Gallipoli Peninsula

Gallipoli Peninsula, 50-mi (80-km) strip of land in European Turkey between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles. A strategic point of defense for Istanbul, it was fought over during the Crimean War and World War I. In 1915 an Allied expedition of British, Australian, French, and New Zealand forces failed to dislodge Turkish troops in an effort to gain control of the Dardanelles.