FromGallipolitoGalicia:thestaticwarfareexperience
ThemostendangeredregionoftheOttomanEmpirewasthecapitalwithitsnear-
byEastThracianregionandtheGallipolipeninsula.ARussianinvasionseemed
feasibleespeciallyattheBlackSeacoast.²²⁴TheRussianandtheBulgarianar-
mieshadreachedtheÇatalcalinebothin 1877 /78andin1912/ 13 .Thusthepro-
tectionofthecapitaldeservedspecialattention.
Inaddition,anattackonthestraitsfromtheMediterraneanSeaalsolay
withintherangeofpossibility.DuringthewarwithItalyinApril1911,asmall
Italianflotillahadtriedtoforcetheentrancetothestraits.NeithertheOttoman
shorebatteriesnortheItalianfleetcouldclaimamajorhitoftheenemyboatsor
positions.TheOttomanfortressesontheAsianandEuropeanshoresremained
mainlyintact;justoneItaliangrenadehadpenetratedtheceilingofacasemate.
FinallytheOttomandefensehadsucceededinlayingaminefieldsouthofKilit-
bahirandÇanakkale,justintimetopreventthepassageoftheItalianraidersto
theSeaofMarmara.²²⁵
FortheOttomannavy,thisweakpointhadtobedefendedinfuturewars.For
thispurpose,alreadybeforethewar,thenavalartilleryschoolhadaddedthe
studyofrecentnavaloperationsagainstshoretargetstothecurriculum.²²⁶Sim-
ilarstudieswereconductedinGermany;albeittheywereofarathertheoretical
approach.²²⁷Duringavisittothefifthcontinent,theGermannavyhadgathered
firsthandintelligenceaboutthepotentialadversariesoftheOttomandefenders
inGalipoli.²²⁸
Cf.thedetailedaccountofaRussiansurpriseattackfromtheBlackSea,followedbyan
immediateoccupationoftheOttomancapitalincaseofwarbyaGermannavycaptain:Alfred
Stenzel,DerkürzesteWegnachKonstantinopel:EinBeispielfürdasZusammenwirkenvonFlotte
undHeer(Kiel:PaulToeche,1894).
Cf.thereportoftheGermannavalattachéWossidlotoemperorWilhelmII,“Militärpoli-
tischerBerichtüberdieBeschießungderDardanellenam 13 .April1912,’’dated 17 May1912.
BA-MARM5/ 1580 ,1 82 etseq.
Mümtaz,Ba-emr-iSamiBahriyeTopçuMektebindeKaymakamMümtazBeytarafındanÇin-
Japonveİspanya-AmerikaMuharebesihakkındaverilenKonferans[LecturegivenintheNavalAr-
tillerySchoolabouttheChinese-JapaneseandSpanish-AmericanWarbyLieutenantColonel
MümtazBeybytheHighestOrder](Istanbul:Matbaa-ıAmire, 132 7/1911).
Bracht,“UeberdieVerteidigungvonKüstenbefestigungenundHäfenaufGrundderKrieg-
serfahrungeninOstasien,”MWB 110 (1908),cols.2 575 – 2579 andibid. 111 (1908),cols. 2603 –
2607 andibid. 113 (1908),cols. 2669 – 2674.
Cf.thedetailedreportonthestateofthearmedforcesinNewZealandin“Militärpolitischer
BerichtderS.M.S.CormoranausApia,”1February 1913 ,1 17 – 12 7.BA-MARM3/3 03 ;FortheAus-
tralianarmysee“MilitärpolitischerBerichtderS.M.S.CormoranausSydney,”5April 1913 ,
FromGallipolitoGalicia:thestaticwarfareexperience 77