Dardanelles (strait)

The Dardanelles is a strait that historically has represented a dividing line between Europe and Asia. It separates Gallipoli peninsula in Eastern Europe on its northwestern shore from Anatolia in Asia on its southeastern shore. Although the Dardanelles is neither exceptionally long nor exceptionally wide, it has been a significant waterway since ancient times and was the site of an Allied military campaign during World War I (1914–1918). Now controlled by Turkey, the Dardanelles connects the Aegean Sea, via the Sea of Marmara and the Bosporus strait, to the Black Sea.

Background

The Dardanelles is a strait, a narrow waterway that connects two larger bodies of water—in this case, the Aegean Sea to the west with the Sea of Marmara to the east. The strait is approximately 38 miles (61 kilometers) long and ranges from less than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) to about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) wide. Its maximum depth is about 338 feet (103 meters); its average depth is about 180 feet (55 meters). The narrowest point of the strait, known as the Narrows, lies between Çanakkale, Turkey, on its Asian shore and Kilitbahir, Turkey, on its European shore.

The Dardanelles contains both salt water and freshwater and both surface and underwater currents. The surface current is freshwater and flows from the Sea of Marmara toward the Aegean Sea. The underwater current is salt water and flows in the opposite direction. Navigating vessels through the Dardanelles can be dangerous, but because it is strategically located between the Mediterranean and Black Seas, it receives heavy international ship traffic. Numerous ferries regularly cross the strait.

Plans to build a bridge across the strait were discussed several times in the past but never materialized. In March of 2017, however, Turkey broke ground on a new suspension bridge that will connect the town of Lapseki on the Asian shore to Gallipoli (Gelibolu) on the European shore. Called the Çanakkale 1915 Bridge—in commemoration of the 1915 Ottoman victory over the Allies during a World War I campaign fought in the strait—the bridge is expected to open to vehicle traffic in 2023. Upon its completion, it will be the longest suspension bridge in the world, surpassing the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan by approximately 105 feet (32 meters).

The Dardanelles has been known by several names throughout its long history. The ancient Greeks called it the Hellespont ("Sea of Helle"). The name came from the waterway's association with the legend of twins Helle and Phrixus, a sister and brother who were about to be killed when they were rescued by a flying ram with golden fleece. During the flight across the strait, Helle fell into the water and drowned. In modern-day Turkey, the strait is known as Çanakkale Boğazi. The strait is known internationally as the Dardanelles, a name derived from the ancient Greek city Dardanus, which was situated on its Asian shore. Together, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, the strait that connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, are known as the Black Sea straits or the Turkish straits.

Impact

The Dardanelles has had a long and storied history. The ancient city of Troy, site of the Trojan War, was located along the Asian shore of the Dardanelles near its opening to the Aegean Sea. In 480 BCE, Persian king Xerxes I used hundreds of linked boats to bridge the strait from Asia to invade Greece. In 405 BCE, the last battle of the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE), during which the Spartans bested the Athenians to effectively end the Athenian empire's reign, occurred along the European shores of the Dardanelles. In 334 BCE, Macedonian king Alexander the Great bridged the Dardanelles from the European side to the Asian side during his invasion of Persia.

The Dardanelles remained an important waterway in subsequent centuries. During Byzantine rule from the fourth century CE to the Middle Ages, the strait played a significant part in protecting the empire's capital city, Constantinople (known as Istanbul today). Later, the Ottomans crossed the Dardanelles from Asia to seize Gallipoli on the European side. From there, the Ottomans quickly continued their conquest of European regions. In the nineteenth century, various international treaties were signed to try to control the movement of warships through the strait.

The strait is perhaps most well known as the site of the Dardanelles Campaign of World War I, during which Allied troops attempted to force their way through the strait in March of 1915. From the onset of the war, the British, French, and Russians, known as the Triple Entente, were allied against the Central powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The Dardanelles was important to the Allies because it directly linked the Mediterranean Sea with the Black Sea. Allied control of the strait meant that the British and French could easily supply their Russian allies with weapons and other supplies. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, however, the formerly neutral Ottoman Empire joined the Central powers, which compromised the Allied supply line through the Dardanelles. As a result, Winston Churchill, the British first lord of the admiralty, began to advocate for an offensive naval maneuver to seize control of the strait.

Churchill believed that if Allied naval forces could gain control of the Dardanelles, the Ottoman Empire might withdraw from the war. Furthermore, neutral countries in the Balkan region, such as Greece and Bulgaria, might be convinced to join the Allied effort. An assault was orchestrated during the winter of 1915. Ten battleships headed into the Dardanelles on March 18, 1915. The Ottomans had prepared by placing underwater mines in the strait, however, so progress was slow. Allied forces sent minesweepers ahead of their ships to clear the way before moving forward. Somehow both the minesweepers and airplane patrols overhead missed a line of mines that had been placed parallel to the Asian shore of the strait. These mines, along with heavy fire from the shore, took out half the ships, and the Allies had to retreat.

A month later, on April 25, 1915, the Allies attempted a ground attack, known as the Gallipoli Campaign, to seize the Gallipoli peninsula and clear the way for naval ships to pass through the Dardanelles. The Allied soldiers met with heavy resistance. By January of 1916, they had made very little progress, and the campaign, considered an Allied failure, was abandoned. The two campaigns resulted in combined losses of about half a million soldiers and sailors.

Following the end of World War I, the League of Nations briefly controlled the Dardanelles as an international waterway. The nation of Turkey controls the strait in the twenty-first century.

Bibliography

Corfield, Justin. "Dardanelles." Seas and Waterways of the World: An Encyclopedia of History, Uses, and Issues. Edited by John Zumerchik and Steven L. Danver, vol. 1, ABC-CLIO, 2010, pp. 103–05.

"The Dardanelles." AE2 Commemorative Foundation (AE2CF) and Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM), ae2.org.au/hmas-ae2/ae2-at-war/the-dardanelles/. Accessed 8 June 2017.

"Dardanelles Campaign." History.com, 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/dardanelles-campaign. Accessed 8 June 2017.

Lendering, Jona. "Hellespont (Dardanelles." Livius.org, 6 June 2017, www.livius.org/articles/place/hellespont-dardanelles/. Accessed 8 June 2017.

Miszczak, Izabela. Gallipoli Peninsula and the Troad: TAN Travel Guide. Aslan, 2017.

Panaite, Viorel. "Dardanelles." Encyclopedia of World Trade: From Ancient Times to the Present. Edited by Cynthia Clarke Northrup, Sharpe Reference, 2013, pp. 271–73.

Steel, Nigel. "A Short History of the Dardanelles Campaign." Imperial War Museums, www.iwm.org.uk/history/a-short-history-of-the-dardanelles-campaign. Accessed 8 June 2017.

Ugurlu, Sibel. "Turkey Breaks Ground on Huge Canakkale 1915 Bridge." Anadolu Agency, 18 Mar. 2017, aa.com.tr/en/todays-headlines/turkey-breaks-ground-on-huge-canakkale-1915-bridge/774419. Accessed 8 June 2017.