How important were other fronts?

Weaker Gallipoli answers narrate a rough, error-prone sequence instead of assessing why it failed. A strong answer weighs several causes: strong Turkish defences under Mustafa Kemal on high ground; poor Allied planning (the naval attack lost surprise before the landings); weak coordination ashore; and a harsh environment (heat, disease, poor supplies).

The 'race to the sea' was a land campaign of autumn 1914, in which the armies tried to outflank each other through France and Belgium, ending in the trench line to the Channel — nothing to do with naval warfare. Candidates who confuse the two write about trenches when the question asks about ships (Jutland, blockade, U-boats), or the reverse.

When a question is about the war at sea, Gallipoli, the Eastern Front or civilians, weaker responses drift into unconnected Western Front trench description (or bring naval material into a Western Front question). Each front has its own causes and events; keep them separate unless the question explicitly asks for comparison or overall significance.

Keep the two treaties apart. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918) ended the war between Germany and Bolshevik Russia, handing Germany territory and freeing troops for the 1918 Spring Offensive. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the later settlement imposed on Germany itself. Confusing them muddles who signed what, when, and to what effect.

These were opposite weapons used by opposite sides. The naval blockade was Britain's weapon, using the Royal Navy to cut off Germany's imports of food and raw materials. Unrestricted submarine warfare was Germany's weapon, using U-boats to sink shipping supplying Britain. The blockade slowly starved Germany; the U-boats threatened Britain until convoys beat them.

Britain lost more ships and sailors at Jutland, so Germany claimed victory. But tactical losses are not the strategic outcome: afterward the German High Seas Fleet stayed in port and never seriously challenged the Royal Navy again, so Britain kept control of the North Sea and the blockade. Because Britain held the seas, Jutland is judged a British strategic victory.