Turkey's first offensive against Russians on her Eastern border at Sarikamish was a disaster. It led to the death of almost 90,000 Turkish soldiers and to the deportation of nearly all Armenians living within the Ottoman Empire. Perhaps 800,000 Armenians died in all. Whether this was an act of centrally directed genocide is still a matter of furious debate.
The Turks won one of the most unexpected victories of war at Gallipoli; a quarter of a million Allied and Commonwealth soldiers lost their lives. But Australia and New Zealand came of age on the sun-baked hills of Gallipoli. A further humiliating defeat at Turkish hands was in store for Britain. A British invasion of present-day Iraq failed to reach Baghdad; the British force was besieged at Kut and forced to surrender. The Turks fought to the end, defying Allied preconceptions and following their own agenda.
