The assumption that the Ottoman government would collapse

Did British racial superiority assumptions cause the underestimation of Ottoman resistance at Gallipoli?

Racism existed, but the decisive planning error was the belief that the weak Ottoman government would simply collapse under pressure.

A viewer argues that British racial prejudice caused commanders to underestimate Ottoman troops. The answer does not deny that racist attitudes existed, but it identifies a more specific operational assumption: leaders believed the Ottoman government was a failing state that would collapse when struck. Britain had previously helped preserve that state to prevent Russian and French expansion, which made its apparent weakness familiar to policymakers. Once the Ottoman Empire joined Germany, planners expected a forceful attack to finish a long decline. That assessment proved disastrously incomplete because state weakness did not make the defenses, soldiers, mines, or political resistance disappear. Institutional-collapse assumptions and broader prejudice could both distort judgment.