Sarah Paine

The railways had not been completed in World War I. The Trans-Siberian doesn't get completed until 1916, and the Murmansk Railway, you can see Murmansk up there, isn't completed until early 1917.

The Romanov dynasty is gone.

It's too late.

In World War II,

three-quarters of Lend-Lease aid would go over those completed railway systems.

Now, to the British credit, they did try to break the blockade on Russia.

The way to get into Russia in those days and hook in with the railway system would be to get into the Black Sea and Odessa.

Because Russia had all the men, but they didn't have all the war material to fight.

So this is where the Gallipoli campaign comes in.

You could argue about whether you think it is good strategy or not, but it was miserably executed.

So first of all, it wasn't a joint operation.

What's joint?

Joint means you're coordinating your different military services, in this case, Army and Navy.

So what goes on?

The British Navy tries to run the Dardanelles for two months.

That does not work well.

Do you suppose the Ottomans might think something was up?

Yeah.

And when you get up there on the Dardanelles, all the high point, it's a very steep place.

So the Ottomans are all busy sorting that all out, getting troops in place.