peculiaritiesofthepeople.MysuggestiontowriteTurkishweaponandcombatregulations
basedonGermanprinciples,undertakenbyacommissionwherealsotheGermaninstruc-
torsweretoberepresented,wasnotcarriedout.”²³¹
RegardingtheproblemofthegeneralvalidityofGermanmilitaryknowledgeMit-
telbergerhadmadeanimportantpoint.Totake,forinstance,theTurkishservice
regulationasabasisfortheeducationoftheinfantryhighlightsthechallenges
ofadaptatingGermanvaluestotheTurkishenvironment.IntheTurkishregula-
tion,therewereseveralsmalladaptationstotheTurkishconditions.Thestatus
ofmilitaryservicewaselevatedtoaserviceofnationalhonorsimilarlytothein-
troductionofregulationsintheWehrmacht.Thesoldier’shighestaimwasto
servethenation’srighttoliveandtoprotectitsterritory.²³²Whilethefamily
Mittelberger,“WandererinvierWelten,”vol.3, 30.
However,thereweresemanticdifferences.SeetheGermanideologicalterm“Lebensraum”
whichreferredtomorethanthenationalterritory.InTurkish“yaşadığıyurdu”meansthenative
countrywherethesoldierlives.Anonymous,AusbildungsvorschriftfürdieInfanterie(A.V.I.);H.
Dv.130/1;vol1:LeitsätzefürErziehungundAusbildung(Berlin:VerlagderReichsdruckerei, 19 36),
5;notethesamepagenumberin:Anonymous,PiyadeTalimnamesi(P.Ta.);vol.1:TalimveTer-
Figure10:PortraitofHilmarRittervonMittelberger,c.1 940
TheMittelbergerEra,1 933 – 1939 213