todistributeanti-semiticleafletstohissoldiers.¹⁴⁰Atthispointitisnoexagger-
ationtosaythatTröbsthadacquiredhisviolentsentimentsbeforehewascon-
frontedwiththepostgenocidalrealitiesinAnatolia.¹⁴¹
OnhiswaytoTurkeyTröbsthadan‘undesireable’encounterwithaJew.¹⁴²In
theTurkisharmyhisdreamsofjoiningwell-trainedtroopscametrueandwhile
attendingbasicdrillinstructionsinKastamonu,hewasgladtoonceagainbein
aregulararmy:
“Everythingwaslikeathome!ThedrillswereinaccordancewithGermanstandardsand
thetoneofTurkishcommandosresembledthatofourssothatonecould[understand
themwithoutknowinganyTurkish].[...]Formethisspectaclewasreallyrefreshingand
inmymindIsawmyselfworkinginasimilarenvironment.”¹⁴³TröbsteventuallyreceivedapositionintheKemalistarmy.However,therewere
somechangestowartimepractices.Tröbstkepthisrankasacaptain,sincethe
TurkisharmyhadlearnedfromthesensitivepracticeofpromotingGermanoffi-
cersautomaticallyandcausingjealousOttomanofficers.Tröbstrealizedquickly
thattheGermanmethodsthathadbeenappliedbytheGermanmilitarymission
andtheOttomanofficerswhohadbeentrainedinGermanywereinapplicableto
theTurkishrecruitsduetoculturaldifferences.¹⁴⁴Forthetimebeing,hehadno
activecommandinAnkaraandsimplyhungaround,smokinghashish.Thiswait-
ingperiodwasfollowedbyservicebehindthefront,whereaconstructioncorps
builtreservetrenchesagainstaGreekbreakthrough.Tröbstwasnotsenttothe
frontonpurpose.Hispossiblecaptivitymighthavecausedpoliticalproblems
forGermanyandwouldhavechallengedthenationalTurkishcharacterofthis
warofindependence.¹⁴⁵Tröbstonlyhadtherighttogiveadvicetothecommand-
ingTurkishofficer,anotherTurkishlessonfromtheunfavourableoutcomeofthe
Germanmilitarymission.Thoseprincipleswerealsotobeappliedinthefuture
Turco-Germanmilitarycooperationafter 1925.
ForexamplesseethereproductionsinTröbst,GrenzschutzOst.
OnFreikorpstendencyforviolenceseeMatthiasSprenger,LandsknechteaufdemWegins
DritteReich?ZuGeneseundWandeldesFreikorpsmythos(Paderborn:Schöningh,2008), 133 –
14 4.
Tröbst,Soldatenblut,33.
Tröbst,Soldatenblut,1 31 – 132.
Tröbst,Soldatenblut,1 54 ,188.
FortheissueofthenationalmythinTurkey,seeRyanGingeras,“Gangsters,Kidnappers
andOtherPatriots:TheWritingofaNewSocialHistoryoftheTurkishWarofIndependence,”
inTowardsaSocialHistoryofModernTurkey:EssaysinTheoryandPractice,ed.GavinD.Brock-
ett(Istanbul:Libra, 20 11), 39 – 57.
192 4German-TurkishMilitaryCooperationafter 1918