1Introduction
The‘GermanSpirit’
AtthebeginningofmyfirstvisittotheGallipolipeninsulainSeptember 2009 ,
themajorWorldWarOneOttomanbattlefieldintoday’sRepublicofTurkey,I
washuggedbyanelderlyTurkishparticipantofourtourgroupassoonashe
realizedthatIwasGerman.“Ourancestorsoncefoughtheretogether,weare
brothersinarms!”heproudlyexclaimed,huggingmeyetagain.Apartfrom
theoddfeelingofbeingapplaudedforbeingGermanina(for meatthat
time)foreigncountry,thisexperienceraisedthequestionofwhythemilitaryre-
lationshipbetweenthesetwocountriesisstillremembered.Soon,Ibeganto
wonderhowithadaffectedthearmiesofbothcountriesandwhetherthistrans-
ferofmilitaryknowledgemighthavealsoshapedthesocietyasawhole.
PartoftheGermanmindsetbetween 1871 and 191 4wasthe“GermanSpirit”
(“DeutscherGeist”),anationalistconstructoftheWilhelmineera.Theuseofat-
tributivevirtuesandqualitieswasintendedtocontributetotheinnerconsolida-
tionandtoofferself-confidencetotheyoungnationaftertheunificationofthe
empirein 1871 .Beyondthebourgeoisiethoseideaswereespeciallypopular
amongtheGermanmilitary,resultingnotleastfromitsimpliedsenseofmission.
The“GermanSpirit”reacheditspeakinthe“Spiritof 1914 ”andwasalsowel-
comedintheOttomanEmpire.¹SeveralgenerationsofOttomanofficerswerein-
culcatedwiththisnationalistideology,resultingfromtheirtextbookstranslated
fromGermanandtheirinstructorswho“wereeitherGermansor[Ottomans]im-
buedwiththeGermanSpirit[Almanruhuyla].”²
EventheGermanliberalsascribedthisspiritanimportantroleinGerman
foreignpolicy.AccordingtojournalistErnstJäckh,
SeethepublicationbyMehmedEnisi[Yalkı],AlmanRuhu[GermanSpirit](Istanbul:Nefaset
Matbaası,1 33 0/ 191 4).Cf.MustafaGencer,JöntürkModernizmive‘Almanruhu’:1 908 – 1918 Döne-
miTürk-AlmanİlişkileriveEğitim[YoungTurkModernismandthe‘GermanSpirit’:German-Turk-
ishRelationsinthe 1908 – 1918 PeriodandEducation](Istanbul:İletişim, 20 03), 28 0.
KâzımKarabekir,TarihteAlmanlarveAlmanOrdusuTheGermansinHistoryandtheGerman
Army, 15.
https://doi.org/10.1515/978 3110554786 -