mentoftheGermanImperialColonialOffice.TheOttomanarmywasinterested
inthedeploymentofacapablespecializedforce,whichcouldsuppresslocal
riotsfarawayfromthecenteroftheempire.However,theGermanColonialOffice
deniedtherequestsinceitdidnothavethecapacitytotakecareoftheOttoman
guests.³²³ThoughwecanstatethattheOttomanarmywasnothesitanttoshow
interestintheorganizationofamilitaryforcethathadcommittedactsofgeno-
cideinGermanSouth-WestAfrica(today’sNamibia).³²⁴
Nevertheless,wecanonlyspeculatewhethertherewasa“globalcultural
transferofmodernethnicalviolencepolicy”betweenImperialGermanyand
thelateOttomanEmpire.³²⁵TheextenttowhichGermanofficersplayedarole
inthe“YoungTurk[...]activeimitationofWestern‘cleansing’strategies”³²⁶in
theannihilationofNon-MuslimOttomancitizensduringtheFirstWorldWar
hasalreadybeenstudied.³²⁷Ontheonehand,Germancomplicitybysupporting
deportationmeasuresorkeepingsilentabouttheissueduringandevenafterthe
warisevident.Ontheotherhand,however,theGermanroleinthisparticular
issueduringthewarisdifficulttotrace.Thereisonlyasmallamountofeviden-
cesinGermanmemoirsandofficialdocuments,nottomentionthenearlytotal
silenceinthememoirsofOttoman/Turkishofficersandtheofficialarchivalsour-
ces.Thisstudyisthusunabletoanswerthequestionwhethertherewasatrans-
ferofgenocidalpracticesbytheGermanofficersservingintheOttomanarmy
between 191 4and1918.
AnsweroftheGermanMinistryofWartotheForeignMinistry:“AnträgeaufZulassungvon
osmanischenOffizierenzumDienstimReichskolonialamtinderAbteilungMilitärangelegenheit-
en,”5February 1912 .BA-LR 901 /2 904 2.
ForthedenialofthiscrimeinWilhelmineGermanyseeElisavonJoeden-Forgey,“Hiddenin
PlainSight:AtrocityConcealmentinGermanPoliticalCulturebeforetheFirstWorldWar,”in
HiddenGenocides:Power,Knowledge,Memory,ed.AlexanderLabanHintonetal.(NewBruns-
wick,NewJersey,London:RutgersUniversityPress,2 01 4), 52 – 67.
MichaelSchwartz,Ethnische‘Säuberungen’inderModern:GlobaleWechselwirkungennatio-
nalistischerundrassistischerGewaltpolitikim 19 .und 20 .Jahrhundert(Munich:Oldenbourg,
20 13), 20 0.
Schwartz,Ethnische‘Säuberungen’inderModerne,2 00.
ChristophDinkel,“GermanOfficersandtheArmenianGenocide,”ArmenianReview 44 – 1
(1991), 77 – 13 3;VahaknN.Dadrian,GermanResponsibilityintheArmenianGenocide:AReviewof
theHistoricalEvidenceofGermanComplicity(Watertown:BlueCraneBooks,1996), 125 – 145.
98 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer