Qualla: Battle of Rhodes (1912) https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:30 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Rhodes (1912) https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912 Battle of Rhodes (1912): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912/ Photo credit Achille Beltrame, Public domain. The Italian Royal Navy cut a single submarine telegraph cable on 1 May 1912, and Rhodes went silent. The cable was the only thing connecting the island to its Ottoman overlords on the Anatolian mainland. For three days afterward, the Turkish governor on Rhodes had no way to send for orders or report what he was seeing - which was a fleet of Italian warships off Kalithea Bay, and somewhere offshore, packed onto transports, ten thousand soldiers fresh from a year of fighting in Libya. The cable was an old technology by 1912 and the act of cutting it was deliberately archaic, almost ceremonial. It marked the line between two centuries of Rhodes's history.

Read more: Battle of Rhodes (1912) on Qualla

Image: Achille Beltrame | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/sw7q-battle-of-rhodes-1912-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Rhodes (1912): How an African War Reached the Aegean https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912/ Photo credit Achille Beltrame, Public domain. The Italo-Turkish War had begun the previous September over Libya. Italy wanted Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, the last Ottoman provinces in North Africa, and had launched the largest naval and amphibious operation Italy had attempted since unification. The campaign in the desert ha...

Read more: Battle of Rhodes (1912) on Qualla

Image: Achille Beltrame | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/sw7q-battle-of-rhodes-1912-how-an-african-war-reached-the-aegean.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Rhodes (1912): The Landing at Kalithea https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912/ Photo credit Achille Beltrame, Public domain. The Italians went ashore at four in the morning on 4 May 1912, at Kalithea Bay on the east coast of the island, about 12 km south of the city of Rhodes. There was no opposition - the bay had been chosen precisely because the Ottoman garrison was concentrated around the city itsel...

Read more: Battle of Rhodes (1912) on Qualla

Image: Achille Beltrame | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/sw7q-battle-of-rhodes-1912-the-landing-at-kalithea.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Rhodes (1912): Smith Plateau and the City https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912/ Photo credit Achille Beltrame, Public domain. The first Ottoman defensive line was at Smith Plateau, where a few hundred regulars were posted on commanding ground. The Italians attacked overland; eleven warships of the Regia Marina bombarded the position from the sea. The Ottomans were driven off with significant losses whil...

Read more: Battle of Rhodes (1912) on Qualla

Image: Achille Beltrame | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/sw7q-battle-of-rhodes-1912-smith-plateau-and-the-city.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Rhodes (1912): The Mountains and the End https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912/ Photo credit Achille Beltrame, Public domain. What remained was Psithos, a village high in the central spine of the island, where the Ottoman commander had concentrated his surviving forces. The Italians made additional unopposed landings at Kalavarda and Malona Bay, gradually surrounding the Ottoman position from three side...

Read more: Battle of Rhodes (1912) on Qualla

Image: Achille Beltrame | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/sw7q-battle-of-rhodes-1912-the-mountains-and-the-end.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Rhodes (1912): Four Hundred Years and Thirty More https://qualla.com/battle-of-rhodes-1912/ Photo credit Achille Beltrame, Public domain. Rhodes had been part of the Ottoman Empire since 1522 - three hundred and ninety years. In May 1912 it became part of the Italian colonial empire. The Italian occupation, originally meant as wartime leverage, was extended after the Italo-Turkish War ended later in 1912 and consol...

Read more: Battle of Rhodes (1912) on Qualla

Image: Achille Beltrame | Public domain

]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/7/q/battle-of-rhodes-1912-wp/sw7q-battle-of-rhodes-1912-four-hundred-years-and-thirty-more.mp3 0:06 6 full