1918.³³⁰ThoughatthattimetheOttomanforceshadbeenweakenedfurtherby
EnverPasha’sdreamsofaconquestintheCaucasus,whichseemedtobepossi-
bleafterthetreatyofBrest-LitowskwithRussiainMarch1918.Enver’splansco-
incidedwithGeneralLuddendorff’sideatoseizeBakubeforetheOttomans
coulddoso.Bothplanshavetobeseenasmegalomaniac,sincethisoperation
boundtroopsthatwouldhavebeenofbetteruseatthecollapsingWesternEuro-
peanandSyrianfronts.Inthisregardwecanevenstatethatbothcommanders
inchief,EnverPashaandGeneralLudendorff,werebrothersinthe‘GermanSpi-
rit’ofstrategicoverestimationoftheirowncapabilities.³³¹Thereafterthetwoal-
liesevencametothebrinkofwar.AdailyorderofaBavarianregimentrequested
thesoldiersthat,ifOttomansoldierswouldresistdisarmament,“[...]theyhave
tobeshotorstabbed.UndernocircumstancesaBavarianriflemanmaydrawthe
shortendofthestraw.”³³²
ThoughthisconflictintheCaucasuswasavertedbythewithdrawalofthe
Germanforces,thesituationattheotherfrontsworsened.InSeptember 1918
theOttomanfrontinSyriafinallybrokedownandtheOttomanarmy,including
thelastremainingGermantroopshadtowithdrawtotheNorth.³³³InOctober
1918 onepoweraftertheotherhadtocease-fireandcapitulate,therebyleaving
thealliance.³³⁴Thewarwasoverbuttheplanningforthenextonehadjust
begun.
Afflerbach,Falkenhayn,482.
Fortheoperationsee:WinfriedBaumgart,“Das‘Kaspi-Unternehmenʼ:GrößenwahnLuden-
dorffsoderRoutineplanungdesdeutschenGeneralstabs?ErsterTeil:EinkritischerRückblickauf
diedeutschemilitärischeInterventionimKaukasusamEndedesErstenWeltkriegs,”Jahrbücher
fürGeschichteOsteuropas 36 (19 70 ), 115 – 118 ;EricksonandUyar,AMilitaryHistoryoftheOtto-
mans,2 71.
Dailyorder,23June1918,BayHStAIVJäger-Regiment 15 ,vol.9.Foracompletelistofthe
BavarianunitsintheCaucasuscampaignseeMühlmann,Dasdeutsch-türkischeWaffenbündnis
imWeltkriege,322.ForthisincidentseealsoRichardJ.Lundström,“CrossAgainstCrescent:The
‘Unknown’WarBetweenGermanyandTurkeyintheCaucasus,1918,”DerAngriff:AJournalof
WorldWarIMilitaryHistory 22 (1983), 8 – 16.
EricksonandUyar,AMilitaryHistoryoftheOttomans,2 70 – 27 1.
Foranoverviewoftheeventssee:KarelPichlík,“DermilitärischeZusammenbruchderMit-
telmächteimJahre1918,”inDieAuflösungdesHabsburgerreichs:ZusammenbruchundNeuorien-
tierungimDonauraum,ed.R.G.PlaschkaandK.Mack(Munich:Oldenbourg, 1970 ), 249 – 26 5.
100 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer