BavarianReadingsoftheTurkishNationalists,1 923
MeanwhiletherewerenolongeranyjobopportunitiesasamercenaryinGerma-
ny.AsnoteventheGermanForeignMinistrywasinterestedinTröbst’sexpertise,
hehadtolookelsewhereforsourcesofincome.¹⁵¹Inordertosavemoney,the
returneestayedwithhisbrotherinMunich,wherehesooncameincontact
withright-wingextremistcircles.AfterapresentationabouttheTurkishconduct
ofwarfortheretiredGeneralLudendorff,thelatterhelpedTröbsttopublishan
articleseriesintheconservativeHeimatlandnewspaper.¹⁵²Tröbstusedtheop-
portunityandpresentedtheTurkishwaragainstthevictoriouspowersandthe
imposedSèvresTreatyasarolemodelfortheGermanresistanceagainsttheVer-
saillesTreaty.Tröbstmadethreeveryclearpoints.Firstofall,therewastheneed
foradictatorshipinGermanytouniteallforces,asMustafaKemalhadrefusedto
followtheordersoftheSultan’sgovernmentinoccupiedIstanbul(similartothe
GermanpoliticiansinBerlin).Secondly,the‘non-native’population(i.e.theGer-
manJews)hadtobeexpelled.TröbstdefinedtheGreeksandArmeniansas
“bloodsuckersandparasites”,whoeitherhadbeenannihilatedordeportedby
theTurkishauthorities.Theirhouseswerethereafterhandedto“ethniccompa-
triots”(“Volksgenossen”),therebycompletingthe“purificationoftheracialcor-
pus”(“ReinigungdesVolkskörpers”).Finally,justlikeinTurkey,awaragainst
theexteriorenemieswastobewagedwithrealvolunteersratherthanunreliable
draftedmen.¹⁵³Tröbstthreepointsinterfusedtheformerstagesofhis‘career’in
hisworldview:hisimpressionsasaformerGermanimperialsoldier,hispartic-
ipationintheFreikorpsmovementwithitsuninhibiteduseofviolenceinthe
RussianCivilWarandinBerlinaswellashisserviceintheTurkisharmy,
wherehemighthavegraspedoneortwodetailsregardingthe(previous)anni-
hilationcampaignsagainsttheArmeniansandGreeks.Alloftheseimpressions
culminatedinthesaidarticlewrittenduringtheheatedpoliticalsituationinMu-
nichintheautumnof 1923 .IntheBavariancapital,thecaptainfromAnkara,
withhisnotoriousalcoholaddiction,enjoyedlisteningtoHitler’s“fascinating
UnansweredletterofHansTröbsttotheGermanForeignMinistry,withtheoffertogivein-
sighttotheGreco-Turkishwar;10August 1923 .AA-PAR7 8561 ,n.p.
HartwigGebhardt,MirfehltebeneinanständigerBeruf:LebenundArbeitdesAuslandskor-
respondentenHansTröbst, 1891 – 1939 (Bremen:EditionLumière, 2007 ), 20.
ForallquotationsseethelastarticleoftheseriesinHauptmannTröbst,“MustafaKemal
PaschaundseinWerk,”Heimatland:VaterländischesWochenblatt;BayerischeVolksstimme
4 – 42 (19 23 ),7.Cf.Ihrig,AtatürkintheNaziImagination,82.
194 4German-TurkishMilitaryCooperationafter 1918