Zweibund — the Dual Alliance — Germany and Austria-Hungary united, were the core of the Central Powers, and here join hands. The bars of Germany's flag border the top left, and those of the Habsburg Austrian Empire and ruling house the bottom right.
Schulter an SchulterUntrennbar vereintin Freud und in Leid!'Shoulder to shoulderInseparably united in joy and in sorrow!
"It will be seen that this was a very important and satisfactory day. Only thirty-one 15-inch shells had been fired in all, besides eighty-one British 12-inch and fifty from the corresponding French guns. The bombardment clearly proved the power of the ships anchored at about 12,000 yards, if good observation at right angles to the range was available, to destroy the Turkish guns without undue expenditure of ammunition. It was now possible to sweep the approaches and the entrance to the Straits, which was done on the evenings of the 25th and 26th. Three battleships entered the Straits and completed the ruin of the Outer Forts from inside."
Excerpt from Winston Churchill's history of World War I. The first Anglo-French naval attack on the Dardanelles was launched on February 19, 1915, and met with some success, severely damaging the outer forts and guns guarding the entrance to the Strait. Bad weather delayed further attacks until the 25th. Breaking through the Straits, forcing them, could allow the Allies seizing the Turkish capital of Constantinople and replacing its government with one more amenable to the Allies.
The World Crisis 1911-1918 by Winston Churchill, pp. 374, 375, copyright © by Charles Scribner's Sons 1931, renewed by Winston S. Churchill 1959, publisher: Penguin Books, publication date: 1931, 2007
1915-02-26, 1915, February, The Allied Naval campaign in the Dardanelles
