mand,sinceitsolelywasbindingGermantroopsthatwereneededforother
campaigns.
AccordingtothememoirsoftheGermanmilitaryattaché,Gündüzwasnot
thatreluctanttosidewithGermany.GündüztoldHansRohdeopenlythatbysid-
ingwithItaly,theGermangovernmenthadchosenthewrongpartnerandwould
havebeenfarbetterofftoallywithTurkey“andtherebymaybeevenwouldhave
wonthewaralready.”³³⁸Inhismemoirs,however,theTurkishGeneralavoided
suchstatements.GündüzdidnotconsiderHitlerandMussolinirealmilitary
leadersbecause“theyhadnotpassedtherankofasergeant.”³³⁹Theonlyauthor-
itarianleaderwhodeservedGündüz’admirationwastheSpanishdictatorGen-
eralFranco.Hehaddefendedhisneutrality,eventhoughhehadcontributedto
theGermanwareffortswithtemporarilysendingavolunteerdivisiontothewar
againsttheSovietUnion.However,presidentİnönüandhisgovernmentwere
carefulenoughtoavoidsuchTuranistmindedadventures.³⁴⁰
Germany’sintentionswereclear.AfterthefallofFrance,Germanyintensi-
fieditsplanofoccupyingTurkey,ifneededalsoagainstthewilloftheTurkish
government.Turkeyshouldserveasanallyoratleastatransitareaforanattack
onSouthernRussiaandtheMiddleEasternBritishMandates.³⁴¹Inthisregard,
theGermanHighCommandalsoreliedonstudiesbytheformerTurkishmilitary
instructor,HilmarvonMittelberger,whoretrospectivelyheldthoseplansfor
nothingmorethananillusion.³⁴²Themountainousareawashardtocrossand
themotorizedandmechanizedGermanunitswouldhavefacedmanifoldprob-
lemsontheirmarchthroughAnatolia.Inthiscase,thesumofGermanexperi-
HansRohde,SoldatundDiplomat(Unpublishedmemoirs,n.d.).BA-MAMSg1 2541 ,29.
Gündüz,Hatıralarım,2 32.
OnthecommoninterestsofTuranistcirclesandGermanwarfareinRussiaseeCamilla
Dawletschin-Linder:“Dieturko-tatarischensowjetischenKriegsgefangenenimZweitenWeltk-
riegimDreiecksverhältniszwischendeutscherPolitik,turanistischenAspirationenundtürkisch-
erAußenpolitik,”DerIslam 80 – 1( 20 03), 13 – 17.
FortwocontrafactualstudiesregardingsthoseplansseeJohnKeegan,“HowHitlerCould
HaveWontheWar:TheDrivefortheMiddleEast,1 94 1,”inWhatIf?TheWorld’sForemostMili-
taryHistoriansImagineWhatMightHaveBeen;Essays,ed.RobertCowley(NewYork:G.P.Put-
nam‘sSons,1999), 304 ;JohnH.Gill,“IntotheCaucasus:TheTurkishAttackonRussia, 194 2,”in
HitlerTriumphant:AlternateDecisionsofWorldWarII.,ed.PeterG.Tsouras(London:Greenhill,
2002 ), 164 – 166 .Mostofthoseassumptionsarejustified,cf.GerhardSchreiberandBerndSteg-
emannandDetlefVogel,DerMittelmeerraumundSüdosteuropa:Vonder‘nonbelligeranza’Ita-
liensbiszumKriegseintrittderVereinigtenStaaten(Stuttgart:DVA,1984), 136 – 14 5.
Mittelberger,“WandererinvierWelten,”vol.3, 110 – 111.
236 4German-TurkishMilitaryCooperationafter 1918