The \'German Spirit\' in the Ottoman and Turkish Army, 1908-1938. A History of Military Knowledge Transfer - Gerhard Grüßhaber

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didnotincludeanyreferencestotheformerGerman-Ottomancooperationdur-
ingthewar,thetextcontainedtheoccasionalreferencetoGermany.
Apakstatedthattheideaofestablishingayouthorganizationwasnothing
new.Priorto 191 4ithadbeenusedformilitarypurposes(Germanybeingbut
oneexample)orforpoliticalaims,asinthecaseoftheSoutheastEuropean
Pan-SlavistSokolorganization.Theauthorsmentionedthelattersincethey
had“helpedtoachievetheindepenceofthenation”.²⁵¹Obviously,herethe
ideasbehindtheSokolmovementwasclosertotheideologyoftheKemalists,
sinceGermany,withitsBundJungdeutschland,couldnotoffersuchastruggle
for nationalindependence.After aclassificationoftheEuropean post-1 918
youthorganizationstheauthorsconcluded:


“Inthisregard,IwillrelateheresomewordsthatarealsosaidintheSovietprovinces,in
Mussolini’sItalyorinHitler’sGermany:Thestrengthofarevolution[inkılâp][baseson]cre-
atinganewmanappropriateforthisrevolutionaswellascreating[him]inaveryshort
time.Withoutthistalkofarevolution,itisliketalkingofadream[hayal].Theyounger
theonesontopofthisrevolutionarethesmallertheoppositionwillbe.Andtherevolution
willbepreparedfornewtimesandnewchallenges.”²⁵²

FromthisstatementitbecomesclearthattheCHPfearedfurtheruprisingslikea
secondMenemenincidentoranotherinsurrectionsimilartotheoneinDersim
thathadbeguninMarch 1937 .RahmiApakwasfascinatedbytheopportunities
astate-funded,centralizedyouthorganizationofferedinthisregard.Throughthe
earlyindoctrinationofyouth,thesustainableeffectsoftheKemalistrevolution
couldbeguaranteed.Theviewofthenewmanwasalsonot farfromthe
modeloftotalitarianregimes.²⁵³ThisiswhyinTurkey,thestatewantedtocon-


SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,2.OntheSokolmovementseeNiza-
meddinKırşan,“ÇekoslovakyaʼdaSokolTeşkilatı”[TheSokolOrganizationinCzechoslovakia],
TürkSporKurumuDergisi(15March 19 37), 6 – 7;Ibid.(22March1 93 7),6–7.
SaylaviandApak,GençlikTeşkilatıHakkındaRapor,5.
CfHitlersviewregardingtheuseofsportinaccordancewithNationalSocialistideology,
whichwentfarbeyondtheCHPconcepts.Cf.Hitler’sstatementontheeducationoftheyouth
intheparty’sOrdensburgen(OrderCastles),thecadretraininganddrillfacilitiesforthefuture
eliteoftheNSDAPleadershipbefore1 940 :“Ayouthwillriseinmyordercastleswhowillscare
thewholeworld.Iwantaviolent,imperious,relentless,cruelyouth.[...]Iwillhavethemtrained
inallkindofphysicalexercises.Iwantanathleticyouth.[...]InthatwayIcancreatethenew
[order].”HermannRauschning,GesprächemitHitler(Zürich:Europa-Verlag1940), 23 .These
linesarenottobetakenliterally;cf.TheodorSchieder,HermannRauschnings‘GesprächemitHit-
ler’alsGeschichtsquelle(Opladen:WestdeutscherVerlag, 1972 ), 24.


154 3German-Ottoman/TurkishCooperationintheMobilizationofYouth

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