Turkish-German Military Relations and the Balkan Wars

Authors : Bülent Durgun

Pages : 217-238

View : 26 | Download : 12

Publication Date : 2017-07-14

Article Type : Research

Abstract :At the end of the 1877-1878 Ottoman-Russian War, to increase the value of the Ottoman Empire as an ally, the need for a strong army became more apparent. Due to this situation, ​​ it was necessary to reorganize the army. II. Abdul Hamid, in order to restructure the army and to see Germany as an ally at any cost, requested the assignment of military missions from the Kaiser. Having changed its perception of the Eastern Question and sharpened the hope of increasing the effectiveness of German arms industry, Germany assigned these requested military missions, considering that they will play an important role in achieving these goals. The restructuring the Turkish Army, which was started with the German idea that ​​ "foreign powers, who want to be effective on Turkey, should take the army into account", did not give the expected results for the Ottomans in the Balkan War. Upon the defeat, negative criticisms in domestic and foreign public opinion about German military and weapons systems arose. For a defense against these negative criticisms Germans, initially tried to use the Abdulhamid’s period and then the thesis that Turkish displayed a shallow practice of the works as the basis which were contraversial. In the meantime, thanks to the CUP’s inability to find any ally, Germans were reinvited to restructure the army, which would alleviate the criticisms thoroughly. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the Turkish-German military relations in the Balkan War. As a result of the defeat in the Balkan War, the need for restructuring the army forced the prominent figures of CUP to search for new foreign military missions. As France and England did not act favorably on this issue, the Sublime Port had only one option left to apply; Germany, which would lead her to a collapse. This study is important as it covers a period of time shaping the history of Europe and the world. In this research which was completed by studying ATASE archival documents, periodicals, national and international literature, German restructuring of the Ottoman army and its impact on the Balkan War were examined. 
Keywords : The Ottoman-German Relations, Balkan War, Imperialism