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

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commandwasawarethattheFrencharmyalsoassistedtheformerenemyonthe
othershoreoftheAegeanSea.²⁰⁷
Thefirstinofficial‘headʼoftheGermanarmyofficerswasWilhelmvonKle-
witz(18 72 – 1928 ).HisemploymentresembledthatofHansTröbst.Despitebeing
adistinguishedartillerycolonel,KlewitzdidnotreceiveapositionintheReichs-
wehr.HehadjoinedtheFreikorpsHülsenasChiefofStaffandlateranotherFrei-
korpsagainsttheCommunistupriseinSaxonyin1 92 4,wherehe“established
order.”²⁰⁸Among theGermanofficersheproposedtothe Turkishembassy
wereAdmiralMagnusvonLevetzow,aparticipantintheKapp-Lüttwitzputsch
in 1920 .²⁰⁹Levetzowhimselfwasnotinterestedintheposition,butheadvised
theTurkishambassador,KemaleddinSami,togetincontactwithotherGerman
navyofficerswhomighthavehadaninterestinworkingfortheTurkishmilitary
academy.²¹⁰However,noneofthosecandidateswerechosenbytheTurkishdip-
lomats.
WilhelmvonKlewitzsignedhistwo-yearcontractwiththeTurkishembassy
inAugust 1925 .However,thecontractcouldbeterminatedbytheTurkishside
shouldtheTurkish-Germandiplomaticrelationsbecomestrained.TheGerman
signeehadtorespecttheTurkishmilitarylawandhissuperiorsandhadto
wearcivilianclothing.Yettheforeigninstructorwasalsoentitledtothemilitary
healthcaresystemandheldthestatusofanofficer.²¹¹Anadditionalmonthlysal-
aryof 400 TurkishLiramadetheemploymentconditionsquiteappealing.Even
thoughtheGermanofficershadnopowerofcommandovertheirTurkishstu-
dents,theywerefarbetteroffthanathome,wheretheyhadnopossibilityof
workinginamilitaryrelatedsector.InTurkeytherewas“[...]awiderangeof
constitutivemilitaryactivity,thepossibilitytotestanythingnewinthemilita-
ry-technologicalfieldandnotleast,anenthusiasticrecognitionofhismerits
fortheTurkisharmy[...]”²¹²
Turkeywasonlyrestrictedbudgetwisebutfreeofarmamementprohibitions
sincetheLausanneTreaty.Nonetheless,thearmywasinneedofupdatedin-


CharlesPersonnaz,“LesMissionMilitairesFrançaisesenGrèceaprèslaPremièreGuerre
Mondiale, 1918 – 1928 ,’’inLesRelationsMilitairesFranco-Grecques:DelaRestaurationàlaSec-
ondeGuerreMondiale,ed.RémyPorteandAbdilBicer(Vincennes:ServiceHistoriquedelaDé-
fense, 2007 ), 102 – 115.
Fr.WilhelmSchallehu,WilhelmvonKlewitzzumGedächtnis(N.p.,n.pl.:c. 1928 ),3.Forhis
servicein1 919 seeGumbel,VierJahrepolitischerMord,1 02 ,No.4.
Gumbel,VierJahrepolitischerMord,1 05 ,no.1.
SeetheexchangeoflettersbetweenLevetzowandKlewitzinthesummerof 1925 .BA-MA
23 9/ 66.
BA-MA 23 9/ 66 ,34.
Schallehu,WilhelmvonKlewitzzumGedächtnis,3.


208 4German-TurkishMilitaryCooperationafter 1918

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