AlthoughthemajorityoftheGermanofficersservingwiththeOttomanarmy
weredisgustedbytheprofessionalapproachoftheOttomanmilitaryleadership,
theysawtheneedforafundamentalreformoftheOttomanarmy,stateandso-
ciety:
“ApartfromtheveryyoungGeneralStaffofficers,whotosomedegreehaveavisibleGer-
maneducation,theTurkishGeneralStaffofficersarethebaneoftheirarmy.Themajorityis
withoutanysenseofduty,withoutunderstandingandasaconsequenceofindescribable
conceit,withoutcontacttothetroopsamongwhomtheyarerightlyunpopular.[...]But
thesearedeficitsthatcannotberemovedbyGermanreformers,becausetheyrundeeper
thanthat.Theyhavetheirrootsinthevitiationoftheso-callededucatedclass,intheir
lackofsocialandethicsensibility.Yes,onecansayintheirupbringing,inthestatusof
thewoman,inthereligionetc.,inshort,plentyofthingsthatcannotbeinfluencedby
theGermanreformers.[...]Turkeyhasnoleadingelements,neitherinthestateasa
wholenorinthearmy.[...]Areformthatiseffectivehastoembracethewholepeople
[Volk].Thereformcanonlyemanatefromanalmightypersonalityandwill,besidesthat
itsresultsthenstillwouldbequestionable,takeyearsofhardwork.”¹⁴⁵AsColonelOttovonLossowcommandedaReserveDivisionattheNorthernpart
oftheÇatalcafront,hehadmorecontactwiththeordinaryranktroopsthan
FranzEndresalthoughhecametosimilarconclusions,withaslightEuropean
senseofsuperiority:
“Theonlypositivemilitaryfeaturethesepeoplebringtothearmyistheirbornsensefor
subordinationandauthority.Alltheothermilitaryfeatureshavetobeinculcatedinthe
peoplethroughalongandcarefultraininginpeacetime.Certainly,withthebenevolence
ofthepeople,well-donetraininginpeacetimewouldfinallyleadtoquitegoodresults.”¹⁴⁶However,LossowwasalsoawarethattheGermaninstructorscouldnotcarryout
thepatrioticindoctrination.ThiswastheexclusivesphereoftheOttomanoffi-
cersandtheyunderstoodhowtocheeruptheirfellowtroopsafterthefirst
weeksofthecampaign:
“ThespeechbyColonelRagıbBey,thecheersforH.M.theSultan,theorderly,compactbig
concentrationoftroopsbeingunusualbeforeforthesoldierinthiswarhadanextraordi-Endres,“TeilnahmeamBalkankrieg,” 10 ,32.Cf.forasimilaropiniononthestateofthe
OttomanarmedforcesbyaGermannavycaptaininGerhardGrüßhaber,“Unddashatunter
deutscherFlaggedieLoreleygetan:DieEvakuierungAbdülhamidsII.ausSalonikianBord
derS.M.S.Loreley,Oktober 1912 ,”inDieBagdadbahn:EinUmrissdeutsch-türkischerBeziehun-
gen;GesammelteBeiträge,ed.M.FlorianHertschandMutluEr(Hamburg:Kovac, 20 16), 14 9.
OttovonLossow,“GeschichtederDenizli-Division,” 20 January 1913 ,4.BayHStAIVGS
26 0.
60 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer