the beginnings of ottoman-german partnership - Bilkent University

Von der Goltz stayed in Turkey for three months. During this short time, he
prepared a comprehensive program for military maneuvers in the Balkans and
İstanbul. He designed a military maneuver in which two Ottoman corps participated.
He established a drilling ground in which 120 officers could be trained in one
semester. He also prepared pamphlets called “Advice for the German Military Tutors
in the Ottoman Service”. He then returned to Germany, but continued his service to
the Ottomans by sending reform proposals, but he did not return again until the early
years of the First World War. 87
In spite of his significant influence on the Ottoman military leaders, Von der
Goltz’s second service in the Ottoman Empire was not direct or sustained. Indirectly,
however, he had an important influence on Turkish politics until the arrival of Von
Sanders Military Commission in 1913, since most of the Ottoman military leaders in
the younger generation had been trained according to his program during his first
service in the Empire. Additionally, the leading military figures such as Ahmet İzzet
Paşa and Mahmut Şevket Paşa were the generals who had been to Germany for
training.
The renewal of the German military officers was a good opportunity for
Germany to strengthen its position in the Ottoman Empire, but it was not enough.
The real opportunity came when France and England rejected the Ottomans when the
Turkish government tried to raise a loan of 30,000,000 francs secured by the customs
receipts of the Ottoman Empire. France demanded that the Ottoman government
consent to have its budget administered by a French adviser in return for the loan.
The Minister of Finance, Cavid Bey did not accept the French proposal. When he
went to London to negotiate the same loan, the British government demanded that
87 Wallach, pp. 86-87.
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