derGoltz,theGermanfearofdefenselessnessinthefaceoftheEntenteforcesled
toclaimsthatmilitaryserviceshouldlasttworatherthanthreeyears.Shorter
service wouldmake available ahigher number oftrainedtroops.²¹Those
youngmenweretoreceivesome trainingbeforetheywereoldenough to
serveinthearmedforces.ThiswasnotaspecificGermanideaatthattime.²²
InBritain,BoyScoutingandsimilarassociationsenjoyedthesupportofthemili-
tary.²³Sincethedefeatof 1904 /05theRussiangovernmentfundedtheactivities
ofpatrioticyouthorganizationsofferingapre-militarytraining.²⁴
Inhislastyearspriortohisretirement,ColmarvonderGoltzcampaignedfor
thefoundationofanation-wideyouthorganization.Therestlessfieldmarshal
couldcountonthesupportofthehigheststateofficials.TheBundJungdeutsch-
land(YoungGermanyLeague,BJD)wasfoundedinBerlinunderthechairman-
shipofGoltzinNovember1911.TheBJDwasabletoestablishlocalbranchesin
manycities.Inaddition,severalinfluentialorganizationsjoinedtheBJDwiththe
guarantee thattheywouldkeeptheirorganizationalindependence.Among
thosememberswerethenationalGermanBoyScoutsassociation,mostofthe
nation-wideWehrkraftmovement,theGermanFootballAssociation(DFB)and
severalothersportassociations.TheBJDofficialspretendedthatthecarefor
physicalexerciseswastobethemaingoaloftheleague.²⁵Inthebeginningit
seemedtobeawin-winsituationforbothsides.Thememberorganizationsprof-
itedfromthediscountsontrainticketsandthevariousopportunitiesoftheco-
operationwiththearmy,includinggroupaccommodationinbarracksfreeof
charge.EventuallytheBJDgainedinfluenceonmorethan 75 0, 000 boysall
overGermanyandusedthisopportunitymainlyintermsoftheunificationof
themilitarizededucationofyouthandtheinculcationofpatrioticspirit.
However,afterapromisingstartinNovember1911,thenumberofparticipant
droppedveryquickly.Consequently,BJDofficialsstartedtopromote‘battlefield
Cf.Muth,JugendpflegeundPolitik,6 09.
GeoffreyBest,“TheMilitarizationofEuropeanSociety,1 870 – 191 4,”inTheMilitarizationof
theWesternWorld(NewBrunswick:RutgersUniversityPress,1989), 13 – 44.
ThelateradversaryoftheGermanandOttomanforcesintheOttomanArabprovinces,Tho-
masEdwardLawrence,atthattimetoooldfortheBoyScoutmovement,joinedtheparamilitary
OxfordUniversityOfficersTrainingCorpsin1908.Thiswasavolunteerinstitutionforthetrain-
ingoffutureleadershippersonnelamongthestudents.Cf.JeremyWilson,LawrenceofArabia
(NewYork:Atheneum,1990),52.
KurtSchneider,“ 100 JahrenachNapoleon:RußlandsgefeierteKriegserfahrung,”Jahrbücher
fürGeschichteOsteuropas 49 – 1( 20 01),52.
WernerBethge,“BundJungdeutschland(BJD), 1911 – 1923 ,”inLexikonzur Parteienge-
schichte:DiebürgerlichenundkleinbürgerlichenParteienundVerbändeinDeutschland, 1789 –
1945 ,ed.DieterFrickeetal.,vol.1(Leipzig:BibliographischesInstitut,1 98 3), 330 – 34 7.
108 3German-Ottoman/TurkishCooperationintheMobilizationofYouth