slowreformsafter 1909 weretohavefatalconsequencesonthebattlefieldsof
WesternThraceintheautumnof 1912 :
“Mostofthemenwereconscriptswhohadneverundergonemoderntraining,andsomeof
themdidnotevenknowtoloadarifleproperly.Rifleswerehandedoutinthefielddirectly
fromtheirpackingcrates.Ievensawsomesoldierstryingtoloadbulletsdownthemuzzle
ofthegun!”⁵⁰Toovercomesuchdifficultieswasanenormoustaskthatwouldtakemoretime
thaninitiallyenvisionedbytheGermanmilitaryadvisors.Goltz’sregularvisitsat
leasthadtheadvantagethatthe“absolutelyextraordinaryadmirationfortheir
oldmentor[vonderGoltz]wasrefreshedagain.”⁵¹However,Goltz’visitsalso
hadapracticaloutcomewithregardtohisevaluationofthefirstbigscalema-
neuversintheOttomanarmysince 1878 .Goltzunderlinedthattherepeatedma-
neuversoncorpslevelinOctober 1910 weremoresuccessfulthanexpected.The
appearanceofseveralCholeracasesdidnothindertheoldgeneralincontinuing
withthescheduledprogramme.TheOttomanofficerBehiç[Erkin]remembered
thisincident.WhentheOttomanofficerscarefullyaskedtopostponethemaneu-
verduetoseveralcasesofCholera,Goltzreprimandedthem:“Shouldsuchasit-
uationoccurinwar,doesthewarendthen?”⁵²WhiletheoverallstateoftheOtto-
man infantry was good, supplyand communications were lacking.The
conditionsofthesebrancheshadtobeimprovedaccordinglyforabetterper-
formanceofthearmy.⁵³HoweveritshouldbenotedthatGoltzdidnotobserve
amaneuverbytheOttomanreservearmy,butonebytheregularinfantrywith
propertraining.Nonetheless,thefinalparadeinthepresenceofSultanMehmed
VIReşadleftadeepimpressionontheOttomanofficers:“InmylifeIhadnot
seensomanysoldiersassembledinoneplace.”⁵⁴Finallytheexperiencesof
thismaneuverwerealsolaidoutinanofficialreview.Aftertheexamination
ofthemaneuver,theauthorCaptainNazımcalledformoredisciplineinthe
army:“Eventhefiringofamanoeuvercartridgeforpleasureisacrime.[...]
Al-Askari,Asoldier’sStory,3 9 – 40.
MilitärberichtNr.2 45 ,dated 25 January 1910 ,n.p.AA-PAR1 3310.
BehiçErkin,Hâtırat, 1876 – 1958 [Memoirs,1 876 – 1958],ed.AliBirinci,(Ankara:TTKBasıme-
vi, 20 10), 100.
Erkin,Hâtırat,2 35 – 23 6.
Erkin,Hâtırat,1 00.
GoltzpromotestheOttomanCase 39