The Allied strategic objective in the Gallipoli Campaign was, by capturing Constantinople (now Istanbul), to force German’s ally Turkey and its Ottoman Empire out of the war. In addition, this would open a warm water sea supply route from the Aegean through the Dardanelles and into the Black Sea to Russia. It was also hoped that pressure on Turkey would influence the neutral states of Bulgaria, Romania and Greece to enter the war on the allied side, and in a combined effort to assist the Entente powers in removing the weaker allies of Germany; namely Turkey and Austria-Hungary. But the campaign would be a risk with a far from certain outcome. If successful it was hoped to shorten the war, but if it failed, the consequences were beyond comprehension. Would the war be lengthened by not concentrating efforts on the Western Front against the main power, Germany? Would it weaken Britain’s influence in the east, threatening the British Empire? Although a valid gamble, the campaigns poor planning and execution shattered any glimmer of hope in a catalogue of mismanaged sea and land battles that would finally end in January 1916.