Editing Dardanelles (section)

==History==
As part of the only passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, the Dardanelles has always been of great importance from a commercial and military point of view, and remains strategically important today. It is a major sea access route for numerous countries, including [[Russia]] and [[Ukraine]]. Control over it has been an objective of a number of hostilities in modern history, notably the attack of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] on the Dardanelles during the 1915 [[Battle of Gallipoli]] in the course of [[World War I]].

===Ancient Dardanian, Persian, Roman, and Byzantine eras (pre-1454)===
====Dardanian and Persian history====
[[File:Xerxes lash sea.JPG|thumb|upright|An artist's illustration depicting [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]' alleged "punishment" of the Hellespont]]
The ancient city of [[Troy]] was located near the western entrance of the strait, and the strait's Asiatic shore was the focus of the [[Trojan War]]. Troy was able to control the marine traffic entering this vital waterway. The [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] army of [[Xerxes I of Persia]] and later the Macedonian army of [[Alexander the Great]] crossed the Dardanelles in opposite directions to invade each other's lands, in 480 BC and 334 BC respectively.

[[Herodotus]] says that, circa 482 BC, Xerxes I (the son of [[Darius the Great|Darius]]) had two [[pontoon bridge]]s built across the width of the Hellespont at [[Abydos, Hellespont|Abydos]], in order that his huge army could cross from Persia into [[Ancient Greece|Greece]]. This crossing was named by [[Aeschylus]] in his tragedy ''[[The Persians]]'' as the cause of divine intervention against Xerxes.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Aeschylus]] |url=http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/persians.html |title=The Persians |translator-first=Robert |translator-link=Robert Potter (translator) |translator-last=Potter |access-date=2003-09-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031119043049/http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/persians.html |archive-date=19 November 2003 |via=The Internet Classics Archive}}</ref>

According to Herodotus (vv.34), both bridges were destroyed by a storm and [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]] had those responsible for building the bridges beheaded and the strait itself whipped. [[The Histories of Herodotus]] vii.33–37 and vii.54–58 give details of building and crossing of [[Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges]]. Xerxes is then said to have thrown [[fetters]] into the strait, given it three hundred lashes with multiple whips and branded it with red-hot irons as the soldiers shouted at the water.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |last=Green |first=Peter |title=The Greco-Persian Wars |publisher=The University of California Press |location=Berkeley; London |date=1996 |page=75 |isbn=0-520-20573-1}}</ref>

Herodotus commented that this was a "highly presumptuous way to address the Hellespont" but in no way atypical of Xerxes. (vii.35)

[[Harpalus (engineer)|Harpalus the engineer]] is said to have eventually helped the invading armies to cross by lashing the ships together with their bows facing the current and adding two additional anchors to each ship. 

From the perspective of [[ancient Greek mythology]] [[Helle (mythology)|Helle]], the daughter of Athamas, supposedly was drowned at the Dardanelles in the legend of the [[Golden Fleece]]. Likewise, the strait was the scene of the legend of [[Hero and Leander]], wherein the lovesick Leander swam the strait nightly in order to tryst with his beloved, the priestess Hero, but was ultimately drowned in a storm.

====Byzantine history====
The Dardanelles were vital to the defence of [[Constantinople]] during the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period.

Also, the Dardanelles was an important source of income for the ruler of the region. At the [[Istanbul]] Archaeological Museum a marble plate contains a law by the [[Anastasius I (emperor)|Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I]] (491–518 AD), that regulated fees for passage through the customs office of the Dardanelles. Translation:

<blockquote>... Whoever dares to violate these regulations shall no longer be regarded as a friend, and he shall be punished. Besides, the administrator of the Dardanelles must have the right to receive 50 golden Litrons, so that these rules, which we make out of piety, shall never ever be violated... ... The distinguished governor and major of the capital, who already has both hands full of things to do, has turned to our lofty piety in order to reorganize the entry and exit of all ships through the Dardanelles... ... Starting from our day and also in the future, anybody who wants to pass through the Dardanelles must pay the following: <br />
– All wine merchants who bring wine to the capital (Constantinopolis), except [[Cilicia]]ns, have to pay the Dardanelles officials 6 [[follis]] and 2 [[sextarius]] of wine. <br />
– In the same manner, all merchants of olive-oil, vegetables and lard must pay the Dardanelles officials 6 follis. Cilician sea-merchants have to pay 3 follis and in addition to that, 1 keration (12 follis) to enter, and 2 keration to exit.<br />
– All wheat merchants have to pay the officials 3 follis per modius, and a further sum of 3 follis when leaving.</blockquote>

Since the 14th century the Dardanelles have almost continuously been controlled by the Turks.

===Ottoman era (1354–1922)===
[[File:Map of the Dardanelles - Belon Pierre - 1554.jpg|thumb|1554 map of the Dardanelles in [[Observations (Belon book)|Belon's Observations]]]]
The Dardanelles continued to constitute an important waterway during the period of the [[Ottoman Empire]], which [[Fall of Gallipoli|conquered Gallipoli]] in 1354.

Ottoman control of the strait continued largely without interruption or challenges until the 19th century, when the Empire started [[Decline of the Ottoman Empire|its decline]].

====Nineteenth century====
Gaining control of, or guaranteed access to, the strait became a key foreign-policy goal of the [[Russian Empire]] during the 19th century. During the [[Napoleonic Wars]], Russia—supported by [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]] in the [[Dardanelles Operation]]—[[Battle of the Dardanelles (1807)|blockaded the straits]] in 1807. 

In 1833, following the [[Ottoman Empire]]'s defeat in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)|Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829]], Russia pressured the Ottomans to sign the [[Treaty of Hunkiar Iskelesi]]—which required the closing of the straits to warships of non-Black Sea powers at Russia's request. That would have effectively given Russia a free hand in the Black Sea.

This treaty alarmed the [[Ottoman Empire]], who were concerned that the consequences of potential Russian expansionism in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions could conflict with their own possessions and economic interest in the region. At the [[London Straits Convention]] in July 1841, the [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Austria]], and [[Prussia]] pressured Russia to agree that only Turkish warships could traverse the Dardanelles in peacetime. The United Kingdom and France subsequently sent their fleets through the straits to defend the Danube front and to attack the [[Crimean Peninsula]] during the [[Crimean War]] of 1853–1856 – but they did so as allies of the Ottoman Empire. Following the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, the [[Congress of Paris]] in 1856 formally reaffirmed the London Straits Convention.

====World War I====
{{Main|Occupation of Constantinople|Chanak Crisis}}
{{Main|Gallipoli Campaign}}
[[File:Landing French-Gallipoli.jpg|thumb|left|1915 Landing of French troops in Moudros (Lemnos island) during the [[Gallipoli Campaign]]]]
[[File:Landing at Gallipoli (13901951593).jpg|thumb|Landing at Gallipoli in April 1915]]
[[File:View_of_Anzac_Cove_-_Gallipoli_Peninsula_-_Dardanelles_-_Turkey_-_01_(5734713946).jpg|thumb|[[Anzac Cove]]]]
[[File:Gallipoli ANZAC Cove Sphinx 2.JPG|thumb|The Sphinx overlooking Anzac Cove]]

In 1915 the [[Allies of World War I|Allies]] sent a substantial invasion force of British, Indian, Australian, New Zealand, French and Newfoundland troops to attempt to open up the straits. In the [[Gallipoli campaign]], Turkish troops trapped the Allies on the coasts of the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign damaged the career of [[Winston Churchill]], then [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] (in office 1911–1915), who had eagerly promoted the (unsuccessful) use of [[Royal Navy]] [[sea power]] to force open the straits. [[Mustafa Kemal Atatürk]], subsequent founder of the [[Republic of Turkey#Republic of Turkey|Republic of Turkey]], served as an Ottoman commander during the land campaign.

The Turks mined the straits to prevent Allied ships from penetrating them but, in minor actions two submarines, one British and one Australian, did succeed in penetrating the minefields. The British submarine sank an obsolete Turkish [[pre-dreadnought battleship]] off the [[Golden Horn]] of Istanbul. [[Ian Hamilton (British Army officer)|Sir Ian Hamilton]]'s [[Mediterranean Expeditionary Force]] failed in its attempt to capture the Gallipoli peninsula, and the British cabinet ordered its withdrawal in December 1915, after eight months' fighting. Total Allied deaths included 41,000 British and Irish,<ref>{{cite news |title=Key facts of Gallipoli casualties |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/key-facts-of-gallipoli-casualties/7kwbwhum1 |access-date=14 November 2024 |work=[[SBS World News]] |date=17 April 2014 |language=en}}</ref> 15,000 French, 8,700 Australians, 2,700 New Zealanders, 1,370 Indians and 49 Newfoundlanders.<ref>{{cite web
|url = https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/interactive/gallipoli-casualties-country
|title = Gallipoli casualties by country 
|date=2016-03-01
|website = New Zealand History 
|publisher = New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage
|access-date = 6 November 2020
}}</ref> Total Turkish deaths were around 60,000.

Following the war, the 1920 [[Treaty of Sèvres]] demilitarized the strait and made it an international territory under the control of the [[League of Nations]]. The Ottoman Empire's non-ethnically Turkish territories were broken up and partitioned among the Allied Powers, and Turkish jurisdiction over the [[Turkish Straits|straits]] curbed.

===Turkish republican and modern eras (1923–present)===
After the dissolution of the [[Ottoman Empire]] following a lengthy campaign by Turks as part of the [[Turkish War of Independence]] against both the Allied Powers and the Ottoman court, the [[Republic of Turkey]] was created in 1923 by the [[Treaty of Lausanne (1923)|Treaty of Lausanne]], which established most of the modern sovereign territory of Turkey and restored the [[Turkish Straits|straits]] to Turkish territory, with the condition that Turkey keep them demilitarized and allow all foreign warships and commercial shipping to traverse the straits freely.

As part of its national security strategy, Turkey eventually rejected the terms of the treaty, and subsequently remilitarized [[Turkish Straits|the straits]] area over the following decade. Following extensive diplomatic negotiations, the reversion was formalized under the [[Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits]] on 20 July 1936. That convention, which is still in force today, treats the straits as an international shipping lane while allowing Turkey to retain the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea states.

During [[World War II]], through February 1945, when Turkey was neutral for most of the length of the conflict, the Dardanelles were closed to the ships of the belligerent nations. Turkey declared war on Germany in February 1945, but it did not employ any offensive forces during the war.

In July 1946, the [[Soviet Union]] sent a note to Turkey proposing a new régime for the Dardanelles that would have excluded all nations except the Black Sea powers. The second proposal was that the straits should be put under joint Turkish-Soviet defence. This meant that Turkey, the Soviet Union, Bulgaria and Romania would be the only states having access to the Black Sea through the Dardanelles. The Turkish government however, under pressure from the United States, rejected these proposals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cabell |first=Phillips B. H. |title=The Truman presidency : the history of a triumphant succession |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan |date=1966 |pages=102–103 |oclc=1088163662}}</ref>

Turkey joined [[NATO]] in 1952, thus affording its straits even more strategic importance as a commercial and military waterway.

In more recent years,{{when|date=March 2019}} the [[Turkish Straits]] have become particularly important for the oil industry. Russian oil, from ports such as [[Novorossyisk]], is exported by tankers primarily to western Europe and the U.S. via the Bosporus and the Dardanelles straits.

The Dardanelles were closed in late February 2022 to all foreign warships at the beginning of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in accordance with the [[Montreux Convention]].<ref name=navnews-closed-2022>{{Cite web |last=Ozberk |first=Tayfun |date=2022-02-28 |title=Turkey closes the Dardanelles and Bosphorus to warships |url=https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/02/turkey-closes-the-dardanelles-and-bosphorus-to-warships/ |access-date=2023-10-02 |website=Naval News |language=en-US}}</ref>