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

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ershipamongtheofficers,alsotothose,whohadnoknowledgeoftheGerman
language.Inthosedays,theGermancommandlanguagewasnoteasilyaccessi-
ble,thefirstbilingualcommandlanguagebookwaspublishedduringtheFirst
WorldWar.⁹⁵
FortheOttomanguestthemilitarypunishmentwasofequalinterestasthe
professionalGermanweaponcareoftheserviceriflesbythecompany’sarmory
NCOs.Thesoldierswereorderedtokeeptheirweaponsanduniformsclean.⁹⁶
Furthermore,officers’traininghadcaughttheOttomanLieutenant’sinterest.
Inhiseyes,itwasremarkablethattheofficersatthebeginningoftheircareer
hadtoserveasregularsoldiers.Beforethissteptheyhadbeenpreparedcareful-
lyinthecadetcorpsfortheirfutureduties.⁹⁷Yettheywerestrictregardingthe
tidinessofthesoldiers’roomsandfindingadustycornerduringinspections
couldhaveunpleasantconsequencesforitsinhabitants.⁹⁸Onthefieldthesol-
diershadtoestimatedistancesandreadmaps.Mentioningsuchabilitieshad
aclearpurpose,sinceitwasadefianceintheOttomanarmythathadbecome
evidentduringtheBalkanWars.⁹⁹Attacktrainingsagainstartilleryandmachine
gunpositionsandthetrainingofintersectingfireagainsttheenemywerealso
noteworthypartsofthetraining.¹⁰⁰LieutenantMustafaalsohighlightedtele-
phoneconnectionsasbeingstandardineveryGermanunit.IntheOttoman
army,modernradioandtelephonetechnologyimportedfromGermanyhad
notbeenofmuchuseinfieldunitsintheBalkanwars.Theoperatorshadnot
receivedsufficient trainingandthe GeneralStaffhadnot ordered specific
hoursforsendingandreceivingmessages.Asaconsequence,thefleeingOtto-
mantroopsevenleftbehindtheirradiocarriageswhilerushingbacktowards
theÇatalcalineinOctober 1912 .¹⁰¹
TheOttomanmilitarytraineesweremostlyimpressedandastonishedbythe
Germansstrictemphasisonpunctualityintheunits.Here,theofficerstookcare
thattheirsoldiersobeyedeveryordertotheminute.Thiswasreasonablefor
Mustafa:“Indeedtheyareright.Becauseanofficerorasoldierwhoisnot


WelyBeyBolland,TürkischfürOffiziereundMannschaften:Gespräche,Wörtersammlungund
GrammatikzumSelbstunterricht;MiteinemAnhang:GesprächemitVerwundetenundKranken
(Stuttgart:Violet,1 91 7).
Mustafa,“AlmanOrdu’daMüşahedatım,” 336 – 33 8.
Mustafa,“AlmanOrdu’daMüşahedatım,” 34 3.
Mustafa,“AlmanOrdu’daMüşahedatım,” 346.
Mustafa,“AlmanOrdu’daMüşahedatım,” 349.
Mustafa,“AlmanOrdu’daMüşahedatım,” 352 – 354.
Ibid. 383 – 384 ;cf.OttovonLossow,“BerichtedesbayerischenOberstleutnantOttovonLos-
sowausdemtürkischenKrieg1912/ 13 ,”BayHStAIVGS 26 0,1.


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