tothearmy’sprestige.ColmarvonderGoltz’essaysweretranslatedandcirculat-
edamongtheofficersoftheOttomanarmy,inthehopeofpreventingasimilar
debacleduringapotentialnextcampaign.¹⁵³Thesamefearwasalsovirulent
amongtheGermanofficersastheoutcomeofawarinCentralEuropewas
alsouncertain.TheofficersintheOttomanarmy,therefore,usedtheopportunity
togiveasummaryoftheirobservations.
GermanlessonsfromtheBalkanWars
Intheirreports,Germanadvisorsnotonlymadesuggestionsfortheimprovement
oftheOttomanarmy,butalsousedthisconflictasatestinggroundfortheown
Germanfieldserviceregulations.¹⁵⁴Lossowpredictedhighinfantrylossesina
futureconflict,sincetheenemy’sartilleryobserversimmediatelyreportedany
attackformations.Theowninfantryhadtoadvanceinsmallgroupsbutkeep
itsdistancefromtheneighboringgroup.Decisivevictoryinbattlehadtobe
soughtwithinonedayotherwisethetroopswouldfatigueandbecomedulled
underenemyshelling.¹⁵⁵Themoraleofthetroopsdeservedeminentattention
becausethechanceofmentalbreakdownwerealsohighintheGermanarmy.
ThisviewwasalsosharedbyLieutenantHansRohde(1884–1954).¹⁵⁶German
officersdisagreedwiththeFrenchpress,whichascribedthepoorperformance
oftheOttomanartillerytotheinferiorGermanordnance.Thisargumentwasin-
validbecauseOttomanopponentsalsohadusedKruppcanonsinthisconflict.
However,bothsideshadshowedbigdeficitsandtheadvantageoffiringfrom
coveredpositionsbecameevident.¹⁵⁷Theseandotherevaluationswerenotre-
ceivedenthusiasticallybyeveryone.InanarticleforthedailyDerTag,Colmar
ColmarvonderGoltz,DerjungenTürkeiNiederlageunddieMöglichkeitihrerWiedererhe-
bung(Berlin:Peatel,1913).SeetheOttomantranslationofGoltzʼarticles:Colmarvonder
Goltz,GençTürkiye’ninHezimetiveİmkan-ıİtilası[TheDebacleofYoungTurkeyandthePossi-
bilityofitsReascension],trans.H.Cevdet(Istanbul:KaderMatbaası,1 329 /1913);seealsothecol-
lectionofarticlesbyGoltzandKarlImhoffinOsmanlılarMuharebeleriniNasılKaybettiler?Şimdi
NasılTelafiveTerakkiEdebilirler?FonderGolçveİmhofPaşalarınMütaleatı[HowDidTheOtto-
mansLoseTheirWars?HowCanTheyPayBackandProgressNow?TheEnquiriesofGoltzand
ImhoffPasha],ed.AdilNami(Istanbul:SancakiyanMatbaası,1 33 1/1915).
Cf.alsoPöhlmann,“BetweenManchuriaandtheMarne,” 216 – 22 8.
OttovonLossow,“KriegserfahrungenInfanterie.Geheim!,”3February 1913 ,4–7, 20 .Bay
HStAHS 157 1.
Rohde,UnsereGefechtsvorschriftenundderBalkankrieg,2 0 – 21 .Between 1936 and 1944
RohdeservedasGermanmilitaryattachéintheGermanembassyinAnkara.
Rohde,UnsereGefechtsvorschriften,5 5 – 58.
62 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer