3German-Ottoman/TurkishCooperationin the
MobilizationofYouth:TheCaseofHeinrich
vonHoff (1916–17)andCarlDiem( 1933 )
IntroductionandDefinitions
Sincetheearlymodernage,underagedboyshadservedmoreorlessvoluntarily
inthearmedforcesasdrummers,fifers,andservantsorinthenavyasship’s
boys.¹But thosejuniorservicemenhadbeenrareexceptions.Thesituation
changedwiththeemergenceofmodernmassarmiesbasedonconscription.
Inthefollowingchapter,Iwillanalyzestate-fundedmilitaryinstructionof
boysaged 12 to 20 inparamilitaryyouthassociationsin(Imperial)Germany,
thelateOttomanEmpireandtheearlyRepublicofTurkey.Initially,thefocus
isonthedevelopmentsinGermany,whichhaditsrootsinGreatBritainand
France.TheappropriationoftheGermanmodelduringtheFirstWorldWar
shallbeanalyzedinthesecondparagraphofthisfirstpartofthepresentchap-
ter,totheextentthatitistraceableintheego-documentsandwritingsoftheGer-
manofficerHeinrichvonHoff.²Whatwerethecausesandaimsofthoseyouth
associations,andwhatwerethesimilaritiesanddifferencesinbothcountries?
Thedesignation‘paramilitary’willbeusedhereinordertodescribethechar-
acteroftheseassociationsandtheirtrainingofyoungmenpriortomilitaryservice.
Inthisregard,‘militarism’isdefinedastheexorbitantdominanceofthearmed
forceswithinastate.Militarynormsaretransferredtothecivilsociety.Indoctrinat-
ingtheyoungmenwithmilitantnationalismgeneratesasoldierlyspiritandbehav-
ior.³ThisdefinitiongoesbeyondMehmedBeşikçismoregeneralunderstandingof
militarism.⁴InhisdefinitionBeşikçialsoneglectedtheroleofthecivilianplayersin
MoragJosephineGrant,“DieKindersoldatenvongestern:VorbemerkungenzueinerGe-
schichtevonKindernalsMilitärmusikerim19.Jahrhundert,”inMilitärmusikzwischenNutzen
undMissbrauch,ed.MichaelSchramm(Bonn:MilitärmusikdienstderBundeswehr,2011), 174 –
18 7.
OnthecooperationofHoffandhisOttomancivilcounterpartseeSelimSırrı[Tarcan]also
SevilÖzçalıkandGerhardGrüßhaber,“‘Frank,Fresh,Frish,Free’attheBosphorus?Selim
SırrıandtheGermanModelofYouthMobilizationinthelateOttomanState, 1908 – 1918,”Middle
EastCritique 24 – 4( 20 15), 375 – 388.
MichaelGeyerandWernerConze,“Militarismus,”inGeschichtlicheGrundbegriffe:Histori-
schesLexikonzurpolitisch-sozialenSpracheinDeutschland,ed.OttoBrunner,WernerConze
andReinhartKoselleck,vol4(Stuttgart:Klett-Cotta, 1978 ),1.
Beşikçi,TheOttomanMobilizationofManpower,6.
https://doi.org/10.1515/978 3110554786 -003