The \'German Spirit\' in the Ottoman and Turkish Army, 1908-1938. A History of Military Knowledge Transfer - Gerhard Grüßhaber

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TheTurkishmilitarypressalsoneglectedthebattleinthebeginning.⁹⁴In
oneofthefirstanalyses,artillerycaptainHakkıstatedthattheTurkisharmy
neededanewheavyartilleryserviceregulation,andthatthedefensivepositions
hadtobemadeofconcreteinordertowithstandenemyshelling.Quitecontrary
totheGermanview,Hakkıstatedthatthebestdefenseagainstanylandingson
Turkishshoreswouldbeastrongnavy,whichcouldpreventanyintentionsin
thatdirection.⁹⁵ThecommanderoftheTurkishnavalacademyalsoanalyzed
thelandingmanoeuversofthecampaign.MehmetFahriPaşacametoasimilar
conclusion,pointingtotheneedofamodernandstrongnavyastheprerequisite
fortheattackingforcetocoverthelandingphase.⁹⁶TheOttomancoastalbatter-
iesandtheshellingbyenemyfleethadshownlittleeffectonbothsides.There-
foreamoderndefenceattheTurkishstraitsshouldincludelongrangingord-
nancewithhighercalibreandbettercoverageforthecrews.⁹⁷MehmetFahri
alsopointedtotheincreasingabilitiesoftheairplane,theAmericantankland-
ingexperimentsandtotheopportunitiesofartificialharboursinfuturewars.For
himtheTurkisharmyandnavyhadtodevelopacommondefensivestrategyin
thenextyears.⁹⁸Oneyearlater,aretiredTurkishcaptainsawtheideaofbuilding
halffortifiedandinflexiblebatteriesattheDardanellesasawrongdecision
madebyGermaninstructors.Fortressescouldneverkeepupwiththefastdevel-
opmentsinmodernwarfare,therefore,thedefensehadtobemoreflexible.In
thecaseofthestraits,the(German)fortressstrategyhadprovensuccessful.
Nonetheless,thisapproachwasnotseenastransferabletoeverygeographiclo-
cation.⁹⁹Inaddition,CaptainNizamettinalsowarnedtohaveenoughreservesat
handtocounteranyparatrooperlandingattemptsintherearofthelineofde-


Theofficialhistoriographyfocusedmainlyonoperationalaspectsofsingularbattleswithin
thecampaign.ForthefirstoverviewseetheGeneralStaff’spublicationCihanHarbindeOsmanlı
HarekatıTarihçesi,vol.1:ÇanakkaleMuharebatı[HistoryoftheOttomanOperationsintheWorld
War,vol.1:TheÇanakkaleCampaign](Dersaadet:Matbaa-iAskeriye,1 33 8/ 19 22).
Hakkı,“TopçuAtışMektebindekiKonferanslardan:AsriMüstahkemMevkiveSahilTahki-
matıNasılYapılmalıdırlar?”[FromtheConferenceattheArtillerySchool:HowdoModernFor-
tifiedPositionsandShoreFortificationshavetobemade?],TM 7 – 74 (1931), 23 – 25.
MehmetFahri,ÇanakkaleMuharebelerindenÇıkartmaHususundaAlınanDersler[Lessons
drawnfromtheBattleofÇanakkaleabouttheLandings].(Yıldız[Istanbul]:HarpAkademisiMat-
baası,1 93 3), 24.
Fahri,ÇanakkaleMuharebelerindenÇıkartmaHususundaAlınanDersler,20, 26.
Fahri,ÇanakkaleMuharebelerindenÇıkartmaHususundaAlınanDersler,3 0 – 31, 37.
Nizamettin,“BüyükHarpteÇanakkale’yeYapılmışOlanBüyükDenizZorlamasıveBundan
BugüniçinAlınacakÖğütler”[TheBigNavalAttackonÇanakkaleduringtheGreatWarandAd-
vicetobetakenfromitforToday],TM 10 – 95 (1934), 20 – 21.


TurkishLessonsfromÇanakkale 181
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