Jules Crittenden has another great historical post up. Today Jules commemorates the battle of Gallipoli, which took place in 1915 and was a disaster for the British, and, more specifically, for Winston Churchill. Churchill, of course, was force to resign as First Lord of the Admiralty.
Jules highlights another aspect of this battle:
The deaths of thousands of diggers at Gallipoli became a galvanizing event that helped establish a sense of nationhood for Australia, which until recently had been a British colony. A controversial event in which some see Australia as the victim of imperial Britain and others as an early example of Australian spirit in the face of adversity and a willingness to act in the world, at a time when Australia’s security and economy were in large part linked to great powers elsewhere, as they are today.
Today, this small nation of 20 million on the other side of the world, with total air, land and sea forces of about 50,000, puts many nations to shame with its willingness to engage. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iraq again. Timor and the Marshalls. As Foreign Minister Alexander Downer put it several years ago, Australia is not subject to the popular multinationalism of the lowest common denominator, but has stepped up to play its role.
Next follow some personal accounts of what happened at Gallipoli. Go to Jules’ place to read them, they’re fascinating. Also read the Wikipedia entry on this famous battle.
The battle of Gallipoli left huge marks in the psyches of, indeed, New Zealand and Australia, but also in the national psyche of Turkey. As the entry at Wikipedia explains:
In Turkey, the battle is seen as one of the finest and bravest moments in the history of the Turkish people – a final surge in the defense of the motherland as the centuries-old Ottoman Empire was crumbling; which laid the grounds for the Turkish War of Independence and the foundation of the new Turkish Republic eight years later, led by Atatürk, a commander in Gallipoli himself.
Also be sure to read Shaun’s post on, what the Australians call, Anzac Day.
Cross posted at my own blog.
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