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

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grapes.²⁹⁶Thehighpercentagealcoholwasinabundance,yetGermansoldiers
werenotaccustomedtotheOttomanhabitofeatingcoldstartersfollowedby
severalplateswithsmallhotdishesalongsidegrapespirits.TheGermanmilitary
police,whichpatrolledtherestaurantsandbarsofPerainuniformandcilivian
clothing,hadtooftenremovethepassedoutdrankardsfromsuchestablish-
ments.
WhereasthedönerwasnotavailablebackhomeinGermanyduringthelife-
timeofthemajorityofGermanveterans,²⁹⁷mostofthempaidhomagetotheOt-
tomanspiritsintheirgatheringsbyraisingtherakıglassesafterthewar.²⁹⁸It
shouldalsobenotedthatthetimeintheOttomanlandsalsoraisedtheintellec-
tualinterestinthehistoryandcultureoftheally.InthecaseofFranzBabinger
thisexperienceevenhadashareinthechoiceoftheacademicfield.²⁹⁹


ChallengestoCoalitionWarfare


DuetotherapidlyincreasingnumbersofGermanmilitarypersonnelinOttoman
serviceafter 191 4,acarefulselectionofsuitablesoldiersfordeploymenttothe
Ottomanarmywasbeyondtherealmsofpossibility.Intimesoftotalmobiliza-
tionthechoiceofappropriateofficerswaslimited.Thissituationcontributed
tothegrowingtensionswiththeOttomanofficersandsoldiers,furtherdeepen-
ingthealienationprocessoftheallies.³⁰⁰
Therewasalsoatypeofintra-Germanalliance,whichoftenbecamevisible
inmemoirsaboutthewar.JustlikeGermanyhadtriedtodominatethealliance,
sodidthePrussiancontingentwithintheGermanImperialarmy.SouthGerman
officersespeciallyhadadislikeforthispolicy.ColonelGeroldvonGleichfrom
Württembergwasnotencouragedwhenhesawtherealconditionsofservice


SeethewarninginGarrisonOrderNo. 46 ,dated18January 191 7.BayHStAIVHS 2254.
Cf.EberhardSeidel,Aufgespießt:WiederDönerüberdieDeutschenkam(Hamburg:Rot-
buch,1996),especiallyp.52etseq.withasimilarlyenthusiasticdescriptionastheoneby
OttoLotthammermorethanhalfacenturybefore.
Cf.Mangold-Will,BegrenzteFreundschaft,2 79.
AfterhisserviceintheOttomanarmy,FranzBabingerbecamethefounderofthechairof
TurkishStudiesattheLudwigMaximiliansUniversityinMunich,cf.GerhardGrimm,“FranzBa-
binger, 1891 – 196 7:EinlebensgeschichtlicherEssay,”DieWeltdesIslams 38 – 3(1998), 307 – 312.
ForothercasesseeOliverStein,“KulturelleBegegnungenmitdemOrient:DeutscheOffiziereim
OsmanischenReichwährenddesErstenWeltkriegs,”inPlayingLawrenceontheotherSide:Die
ExpeditionKleinunddasdeutsch-osmanischeBündnisimErstenWeltkrieg,ed.VeitVeltzke(Ber-
lin:Nicolai,2 01 4), 79.
SeeanoverviewinNeulen,FeldgrauinJerusalem,1 81 – 190.


92 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer

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