to study these attempts in order to understand clearly
the difficulties which faced the British and French Allies in 1914. Of
the previous attacks that had been made to force a way through the
Dardanelles and so up to the city of Constantinople, that of the
famous Admiral Hornby in 1877 was one of the most interesting as well
as one of the most instructive. Ordered by the British Government to
take his fleet past the forts that lined the approaching banks, he
proceeded to carry out his orders, but wrote a warning in which he
pointed out that, while it might be possible for his fleet to make its
way into the Sea of Marmora, once there it would be helpless if the
land defenses were controlled by the enemy. Out of coal, ammunition,
and food, the ships would be at the mercy of the Turks. "Although the
forts might not prevent a strong fleet passing through the
Dardanelles, they certainly," wrote Admiral Hornby, "could sink armed
and unarmed transports and supply ships." In view of these
considerations, Hornby urged the British Government to provide a land
force of sufficient strength to carry and hold the land defenses. His
superiors, however, did not agree with him, for they told him to go
ahead with a purely naval operation. His ideas were never put to a
real test because the Turks offered no resistance to his passage of
the straits.

The situation in the Great War of 1914 presented Constantinople as the
same perplexing military problem. If we go back another three-quarters
of a century to 1807, the experience of Admiral Duckworth throws some
light on the subject, although conditions had changed radically.
Duckworth, with his sailing ships, ran past the forts in the
Dardanelles and anchored in front of Constantinople. It was hoped that
a threat of bombardment would bring the Turks to their knees, but the
latter refused to be intimidated. In the end, the British admiral ran
out of food and water and was compelled to leave without
accomplishing anything.

The student of the War of 1914 also must consider that during the war
between Italy and Turkey, the Italian General Staff is known to have
worked out an elaborate plan for an attack upon the Dardanelles.
However, at the critical moment, the European powers interfered and
forced upon Italy an agreement that the war should not be extended to
the mainland of Europe. In the Balkan War, the Bulgarians threatened
the lines of Bulair, the narrow neck which connects the Gallipoli