ofpro-Germanandanti-CHParticles.⁶⁶Inthisregard,Karabekir’swarningabout
apotentialrepetitionofthemistakesfrom 191 4wasentirelyappropriate,namely,
notto‘backthewronghorse’bychosingGermanyasanallyforthesecond
time.⁶⁷Itfollowsfromwhathasbeensaidsofarthatmostoftheremarksof
theTurkishveteranofficerswerenotonlyaportraitoftheGerman-Ottomanal-
lianceperiod,butalsoreflectedthetimeswhentheywerewritten.
Asitbecomesevidentfromthosestatements,nationalprestigeplayedabig
roleinthewholedebate.EspeciallyinGermany,theofficialmilitaryhistoriogra-
phyundertookamajorefforttopromotethisnationalviewinseveralmonogra-
phies.Aswillbeexaminedbelow,thereweresimilarargumentsamongtheGer-
manveterangroupjustlikeinthepost-Ottomancase.
TowardsanOfficialView:ThePreparationoftheReichsarchiv
VolumesabouttheOttomanTheatersofWar
ThenewfoundedGermanrepublichadreorganizeditsarchivesafterthewar.For
thecivilianandmilitaryimperialarchivecollectionstheReichsarchiv( 1919 –
194 5)wasfounded.OnlytheForeignMinisterymaintaineditsindependentar-
chives.TheReichsarchiv’sbiggestprojectwasthepreparationofaseriesofoffi-
cialhistoricalmonographsaboutallmajorcampaignsoftheFirstWorldWar.
FourofthesevolumescoveredtheOttomanlandandnavaloperationsduring
thewar.⁶⁸Theserieswasintendedtoservethepurposeofhistoricalengineering
byregainingcontroloverthecultureofrememeberanceofthisconflict.⁶⁹By
publishingapopulareditionforareasonableprice,theeditorialboardhoped
toreachabroadpublicinGermanyandabroad.Regardingthevolumeson
theOttomantheatersofwar,thearchivistswereconfrontedwithamajorprob-
lem.Notalloftheofficialdocumentshadsurvivedthehastypackinginthe
lastdaysofOctober1918.⁷⁰ThereforetheReichsarchivdevelopedaquestionnaire
thatwassenttoalloftheGermanstaffofficers,whohadplayedamajorrolein
theGerman-Ottomanalliance.However,theevaluationofallthosesubjective
Forallthesetrialsseethepublicationofhislawyer:SuadTahsinTürk,GeneralAliİhsanSa-
bis’inMüdafaasıThePleaforGeneralAliİhsanSabis.
Karabekir,CihanHarbineNasılGirdik,5 09 ,5 16.
Theseries‘BattlesoftheWorldWarʼ(‘SchlachtendesWeltkriegesʼ)comprisedof 36 volumes
intotal.
Pöhlmann,KriegsgeschichteundGeschichtspolitik,2 2 – 24 ,8 6 – 70.
SeethecorrespondencebetweenReichsarchivandGermanForeignMinistryin 1924 ,AA-PAR
785 48.
TowardsanOfficialView:ThePreparationoftheReichsarchivVolumes 175