LimanvonSanders.TheheadoftheGermanmilitarymissionclaimedthatAli
İhsanhadnotproperlyfollowedthetacticalcoursesduringhistimeintheGer-
manarmy.Thisremarkandthewholecasecausedquiteastirinthemilitaryre-
lationsofbothcountries.³⁰⁵Aliİhsaneventuallyterminatedtheinvestigations.
YetheopenlytoldSchraudenbach:“IfaTurkishofficerhadbeeninyourposi-
tion,Iwouldhavehadhimshotimmediately.”³⁰⁶
AsfortheinstructionofOttomantroops,alreadyin1 91 4,KarlImhoffadvised
againststrictlyimposingtheGermanmodelineveryfield.IntheOttomancase
somemeasureswouldtakeyearstosucceedandwouldrequirecarefulworkroot-
edinculturalsensitivity.Allinstructionsinmilitaryclasses“[...]havetobe
lookedatfromtheTurkishpointofview,beforeonetriestoharshlyenforce
theGermanapproach.”³⁰⁷ThisadvicewasnotheededbyeveryGermanofficer
whohadbeensenttotheOttomanEmpirepriorto1918,causingseverestrain
onthealliance.OnemajorsourceofdisputewasthedirectleadershipofOtto-
manunitsbyGermanofficers.Duetothegrowingnationalpride,especially
amongtheethnicTurkishofficers,anOttomancoloneltoldaGermanmajor:
“IvaluetheGermansofficersextremelyhighly.Weneedthemasgeneralstaffofficers,as
counselorswiththehighestleadershipandasinstructors.Incontrast,itisnotagood
thingwhenGermanofficerstakecommandofTurkishtroops.Theofficercorpsisquitedif-
ferent,theranksandfilesarenotasdisciplined,thisallleadstodifficulties.”³⁰⁸GermanpropagandaalsocontributedtowrongexpectationsontheGermanside.
Newspaperarticlesandpamphletsofallkindconveyedafalseimageofthestate
oftheOttomanally.Oneofthemostactiveauthorsinthisfieldwasthejournalist
ErnstJäckh,³⁰⁹anobjectofhateamongmanyGermanofficers.TheWürttemberg
ColonelGeroldvonGleichmockedthewartimesituationinhismemoirs:
“[Turkey’s]populationwasoneofthemostnobleandmostintelligentonearth.Morethan
that,theywerebesottedwithus,theGermans.TheTurkswereendlesslygratefulthatwe
hadchosenthemasallies,andthatwecameinlargenumberstohelpthempersonally
andtoteachthem.Uponhisarrival,theyoungGermanLieutenantthoughtthattheexcel-Wallach,AnatomieeinerMilitärhilfe,2 28 – 22 9.
AliİhsanSabis,HarbHatıralarım[MyWarMemoirs],vol.4(Istanbul:NehirYayınları,1991),
12 4.
[Karl]Imhoff,“NotizenüberdeutscheMilitärmissioneninderTürkei,”MWB4( 191 4),
col. 76.
ReportofMajorRaithtoBopp, 17 May1 916 .HStASM6 60 /0 10 ,78.
OnthisremarkablefigureoftheGerman-OttomanrelationsseethedisssertationbySevil
Özçalık:PromotinganAlliance,FurtheringNationalism:ErnstJäckhandAhmedEmininthe
TimeoftheFirstWorldWar(Berlin:KlausSchwarz,forthcoming).
94 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer