sacrificeforthegreatergood.Thisspirithadtobepreservedintherepublicanarmy[...]The
salvationofGermanyinitsinteriorfragmentationanditsexteriorweaknessimperiouslyre-
quiredtherulebyamanwhohadbecomeanationalheroforthepeople.”¹⁹⁴ThispragmaticviewwasalsovisibleamongtheolderofficerranksintheTurkish
army.TheyoungerTurkishofficersalsohighlyadmiredMustafaKemal.Kenan
Kocatürkrecalledhowhesawhisnationalheroforthefirsttimeattheseaside:
“IfAta[türk]atthisdaywouldhavesaidtous‘Allofyoudiveintotheseafrom
thislandingstage’Iwouldhavebeenthefirstonetojump.”¹⁹⁵
Resultingfromthisattitude,theGermanmodelofrecruitingofficersinac-
cordancewiththeirreliabilitybecameacommonpracticeintheTurkisharmy.
GonewerethedaysoftheOttomanalaylısystemwithnepotistofficercircles
lackinghigheracademicmilitaryeducation.¹⁹⁶JustlikeinthecaseoftheReichs-
wehr,theTurkishcommanderswhorefusedtoaccepttheprimacyofpoliticsover
themilitaryhadtoleavethearmy.Thiswasalessonlearnedinbothcountries
fromthemilitarydominanceofImperialpolitics.Militarydutiesandtheexertion
ofpoliticalpoliticalpowerwerenotreconcilableintheRepublic,withanexcep-
tionofthestateofemergencyundertightpoliticalcontrol.Nonetheless,inboth
armies,theideaofoverthrowingunpopularpoliticalrulerswasmorethanjusta
thoughtexperimentofamilitarymind.¹⁹⁷
Therewerealsoconvergingviewsaboutthepoliticalfunctionofthearmy.As
previouslymentioned,theTurkisharmedforcesservedto“spreadtheideasof
Mittelberger,“WandererinvierWelten,”vol.2, 2 – 3, 20 1.
Kocatürk,BirSubayınAnıları,80.
Akyaz,AskerîMüdahalelerinOrduyaEtkisi,38.
Adetaileddiscussiononthisissueisfarbeyondthescopeofthisstudy,sincethereisless
sourcematerialavailableontheTurkishside.ForindicationsseeGeorgeS.Harris,“TheRoleof
theMilitaryinTurkishPolitics,”MiddleEastJournal 19 – 1( 196 5), 56 – 58 ;FrancisL.Carsten,
ReichswehrundPolitik 1918 – 1933 (Köln,Berlin:Kiepenheuer&Witsch, 196 5), 267 – 27 1.For
thelaterperiodseeHansMommsen,“DieStellungderMilitäroppositionimRahmenderdeut-
schenWiderstandsbewegunggegenHitler,”inNS-VerbrechenunddermilitärischeWiderstand
gegenHitler,ed.GerdR.Ueberschär(Darmstadt:WissenschaftlicheBuchgemeinschaft 20 00),
119 – 134 ;FortightenedpoliticalcontroloverthearmyafterMustafaKemal’sdeathseeAkyaz,
AskerîMüdahalelerinOrduyaEtkisi,4 0 – 41 ;Foranallegedfailedputschagainstİsmetİnönü
in 194 1seeJörgHiltscher,Diedeutsch-türkischenBeziehungen 1940 – 42 inderPerzeptionHitlers,
RibbentropsundPapens:EineStudieunterbesondererBerücksichtigungihrernachrichtendienstli-
chenDimension(Ludwigsfelde:LudwigsfelderVerlagshaus,2011), 22 4.Inconclusion,itshould
benotedherethatthiscomparisondoesnotintendtoputthepoliticalregimesinbothcountries
onanequalfooting.
CommonInterests 205