afterhisarrivalintheOttomanEmpire:“Inrealitytheyhadgivenmethe‘waste’
whichnoPrussianofficeratmyageandwithmyrankwouldeverhavevolun-
teeredtotakeover.”³⁰¹WecanthereforearguethatmostoftheSouthGerman
officerssufferedfromaninferioritycomplexduetoPrussiandominance.Ina
similarvein,theBavarianvolunteerCountPreysingsawtheneedtopraisethe
Prussianmilitaryinhisreport:
“Intermsoffaithfulnessandreliability,thetraditionalBavariansoldier[i.e.fromthe
‘heartlands’ofBavaria]isnotoutreachedbyhisPrussianmate.Also,diligenceandoffi-
ciousnessintheworkofthe[Bavarian]regimentsdoesnotlagbehindthatofothercontin-
gents.Whatismissing[inBavaria]isthemilitaryspiritthatimbueseveryoneinPrussia
[...].”³⁰²WethuscannottalkofahomogeneousGermanofficercorpsintheOttoman
service.TheBavarianGeneralKreßconcludedthatthePrussianofficerswere
toblameforGermanclasheswiththeOttomanofficers,“especiallysinceun-
fortunatelyitisnotpossibleforourbriskandladdishNorthGermanbrothers
togainsympathyabroad.”³⁰³
However,thisbehaviorwasnotconfinedtothePrussianofficers.Afterhis
experienceinGalicia,ananonymousGermanofficerwroteaboutthefrictions
withtheOttomanally,arguingthatbothPrussiansandBavariansoftenhad
anarrogantappearancetowardsforeigncultures.Thisledtoafeelingofsuperi-
ority,accompaniedbyaknow-it-allandpompousmentality:“Unfortunatelyfor
onesuchgentlemanwhoknowshowtodoitright,therearenineothersofthe
aforementionedtype,whichseetheirdestinyinhinderingtheGerman-Turkish
relations.”³⁰⁴
ThoughthetensionbetweentheGermanandOttomansidecontinuedand
evenreachedaclimax,whentroopsofbotharmiescameclosetostartfighting
againsteachotherinlate1918.Inonecase,Ottomancommanderswereeven
closetocourtmartialingadisobedientGermanofficer.InApril 191 7,theBavarian
MajorLudwigSchraudenbachwithdrewtheOttomantroopsunderhiscommand
attheCaucasusfrontwithoutanyordersfromhissuperiorGeneralAliİhsan
[Sabis].Schraudenbachwascourtmartialed,whichleadtotheinterferenceof
GeroldvonGleich,“FeldzuginderTürkei 1916 ,”Ludwigsburg1 916 .HStAStuttgartM6 60 /
010 Nr 157 :13.
Preysing,“ErfahrungenausdemBalkankrieg1912/ 13 ,”n.p.BayHStAIVGS 25 9.
[Friedrich]KressvonKressenstein,“MeineMissionimKaukasus,” 194 3, 15 .BHStAIVHS
2227.
Bompatoppo,“Türkenspiegel:StreiflichterauseinerLern-undLehrzeit,”DieGrenzboten 76
(1917), 20 5.
ChallengestoCoalitionWarfare 93