World War I started very badly for the Turks: After severe Turkish reverses in the east, the Allies launched an offensive against Istanbul through the Dardanelles with several troop landings on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The Turkish government made plans to evacuate the city, moving the archives from the Sublime Porte and the gold from its banks across into Anatolia. They buried works of art in the cellars of the city’s museums and even planned to dynamite a number of public buildings, among them Hagia Sophia.
