Ultimately,sendingOttomanofficerstoGermanywasonecornerstoneofa
successfuldevelopmenttowardsanallianceandpavedthewayforthetransfer
ofGermanmilitaryknowledge.Waysofholdingcitiesandfortressesinthewarof
1912 wasascribedtotheGermantrainingoftherespectivecommandingOttoman
officers:“Fromwhichsourcedidthefouraforementionedofficersdraintheirca-
pabilitiesandtheirvalor?”¹²⁴Ontheotherhand,manynegativeaspectsthat
weretochallengetheallianceduringtheFirstWorldWarwerealreadyvisible
duringtheprewarperiod.Nonetheless,thetrainingofyoungOttomanmilitary
cadresinGermanyformorethanfourdecadeshadabigimpactontheOttoman
armyandlaterthearmedforcesoftheTurkishRepublic.Thosemilitaryleaders
carriedonthemessagetheyhadinternalizedduringtheirtimeinGermanytothe
nextgenerationofOttomanofficers,asrecollectedbyaRepublicangeneral
abouthisyearsattheIstanbulwarschool:
“TheyhadadoptedthepompousattitudesoftheGermangeneralsandupontheirreturnto
theirnativecountrytheyactedliketheGermangenerals.Ourinstructor,theblessedHasan
RızaPashawhodefendedİskodra[intheBalkanWars],emulatedGeneralHaeseleratevery
opportunity,imitatedhismovements,postureandwalk.”¹²⁵Fromthisexample,itisevidentthathavingservedinGermanywasnotaguar-
anteeforanunchallengedstatus.Thiswasespeciallythecasewhenitcameto
activefieldserviceoutsidethelectureroom.Heretheannualmaneuversoffered
someopportunitiestotesttheabilitiesoftheoldercommanders,whichhadhad
attendedaGermanmilitaryschool.Disappointmentswerenotuncommon.Mus-
tafaKemalcritisizedopenlyaboutAliRızaPaşa( 1860 – 19 32)infrontofalloffi-
cersonthedeficitsintheconductofoperationsduringtheCumalımaneuversin
August 1909 .Inaprivateletterhehighlightedthathehadactuallyexpected
morefromageneralwhohadservedintheGermanarmy:“However,ifthis
PashawhohasworkedinGermanyalsodoesnotmastertheartofleadership
whatwilltheothersdo?Thedivisioncommandershavenoclueabouttheirdu-
ties!”¹²⁶
MarinevomMai 1912 bisDezember1 916 ,n.p.Cf.Al-Askarisstatementthathehadtoleavethe
instructionroomwhensensitivemattersweretaught;Al-Askari,ASoldier’sStory,31.
WithanemphasisontheirGermaneducationreferringtoMehmedŞükrüPaşa,Mehmed
Esad[Bülkat],Zeki[Kılıçoğlu]andHassanRızainMehmedZeki,“DieLehrendestürkisch-bal-
kanischenKrieges,”DieNationalverteidigung 15 December1912/1January 1913 ,2.
AsımGündüz,Hatıralarım[MyMemoirs],ed.İhsanIlgar(Istanbul:KervanKitapçılık, 1973 ),
20.
Atay,Çankaya,69.
AppropriationbetweenAssimilationandSelf-Denial 55