The Dardanelles comparison: adapt after an attack

Earlier attempts to force the Dardanelles show a cycle of attack and defensive adaptation. Ottoman preparations made a return passage difficult, although a later British attempt still succeeded. By World War I, another attack was beaten off and the defenders strengthened the straits against a repeat. Copenhagen provides the contrast: six years after 1801, Britain could return for a similar purpose and again find the Danish fleet exposed in the capital.