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

(やまだぃちぅ) #1

handgrenades,butalsothemaintenanceofone’sownpositionswasofimpor-
tance:“[...][W]ealsohadtoshowtheTurkswheretomountbarbedwireobsta-
clesinendangeredareas,wheretoputcheval-de-frisebarricadesandbytheuse
ofsandbagsandfascinestomaketheshelledtrenchcombat-readyagain.”²⁴⁴
HoraczeklearnedtoconniveatthemisconductofOttomansoldiers,whoate
theallottedcandlesmadeofsuetoutofhunger,orwhocouldnotkeepsilent
whiledigging.Occasionallyhealsohadtoresorttoviolentmeasuresagainstdis-
obedientOttomansoldiers,whichhardlycameasasurprisegiventhelanguage
problem.ThoughHoraczekratedtheOttomaneffortsveryhighly,hereferredto
theGermanshareintheoperationswhenheconcludedthatthe“GermanSpirit
hasprevailedovermassandmatter!”²⁴⁵
AfterthewithdrawaloftheEntenteforcesinearly1 916 ,theuseofGerman
minewarfaretechniquesintheOttomanarmedforcescontinued.Forthispur-
pose,aGermanengineercaptainheldaseriesoflecturesabouthisexperience
inGallipoli.²⁴⁶Inhispresentations,Müllerconcentratedonthe 1916 German
fieldregulationonminewarfare.²⁴⁷FortheGermansecondlieutenant,theOtto-
manforceshadbeenquiteunpreparedforminewarfareinthebeginningofthe
campaign,andtheBritishforceshadbeenabletomakeuseoftheirsuperiority
inthisfield.TheOttomanforceswerelimitedtodefensivemeasuresinthebegin-
ning.HereMüllerunderlinedtheneedtoattacktheenemygalleriesinanearly
stagebeforetheycouldreachtheirowntrenches.²⁴⁸Thisbeingthecase,theown
forcesalsohadtogoontheoffensiveinordertodestroyenemylines.Onthis
basisMüllergaveaninstructionfortheconstructionofcountergalleriesto
keepthemsafeandstableuntilitwouldbetimetolightthefuse.²⁴⁹Müllerhigh-


Horaczek,VonderWestfrontandieOsmanischeFront,48.
Horaczek,VonderWestfrontandieOsmanischeFront,7 4 – 75 .Thisstatementcanbereadas
areferencetothememoirsoftheGermanGeneralKannengießer:“Physicalpowerscrowedover
physicalones,theSpiritoverthematter.ThisisthelessonofthecombatofGallipoli!”HansKan-
nengießer,Gallipoli:BedeutungundVerlaufderKämpfe 1915 (Berlin:Schlieffen, 1927 ), 22 9.
Müller,ÇanakkaleHarbindeLağımMuharebesineDairEldeEdilenTecârib:ÇanakkaleMu-
harebesineİştirakEdenAlmanLağımcıBölüğüZabitanındanMülazım-ıEvvelMüller’inMaltepe
İstihkamTalimgahındaVerdiğiKonferansTercümesidir[ExperiencesmaderegardingtheMining
CombatintheBattleofÇanakkale:TranslationoftheLecturegivenintheMaltepeEngineering
TrainingFacilitybySecondLieutenantMüller,fromtheofficersoftheGermanMiningUnits
whichparticipatedintheBattleofÇanakkale],ed.Karagâh-iUmumiOnİkinciMevki-iMüstah-
kemeŞubesi(Dersaadet[Istanbul]:Matbaa-ıAskeri, 1332 /1916).
Kriegsministerium,VorschriftenfürdenStellungskriegallerWaffen,part2:Minenkrieg(Ber-
lin:Reichsdruckerei,1916).
Müller,ÇanakkaleHarbinde,5.
Müller,ÇanakkaleHarbinde,9– 15.


FromGallipolitoGalicia:thestaticwarfareexperience 81
Free download pdf