theatersofwar.Backedbyleverednationalpride,EnverPasha,theOttoman
commanderinchief,hadofferedtofostertheGermanandAustro-Hungarianar-
miesontheEastandSouthEasternEuropefronts.Altogethermorethan 100 ,0 00
OttomansoldiersweretofightinMacedonia,RomaniaandintheGaliciaregion
inSouthernPoland/WesternUkraineuntiltheendofthewar.Onthecontrary,
throughoutthewaronlyabout 25 ,0 00 Germantroopsweredeployedforthecam-
paignsattheOttomanfronts.²⁵⁵
SinceattheGaliciafrontitwashighlyprobablethattheOttomanforces
mightfightinasimilarwarasinGallipoli,thenecessarypreparationswere
made.TheOttomanmilitaryattachéinBerlinsentareporttotheOttomanmin-
istryofwarabouttheGermanexperienceoftrenchwarfareattheWestfront
since 191 4.Asabasisforthisreport,asinthecaseofengineersecondlieutenant
Müller,theOttomanmilitaryattachépartiallymusthaveusedthenewestGer-
manfieldserviceregulationissuedon 20 June 1916 .²⁵⁶Thetopicofartillery
firefiguredprominentlyinthereportfromBerlin.Theneedforsuchconsidera-
tionsbecameevidentbytakingacloserlookattheOttomancampaigninGalicia,
wheretheOttomantroopswereunderheavyRussianshelling.²⁵⁷InJuneandJuly
1916 ,theylostmorethan33, 000 men,halfofthedeathtollofthewholeGallipoli
campaign.²⁵⁸Nevertheless,theOttomanarmyalsobenefittedfromtheparticipa-
tioninthiscampaign.Themedicaltreatmentandsupplywasmuchbetterthanit
hadbeenonGallipoli,sincetheGermanandAustrianrailwaybasedmilitarylo-
gisticscorpssupportedtheOttomanarmy.
TheOttomantroopsenhancedtheircapabilitieswhenitcametoimproved
protectionagainstenemyfireonthebattlefield.Yazmanmentionedtheapplica-
tionofGermanexperiencefromtheWesternfront:
“AtthatpointtheGermansshowedusonthefieldengineeringtraininggroundespecially
the‘Fuchsloch’,whichmeans‘Foxhole’,hiddenpositionsintheshapeofapittowhich
theyattachedimportance.TheGeneralStaffofour[Ottoman]corpsimmediatelyaskedTrumpener,GermanyandtheOttomanEmpire,66;VeliYılmaz,BirincinciDünyaHarbi’nde
Türk-AlmanİttifakıveAskerîYardımlar[TheTurkish-GermanAllianceandMilitaryAssistancein
theFirstWorldWar],(Istanbul:CemOfset,1 99 3), 23 5.
Cf.Kriegsministerium,VorschriftenfürdenStellungskriegfüralleWaffen.vol.1:Stellungsbau
(Berlin:Reichsdruckerei,1916);fortheuntitledOttomanmilitaryattachéʼsreportdated27Octo-
ber 1332 /1 916 seeATASEK14D 67.
M.ŞevkiYazman,KumandanımGaliçyaNeYanaDüşer?MehmetçikAvrupa’da:M.ŞevkiYaz-
man’ınAnıları[MyCommander,WhereisGaliciya?TheLittleMehmetsinEurope:TheMemoirsof
M.ŞevkiYazman],ed.KansuŞarman.3rded.(Istanbul:İşBankasıKültürYayınları,2011),
81 – 86.
UyarandErickson,AMilitaryHistoryoftheOttomans,2 64 – 26 5.
OttomantroopsinStormofSteel 83