Following the war experience of runners Archy Hamilton and Frank Dunne, the movie tells a tale of friendship then tragic loss when Archy dies before Frank can deliver the message that the battle is called off. Although not entirely historically accurate, the movie allows viewers to see, at a personal level, what a poor decision this battle was as well as the entire war.

The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign, took place on the tiny island of Gallipoli near the western border of Turkey. Earlier in the war, no one believed a battle would have to be fought here due to the strong British influence in previous centuries. However, the Ottoman Empire quickly sided with the Allied Powers because of the funding and trai...

... middle of paper ...

...als from that famine run from 5 to 10 million people. Countries could not afford to feed their people and rebuild the wartime economy. People starving was not supposed to be a product of the war! There was supposed to be victory parades and roads named after the generals! Where did things go wrong?

Despite the honorable reasons stated publically by the different nations involved, it is my firm belief that World War I was a pointless war. As seen from the Gallipoli campaign, we no longer knew what the true costs of war were and who had to pay them. Typically, whoever starts the war is oblivious to the fighting’s effects until it is too late to undo the damage. Those in the position to stop it choose not to, thus the fighting continues. Humanity has always had a taste for conflict and, as evident throughout all of history, conflict and war will always run its course.