🇹🇷 Gallipoli 1915 | Ottoman (Turkish) Perspective Why the Ottomans entered WWI:  After decades of losses — including provinces in North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria), the Balkans (Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania), and the Caucasus — the empire had been steadily shrinking since the early 1800s. Defeats of the First and Second Balkan Wars (1912–1913) cost nearly all remaining European territories and left the army and morale shattered. The Ottomans sought survival and territorial integrity. Years of German training, loans, and the Berlin–Baghdad railway led to a secret alliance (Aug 1914). After the Black Sea raid on 29 Oct 1914, Russia — then Britain and France — declared war. Why align with Germany:  The leadership saw Berlin as the best partner to modernize and to counter Russia and British naval power. Where it happened: The Gallipoli Peninsula in north-western Anatolia (today’s Turkey, Çanakkale Province), along the Dardanelles/Çanakkale Strait between Europe and A...