The \'German Spirit\' in the Ottoman and Turkish Army, 1908-1938. A History of Military Knowledge Transfer - Gerhard Grüßhaber

AfterhisreturntoGermanyin1 895 ,Goltzcontinuedtofollowthedevelop- mentsintheOttomanarmy,resortingtohisregularexchangeofletterswi ...

ideasGoltzhadlaidoutinhistreatise 25 yearsearlier.HisOttomanreadership wasdelightedbytheseideas.Anofficerpraisedthearticleinthef ...

ThefewGermanofficersthathadremainedintheOttomancapitalaftertherev- olutiondidnotserveregularlyandhadnoimpactonthereformationofth ...

veritablefightbetweenthetwofractions.⁴⁴GoltzsecondvisitinJuly/August 1909 wasnoeasytaskagainstthebackdropofsuchturmoil.Despitede ...

slowreformsafter 1909 weretohavefatalconsequencesonthebattlefieldsof WesternThraceintheautumnof 1912 : “Mostofthemenwereconscrip ...

Wehavetowork[since]everydayandnightawar,acatastrophecanhappen.”⁵⁵ Theseweretoprovepropheticwords. ButGoltzalsotriedtopersuadethe ...

istration.ThusanindividualconsultantlikeColmarvonderGoltz,whostayed onlytwiceforseveralweeksinConstantinople,wasnotsufficienttop ...

theGermanmilitarymissioninlate 1913 .⁶⁰Asoneofthelastremaininginstruc- torsfromthedaysoftheoldregime,KarlImhoffremainedinOttoman ...

Ottomancavalryschoolinthecapital.Thesecoursesfocusedontheneedto maintaindisciplineandorderwithintheunitsandimprovethestandardsof ...

gismundvonSchlichting,instructorinthe 5 thinfantryregimentintheYıldızbar- racks,usedtocorrectthebodypostureoftheOttomansoldiersw ...

urgedtheGermansidetoacceptonlyolderofficers,whichcouldbeusedasau- thoritativeinstructorsintheOttomanwaracademyupontheirreturn.On ...

oftheprogram.ButtherewerealsofinanciallimitsoftheOttomanarmy,as Strempelnoted: “[T]hefinancialsituationofTurkeydoesnotallowtosen ...

BackhomemostoftheOttomanofficershadnotevenknowntheeveryday lifeoftheirsoldiers.⁸⁵ThereforetheGermanwayofeducatingthedraftedmen f ...

ume(AugusttoOctober)in1 913 ,whentheBalkanWarhadcededandthenego- tiationsonthesendingofanewGermanmilitarymissionwereproceeding.⁹ ...

ershipamongtheofficers,alsotothose,whohadnoknowledgeoftheGerman language.Inthosedays,theGermancommandlanguagewasnoteasilyaccessi ...

usedtomoveontime[bypeacetimetraining;G.G.]willbynomeansleaveand workontimeinwar.”¹⁰²Thephrase‘timeismoney’wasalsovalidinthearmy. ...

“Noindividualisticspiritprevailedinourhome,butthespiritofPrussiansenseofcom- munity.Forme,subordinationwassomethingnaturalwhenIb ...

ThecommonroominthebarrackswastheGermanofficers’mess,thecasi- no,whereunmarriedofficershadtheirmeals.IntheopinionofLieutenantMus- ...

servedinthe 2 ndGuardDragoon’sRegiment‘EmpressAlexandraofRussia’inBerlin from 1908 to 1910 .Hiscommander,MajorvonKoch,hadadislik ...

OtherOttomanofficerswhohadbeentoGermanyhadsimilarembarrassing encounters.Al-Askarichosearatherindirectwayofcriticizingabeernight ...