page_title: List of military disasters
section_title: First World War
hierarchical_section_title: List of military disasters / 20th century / First World War
caption_attribution_description: New Zealand troops were part of the Allied invasion force that landed at what soon became known as Anzac Cove. For eight long months New Zealanders, Australians and troops from Britain and France battled harsh conditions and resolute Ottoman opponents who were desperately fighting to protect their homeland. By the time the campaign ended, some 125,000 men had died: more than 80,000 Ottoman Turks and 44,000 Allied soldiers, including 8500 Australians and 2721 New Zealanders (about a fifth of those who landed on the peninsula). In the history of the Great War, the Gallipoli campaign made no large mark. The number of dead, although horrific, paled in comparison with the casualties in France and Belgium. But for New Zealand, Australia and Turkey, the Gallipoli campaign left a lasting impression on the national psyche. (Source: NZHistory, www.nzhistory.net.nz/landing-of-nz-troops-at-gallipoli-tu...) This painting is part of the National Collection of War Art held by Archives New Zealand. The National Collection of War Art is composed of about 1,500 artworks, including portraits, battle scenes, landscapes and abstracts, depicting those who served New Zealand in times of war, and the arenas in which they served. It includes both official pieces of war art, by artists formally commissioned by the New Zealand government, and other unofficial art works that were acquired by or donated to the collection. The majority of artworks in the collection depict World War One and World War Two, however official war art continues to be commissioned by the New Zealand Defence Force up to the present day. Archives Reference: The landing at Anzac, 1915, Charles Dixon, AAAC 898 NCWA Q388 archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=22499652 warart.archives.govt.nz/node/1085 Charles Dixon (1872-1934) was an English artist who specialised in marine scenes, working in both oils and watercolours. He is probably best known for his depictions of activity on the Thames River in London, but he is also known for his paintings of major events in maritime history.
context_page_description: In this list a military disaster is the unexpected and sound defeat of one side in a battle or war, sometimes changing the course of history.
  Military disasters in this list can range from a strong army losing a major battle against a clearly inferior force, to an army being surprised and defeated by a clearly superior force, to a seemingly evenly matched conflict with an extremely one sided result. A military disaster could be due to bad planning, bad execution, bad weather, general lack of skill or ability, the failure of a new piece of military technology, a major blunder, a brilliant move on the part of the enemy, or simply the unexpected presence of an overwhelming enemy force.
  One definition of military disaster describes the presence of two or three factors:
  chronic mission failure
  successful enemy action,
  total degeneration of a force's command and control structure
  According to this definition, two particular characteristics are not necessary for an event to be classified as a military disaster:
  enormous loss of life
  having greater casualties than the enemy
context_section_description: The Battle of Tannenberg — August 1914, at the first month of the war, in the forests of East Prussia. 2 Russian armies consisting of 230,000 men have a catastrophic defeat suffering 170,000 casualties against a German Army of 150,000 that suffers 13,000. Although having numerical superiority, the 2 Imperial Russian Army commanders are at enmity with each other, their soldiers are poorly trained, ill-prepared, composed largely of illiterates, for supplies they rely on two outdated trains and the use of Cossack horses, and for communication they use radio messages that have been already decrypted by the Germans. Though numerically inferior, the Germans have vastly superior technology, planning, mobilization and mechanization, their units have superior training, equipment and tactics, and the commanders are united and communicate with each other. The victory is so total that Russians come out from the forests massively to surrender, forming a line that spans miles and provokes a traffic jam — 60 trains are required to transport Russian POWS and captured equipment to Germany. The event would be known by the Germans as “Erntetag“, or "Day of the Harvest".
  The Battle of Sarikamish – Ottoman forces attack Russian fortifications in the Allahuekber Mountains in late 1915. They suffer devastating losses because of their use of outdated tactics and ill-preparedness for low-temperature combat.
  The Siege of Kut – The British Indian 6th Division attempts to capture Baghdad but its commanders underestimate the strength of the Ottoman forces and meet unexpectedly heavy resistance. They were defeated at Battle of Ctesiphon (Selman-ı Pak), and besieged in Kut Al Amare. Despite relief efforts by British troops, Kut surrendered to Ottoman Forces on 29 April 1916 ending up with capture of General Townshend himself, many high ranked British officers, and 11,000 soldiers. Around 30,000 casualties had been suffered.
  The Siege of Przemyśl – The Austro-Hungarian garrison surrendered on 22 March 1915, after holding out for a total of 133 days. The loss of Przemyśl Fortress was a serious blow to Austro-Hungarian morale.
  The Gallipoli Campaign – April 1915 to January 1916. A combined British, Commonwealth and French attempt to capture Istanbul becomes a stalemate on the Gallipoli Peninsula and is abandoned.
caption: Landing at Gallipoli, April 1915
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