urgedtheGermansidetoacceptonlyolderofficers,whichcouldbeusedasau-
thoritativeinstructorsintheOttomanwaracademyupontheirreturn.Oneof
themwasAhmedİzzet[Furgaç](1864– 19 37),whowassenttoGermanyinthe
sameyear.Ahmedİzzetmentionedinhismemoirsthathetriedtocombine
theideasofbothsides,“seekingarapprochementbymixingandcombining
asmuchaspossibleinmymind.”⁷⁷Thisremarkwasadirectreferencetothe
challengingappropriationprocess,whichmanyOttomanofficersunderwentdur-
ingandaftertheirtraininginGermany.
ThesendingofOttomanofficerscontinuedafterthe 1908 Julyrevolution.
Fromthenon,thereportsbecamemoredetailed,sincetheofficerswereurged
togivemoreinsightontheirserviceabroadinthenew 1908 regulationforoffi-
cersofallarmybranchesthatweretobesenttoEurope.Heretootheconditions,
thepaymentandtheresultingpromotionsafterthesuccessfultrainingperiod
wereregulated.⁷⁸Paragraph 13 ofthisregulationdealtwiththespecialcaseof
GermanywherebyprioritywasgiventoofficersfromthefirstthreeOttomanar-
mies,⁷⁹proofoftheurgencyofthedesiredmodernizationoftheOttomanarmy.
Theseofficersweretobepostedasinstructorsinthemodelregimentsandthe
Ottomanhighermilitaryeducationalfacilities.OfficersreturningfromGermany
weretobecome thefuturearmy’sleadership,astheGerman ColonelKarl
Aulernoted:“AmongtheofficersespeciallythoseaboundwhohadGeneral
vonderGoltzPashaasateacherorwhohadenjoyedtheirtrainingintheGer-
manarmy.Theyaretheeliteofthearmy,arefamiliarwiththemodernprinciples
ofwarfareandarefirstandforemostdestinedforleadershipinthearmy.”⁸⁰
AfterthedepositionofAbdülhamid,manyofficerswhohadreceivedtheir
traininginGermanyaroundtheturnofthecenturymadetheircareerduring
theSecondConstitutionalperiod,includingSalihHulusi[Kezrak],AliRıza,Mah-
mudMuhtar[Katırcıoğlu]andPertev[Demirhan].⁸¹
Unfortunately,onboththeOttomanaswellastheGermanside,archivalevi-
denceislimitedondetailedinformationabouttheseofficers’timeinGermany.
TheGermansidecarefullysupervisedtheselectionandnumericallimitation
AhmedİzzetFurgaç,Feryadım[MyLamentation](Istanbul:NehirYayınları,1 99 2),9.Akmeşe,
TheBirthofModernTurkey,25.
Cf.theserviceregulationoftheOttomanGeneralStaff:Erkan-iHarbiyeUmmumiye,Avru-
pa’yaTahsileGidecekZabıtanaAitTalimat[InstructionsforOfficersgoingtoEuropeforEduca-
tionalPurposes](Istanbul:Daire-iAskeriyeMatbaası,1 32 6/1909).
Avrupa’yaTahsileGidecekZabıtanaAitTalimat,4.
Auler,“DieTürkischeArmee,”HStAStuttgartM660– 051 Heft5.
Cebeci,Diedeutsch-türkischenBeziehungen,368, 37 1.
OttomanOfficersinGermany,1 908 – 1918 45