probablereasonsfortherefusalbythegovernment.Furthermore,budgetary
problemsmighthavealsoplayedarole,asinthecaseoftherejectionoftheMin-
istryofEducation’splan.
Onthesegrounds,bothoftheproposedorganizationssoughtthecreationof
anationalidentitythusmakingtheideasofCarlDiemmoreapplicable.¹⁸¹
CarlDiemintheWeimarRepublic, 1918 – 1933
AftertheGermandefeatinNovember1918,mostoftheactivitiesoftheBJDand
otherparamilitaryyouthassociationshadcometoapreliminarystandstill.Inac-
cordancewithparagraph 17 7oftheVersaillesTreaty,theGermanstatewasno
longertofundsuchgroups.Intheaftermathofthewar,therewasalsoplenty
oftimefortheanalysisofwartimemistakes,likeintheTurkishcase.TheBJD
continuedtoexistasaprivateassociationuntil 1933 .Itschairman,Wüllenweber,
declaredin 1923 thatithadbeenwrongtomergealltheGermanparamilitary
youthorganizationsintolargerlocalorganizedcompulsoryyouthcompanies
duringtheFirstWorldWar.Byforcingyoungpeopleintoyouthcompanies,
theauthoritieshadchosenthewrongpath:
“Todayonecansaythatitwouldhavebeenbettertohaveleftalonetheyouthintheirclubs
andassociations[...]Thestateshouldhaveratherrestricteditselfto[...]slightlypushthem
tojoinexistingclubswhichofferedphysicalexerciseofallkind.Thentheadolescentwould
havehadafreechoice,itwouldhavebeenanappropriatepreparatorytrainingforsoldier-
ingfortheyouthfulnature.Becausetheadolescentisnotyetasoldier.”¹⁸²CarlDiemcontinuedhispleaforamilitarizedsportsmovementintheWeimar
Republic.OneleitmotifinDiemsworkafter 1918 wasthewilltopreventasecond
defeatinafuturewar.Forhim,sportsservedthecharacterbuilding,sinceavoid-
ingthestrugglesoflifewasagainstthe‘GermanSpirit’.¹⁸³Underlyinghisideas
wasabeliefintheeducationofastrong,arduousandhealthygenerationfitfor
servingthenation.ThiswasacommonZeitgeistelementinmanycountriesin
Akcan,İttihatveTerakkiFırkası’nın,3 19 – 320.
QuotedafterWernerKindt,DokumentationderJugendbewegung,vol.2:DieWandervogelzeit
(Düsseldorf,Köln:Diederichs,1968), 79 9.
YiğitAkın,GürbüzveYavuzEvlatlar.ErkenCumhuriyet’teBedenTerbiyesiveSpor[Strong
andHealthyChildren:PhysicalEducationandSportsintheEarlyRepublic],(Istanbul:İletişim,
20 04), 131.
140 3German-Ottoman/TurkishCooperationintheMobilizationofYouth