the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

well as aide-de-camp (yaver-i ekrem) to the Sultan. The other German officers were
given similar appointments, thus starting a new policy of officers serving in a foreign
army without cutting their ties with their own army. They agreed to enter Ottoman
service since they could not have achieved such important posts so quickly in their
own country. They felt, however, that both as Germans and Christians, they were
superior to their Ottoman colleagues. This led them to ignore Ottoman traditions and
rules whenever they wished, causing considerable friction with the Ottomans as time
went on. Their primary duties were to prepare reports on the organization and the
situation of the Ottoman Army and to advise on needed reforms and reorganization.
The long and detailed reports which they prepared, however, were accepted but not
actually put into effect for some time, because although Abdulhamid wanted to
modernize his army, his long-standing paranoia caused him to fear the possibility
that a reorganized and strengthened army might well act against him and his
policies. 22 Kaehler’s group of German officers thus had little effect on Ottoman
military development.
In June 1883, Major von der Goltz was assigned to the service of the
Ottoman Army as Head of the Inspectorate of Military Schools with the rank of Staff
Lieutenant Colonel and made considerable contribution in training young Ottoman
officers. In 1886, the Sultan promoted him to the rank of Vice-Head of General Staff
while he continued to advise in modernizing Ottoman military schools. 23 Von der
Goltz also helped improve the Ottoman Navy and of the Dardanelles and Bosphorus
Straits fortifications. He even worked on the committee that supervised the
construction and improvement of Ottoman military train stations.
22
Wallach, pp. 34-40, Ortaylı, p. 60.
23
Hayati Aktaş, ‘Türk-Alman Askeri İlişkileri (1913-1918)’, unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Selçuk
University (1994), pp. 9-10.
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