“As the Turkish horses start drinking water from the Vistula…”
Ottoman XVth Corps on Galicia Front in the First World War
Tuncay Yılmazer
Editor of Turkish FWW website geliboluyuanlamak.com
In the September 1916 issue of the Ministry of War Magazine Harp Mecmuası (War Journal), the famous Ottoman historian Ahmet Refik Bey, who served in the Ottoman General Staff during the First World War, addressed Turkish soldiers on the Galicia front, referring to his country’s Ottoman ancestors’ sieges of Chyhyryn (1678) and the battle of Khotin (1621); “You are fighting far from your homeland, but in the closest locations where you are battling with your ruthless foes today are not unfamiliar to Turkish success, Turkish courageous passion, and heroism.” He went on to say that Hungarians were the same race with Turks and they were to fought aganist Russians as brothers. Although Ahmet Refik does not mention it, some of the Turkish officers who went to Galicia probably knew that Rohatyn was the birthplace of Hürrem Sultan, wife of Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan of the most glorious years of the Ottoman Empire.
At the end of 1915, Ottoman War Minister Enver Paşa met Falkenhayn at Orsova and offered that, part of the remaining Ottoman troops could be sent to the European fronts after the Allies withdrew from Gallipoli. Enver Paşa believed in the spirit of allying and the outcome of the war would be decided on the European fronts. But his proposal was rejected by Falkenhayn, stating that Ottoman soldiers lacked training and equipment. However, when the Brusilov Offensive shook the Eastern Front, assistance was requested from Turkish forces as well. German OHL officially requested two Turkish divisions from Turkey on 6 July 1916.
However, not every German military personnel and diplomatic official in Istanbul shared the same opinion. Liman von Sanders Paşa, who had been in Turkey as the head of the German military mission before the First World War and the commander of the 5th Army that fought in the Gallipoli campaign opposed the idea of sending troops to Galicia. Liman Paşa was of the opinion that it was not right to send selected troops to Galicia at a time when Eastern Anatolia was under Russian occupation and there were news that the British were gathering forces on the Palestine and Iraq fronts. “A full understanding of entire situation in 1916, perhaps earlier made it clear that Turkey was no longer able to protect her own territories and frontiers. The far distant theatres, where the Turkish troops invariably facing far more numerous opponents in the Caucasus, in the Mesopotamia and on the Sinai Peninsula, the protection of the extensive coast of the Asia Minor and the direct protection of Constantinople made such demands on the strenght of the Turkey that they could not be met for any length of time if the troops at home were to be kept in a usable and efficient condition” Military historian Erickson supports Liman Paşa’s opinion: “Certainly a case can be made, as Liman von Sanders thought, that these troops could have been used with greater effect in other theaters, which were more strategically significant to the Ottoman Empire”.
Moreover, Imperial Germany’s İstanbul ambassador, Wolff-Metternich was suspicious that the Turks would use sending troops to Europe as a means to legitimize the demands they would make in the future. According to historian Trumpener, upon the warning of the Ambassador in Istanbul, Jagow felt the need to issue a warning to the OHL. However, these objections have not been taken into consideration. Erickson presents the view of the German OHL as follows; “Many of these divisions were considered to be superb in quality by the British and had excellent fighting reputations. Moreover, from the German viewpoint, the rail network running north into the Balkans could sustain greater traffic, whereas the Turkish lines running south could not. It mattered little what the Turks wanted to do, given their abysmal lines of communications. Left to their own devices, the Turkish divisions in Thrace probably would have remained there for some time. In this regard, and certainly from an alliance perspective, getting more Turks back into action in 1916 was a major accomplishment for Germany.”
The XVth Corps, which Enver Paşa decided it to send to Galicia, was to be commanded by Colonel Yakup Şevki (SUBAŞI) Bey. (He was 2nd Army Commander in Great Offensive in 1922 Turkish War of Independence later) This corps was composed of Gallipoli experienced 19th and 20th Divisions. The 19th Division (57th, 72nd, 77th Regiments) had fought on the Anzac front in Arıburnu/Gallipoli until August 1915 under Mustafa Kemal (ATATÜRK), who would later found the Republic of Turkey. Successor to Mustafa Kemal, Leiutenant Colonel Şefik (AKER) had encountered Anzac landing on 25 April 1915 in Gallipoli campaign when he was commanding officer of 27th Regiment. The 20th Division (61st, 62nd, 63rd Regiments) took part in the Seddülbahir front/Gallipoli. Its commander was Arab-Ottoman officer Colonel Yasin Hilmi Bey who later became prime minister of Iraq in 1933. After the end of the Gallipoli Campaign, both divisions were assembled in the villages between the towns of Keşan and Şarköy in Eastern Thrace and continued their training and daily routines.
As of 10 July 1916, preparations had begun to deploy into Galicia Front. The troops tried to complete their preparations. They were equipped and trained by Russian Mosin Nogant rifles. Enver Paşa was very sensitive in the selection of soldiers. He emphasized that these troops represented the Ottoman army and wanted the strongest soldiers to be sent to the front. By order of Enver Paşa, the troops that made up the 15th Corps had to be 32 years of age or younger (i.e. those born in 1884 and later), physically fit and healthy, carefully selected from visible young privates and talented young officers. German Colonel Von Kress, who was commander in the Desert Forces attached to Ottoman 4th Army on the Sinai-Palestine front, expressed his objection in a telegram, stating that the 1,250 trained soldiers of the reinforced 160th Regiment had been replaced with sick, feeble, and inexperienced soldiers and were subsequently sent to Galicia.
Yakup Şevki Bey attached great importance to discipline. Soldiers were warned about their behavior at the front and behind the front line, with a military discipline and restraint befitting the Ottoman soldier. He instructed that German and Austro-Hungarian soldiers were comrades-in-arms and little communication was advised to avoid misunderstandings due to language problems. Equipment and dress code had to be observed, the observance of discipline on trains. He ordered that the property and belongings of the locals should not be harmed. He added that those who did otherwise would be severely punished.
The XVth Corps had 535 officers, 32.017 soldiers. The first group set off on July 23, 1916. On 11 August 1916, the last group left the country. These units’ route was Sofia – Nis – Belgrad – Zemun. War Minister Enver Pasa inspected the troops those who arrived Zemun on 4 August 1916.
German side requested that the correspondence should be in German. Many of the corps’ requirements (transport, food, ammunition, medicals) would be supplied by its allies. Austrian veterinarians were especially sensitive about sick animals and culled them, but there were difficulties in finding replacement animals.
Governments of the Central Powers goverments attached to great importance public relations aspect of the Turkish soldiers going to the Galician front. As Oya Dağlar Macar’s article puts it in detail, articles praising “the camaraderie -Waffenbrüderschaft” of the Turks were appearing in the German, Austrian, Hungarian, and Polish media. Various commemorative medals, coats of arms, badges with symbols on them, signs and pins were produced. Many posters, postcards and paintings printed and distributed to public. In addition to cultural activities organized for Ottoman soldiers under the chairmanship of Hulusi Fuad Bey, various events were held to solidify the bonds of brotherhood in arms and cultural closeness in accordance with directives from the Austrian General Staff.
The deployment of Turkish troops to western Galicia lasted for several week. As soon as the troops were reassembled at Zemun, after a few days of quarantine here, they set off for the front line they reached the front via Subotica – Budapest – Bekescsaba – Lviv. Some of the units used Krakow route to arrive Galicia frontline. The commander-in-chief of this part of the front was Prince Karl, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and the Turkish forces were to fight as part of Germany’s Army of the South, from Brzezany, where the Zlota Lipa and Narajowka rivers, the northern tributaries of the Dniester, split, in a southwesterly direction. Given that the front was about 400 km long (From Priphet Marshes to Czernowitz), the XVth Corps would hold one 24th of the line, but one of the most critical parts.
The 19th Division, which reached the area earlier and established its headquarters in Mieczyszczowo. While 19th Division was deployed on the Potutory-Bozykow line, the 20th Division occupied between the towns of Bozykow and Lysa along with Zlotalipa River. The headquarters of latter division stationed at Szumlan and later Lipnica Dolna village. Yakup Şevki Bey’s headquarters was established in Pydvysoke on 22 August 1916. At the time of the arrival of the Turkish troops, the SUD army units were retreating from the Stryia river to the west of the Zilotalipa river. Therefore, the Turks suddenly found themselves in the thick of the battle. On the arrival of Turkish troops in Galicia, General Bohmer issued a statement. “In the meantime, I express my joy that the heroes of Gallipoli are under my command with German and Austro-Hungarian troops, and I welcome our brave Turkish allies to the German Southern Army. I pray to God that the th Corps will achieve new glory and honor on the new battlefield, in addition to the glory and honor it has gained so far.” Col. Yakup Şevki Bey emphasized that the soldiers represented the glory and honor of the Ottoman Empire and that they should act accordingly.
With the beginning of the battles, problems began to emerge. First and foremost was the language problem. The officer who brought orders to the Turkish headquarters spoke very little Turkish. The number of officers in HQs who speaks German was also small.
The first battles were fought on the positions of the 19th Division on the Bozikov side, while the first major Russian attack took place on 5 September 1916. The attack later shifted towards the positions of the 20th Division on a much larger scale. As soon as they arrived at the front, it became apparent that these clashes incurred significant costs. On 6 September 1916, the Turks suffered 3000 casualties. The 20th Division positions had to be moved further back. Their headquarters were moved from Szumlani to Lipicadolna, behind Ginotalipa river. Therefore, new line spanned from north to west, Potutory – Kotov – Trosanic. During the withdrawal, there was also a communication problem with the Bavarian division, friendly fire was opened and the 5th Company of the 61st Regiment was taken prisoner by Russian forces. 2 companies of the 77th Regiment were also fell into captivity. A similar incident occurred on 16 September when the 20th Division had communication problems with the German 258th Division. Before the Russian assault, there was slow but constant artillery fire; during the attack, the fire was halted to allow infantry to advance, followed by intense artillery fire. The 208th German division was positioned as a reserve.
On 16 September 1916, from 07:00 to 19:00, intermittent enemy attacks were launched across the entire corps front. The main focus was on the 19th Division sector. Despite engaging approximately four enemy divisions for 12 hours, the corps units defended their positions and repelled the enemy with significant losses. However, Turkish forces became fatigued and suffered substantial casualties. In some units, there were no remaining officers. The Potutory region under the responsibility of the 19th Division was handed over to the Ukrainians. – 16 September 1916 The two-day battle can be summarized as follows: The enemy, who attacked continuously for two days with four divisions and fresh troops each time, retreated, suffering four to five times more casualties than the Turks and approximately 300 prisoners. Although the corps was very shaken and suffered significant casualties, it survived 20 km in a mostly forested area between the Zlotalipa and Narajovka valleys. The forces he? was affiliated with rendered great services by heroically defending positions more than 1,000 meters wide against superior enemy forces in the worst terrain and conditions.
There was considerable stagnation on the front from 18 September to the morning of 24 September. On September 24, the 41st Russian Division, consisting of the 162nd , 163th , 164th Regiments made a limited targeted attack on the southern side of the 77th Regiment and the 62nd Regiment, and captured the first line trenches on the eastern slopes of the 421-altitude hill with a force of two battalions. The defensive fire directed at the attackers was very effective, causing great casualties, especially in the entrance area. Russians was repulsed. The successes in the battle on 24 September 1916 were met with satisfaction by the Sultan and were also congratulated by Enver Paşa. Shortly after the Turks were spotted in the vicinity of Brzezany, the Russians withdrew the 43rd Regiment and the 113th Division, which were of Russian origin, from their positions and pushed forward the 3rd Caucasian Division in their place.
30 September 1916 The Russian 3rd Caucasian Division targeted Turkish positions, resulting in substantial losses. The Turkish forces suffered the loss of 45 officers, approximately 5000 soldiers, and took around 500 Russian soldiers as prisoners. The casualties among officers were particularly devastating. The 20th Division Commander requested reinforcements, warning of the diminished combat capabilities of the troops.
The month of September and October in 1916 witnessed intense and bloody battles for the Turkish troops in Galicia. Since their arrival in Galicia, the casualties of the Turkish corps had risen to 95 officers and 7000 soldiers. Additionally, 6 battalions and 22 companies were left without commanders. SUD Commander Böhmer and their right side troops commander Gerok expressed their gratitude for extraordinary performance of Turkish troops.
On 5-6 October 1916 Russian attack Turkish casualties reached officer, 3000 ranks. In October 1916 Yakup Şevki became Lt.General. 19th Division Commander Colonel Şefik Bey was replaced by Lt.Col Sedat (DOĞRUER). From Austria-Hungaria and occupied Serbia like Taşlıca and İpek towns, 2780 Muslim Turks attended to Ottoman troops voluntarily.
Lt.Gen.Yakup Şevki warned the troops about the heavy losses. He underlined the main reasons that unnecessary use of reserves, losses in artillery fire by being concentrated on the first lines, not using reserves ahead of time and unnecessary requests for help from the commanding officers. We observe that the losses in Galicia were quite significant. One of the most important reasons for this was not only what Yakup Şevki Bey mentioned above but also the “Gallipoli spirit” among the troops. As Galicia veteran Lieut. Şefik Yazman noted in his memoirs, even a tactical withdrawal under heavy Russian bombardment was extremely demoralizing for the units with experience in Gallipoli. 30 October 1916 Cevattepe ve Rızatepe were occupied by 63th regiment. Cevattepe was a symbol hill, it is the eastern salient of Hill 421. Its name is mentioned in almost every soldier’s memoir. It refers an officer, Second.Lt Cevat Bey who was KIA on the first days of battles.
18 November 1916 Cevat Paşa was assigned as a XVth Corps commander. It is not clear why Yakup Şevki Bey was replaced. Some memories claimed that his relationship with Germans was problematic. Cevat Paşa successfully commanded Dardanelles fortified zone on 18 March 1915 Allies Naval assault. He had been educated in Germany for some time, and given his Dardanelles background, it must have been thought that he would be more compatible with the Germans commanders.
XVth Corps commander Cevat Pasha
Entering 1917, the most important development on this front was the establishment of divisional assault companies. (Stormtroopers) Officers were also sent to the rear for training. They fought as stoormtrooper in the Palestine campaign, effectively. Meanwhile, the footsteps of the Russian revolution were beginning to be heard. In the middle of December some Russian soldiers climbed onto their trenches and talked about “the evil of killing people and peace“, while they threw declarations at the Turkish trenches.
On 4 January 1917 Ottoman Princes Abdürrahim and Osman Efendi visited Turkish troops. 23 January 1917 19th and 20th divisions flags were decorated with medals because of their success in Gallipoli Campaign. Until mid-1917, the intensity of clashes decreased, most of them there were positional battles. The Russian revolution undoubtedly played a major role in slowing down the fighting. Some Russian soldiers could came Turkish trenches to propagandate revolution and unconditional peace. Apparently, the propaganda of the Bolshevik revolution did not have an impact on the Turkish soldiers. Cevat Paşa went to visit Kaiser Wilhelm in February. Turkish official history gives an information that Kerensky, Provisional Goverment’s president and Brusilov visited the Russian positions East of Lipica Dolna, close to Potutory in the second half of May.
As new developments unfolded, the war plans at the general headquarters in Istanbul were also changing. In March 1917, after having British occupied Baghdad in March 1917, Enver Paşa planned to create an Army group called the Yıldırım (Thunderbolt) comprising independent German units led by Falkenhayn, along with several Turkish armies. In this context, the decision was made to withdraw the 19th Division and the 20th Corps headquarters from Galicia. For this reason, 19th Division left between 11 June -7 July 1917. 15th German reserve division took over it’s positions.
A grand assault known as Kerensky Offensive ‘s first part took place On 29 June against 20th Division positions Chemical weapons were also used. Turkish official history states that 24 batteries threw 43.000 shells on Turkish trenches. It alse adds that there were Finn troops in Russian Army. Bohmer later praised Turks on 3 July . “Your heroic division met the enemy on the third day of its great attack, after a month of spectacular preparations, with superior courage and resistance. It did its duty perfectly.” Cevat Paşa was decorated with medallion by Emperor Karl.
On 15th July 1917, the headquarters of the XVth Corps departed. Starting from the 12th of July, the 20th Division came under the command of the Rohatyn region. On 21 July 1917, it was understood that the enemy had definitively retreated. The objective was to seize the Kozova-Tirnopol railway line, and the goal was the elimination of Russian forces between Seret and Dniester. By 23 July 1917, they reached the Muzilow-Podhcece line. On July 26th, 1917, Kaiser Wilhelm II for the first time inspected a Turkish unit on the front, the 20th Division in the Podhcece (today Pidhaitsi town in Ukraina) region. The plan was to take advantage of the routing of the Russian army, eliminate enemy forces west of Zebruch, and on 30-31 July 1917, Turkish troops entered Niwra. The Russians suffered heavy losses in the Brezany battles. The 3rd Caucasus Cossack Division and the Wrangel Cavalry Corps tried to halt the operation.
It was time for the 20th Division to return home on 1 August 1917. Troops returned to Hucisko, and by 22 August 1916, they begun to return home by train until 26 September 1917. The division headquarters returned on September 11th. On 8th August 1917 at Volkofca, medallions were awarded to the 61st and 63rd regiments.
According to Turkish Official history total casualties of Xvth Corps were 15,000 including 100 officers killed and 120 officers wounded. Mehmet Emin Bey states that casuality reached 16000. They do not give detailed figures for total casualities. I estimate approximately third of this figures were killed in action. 12 officers and 853 Russian soldiers were taken captive.
CONCLUSION
The deployment of Turkish troops on the European fronts is one of the most under-emphasized but important events of the First World War. Three Turkish corps was sent to European theatres in 1916. Even some historians ignores Turkish troops roles in the Eastern fronts. In Eastern Europe theatres, Turkish forces numbering more than 3.5 corps, played a crucial role in halting the Russian breakthroughs in Galicia and assisting in achieving decisive outcomes in Romania and Eastern Galicia. They also contributed to the defense on the Macedonian front. 19th and 20th divisions as elite units of Ottoman Army were to be sent to Palestine later. But their fate was to be disastrous. They could not resist Allenby’s Megiddo offensive on 19 September 1918.
The presence of the Turks in Galicia for the period 1916-17 was to have a particular symbolic meaning for the Polish people. In his relevant excellent article, the historian and Turkologist Piotr Nykel recounts an intriguing prophecy of the Poles who have lived in the fragmented lands since the 18th century, with some of them living in captivity. According to the prophecy, whenever the Turkish horses start drinking water from the Vistula, Poland will be reborn. The presence of the XVth Corps in Galicia may be linked with the fulfilment of this prophecy for somewhat over a year after the withdrawal of the last Turkish soldier Poland was indeed to gain its independence. In this prophecy, it should also be noted that, despite variations in the name of the river, a part of the Turkish forces is said to march to the front through the Krakow route, where the Vistula River flows!
The prophecy is generally a subject of cultural studies but history requires to review and comment on concrete facts . Galicia and Romanian campaigns were the fronts where the Central Powers’ emphasis on comradership reached its highest level. Under the leadership of the Hinderburg-Ludendorff, the armies of the Germany-Austria/Hungary-Bulgaria-Ottoman Empire won one success after another in the last half of 1916. The Germany’s prioritization of their own interests, Habsburg’s search for a separate peace, Turkey and Bulgaria’s distrust of each other, the change in the Caucasus after the revolution caused Turkey to act more independently after Brestlitovsk at the expense of angering Germany.
The Ottoman Empire, despite facing military challenges on other fronts, sent troops to distant theaters for several reasons. I believe the key question we need to address is why this decision was made.
Ottoman War Minister Enver Paşa thought that he would fulfill the necessity of the alliance. As a nationalist Ottoman officer, the idea that the Turkish flag would be flying in central Europe centuries later, in the lands where his ancestors rode horses and that he would fight against the sworn enemy, the Russians, were a reflections of an imperial mind. Moreover, It should be remembered that one of the first acts of the Committee of Union and Progress government after joining the the First World War was to blow up the Russian monument in Yeşilköy, a reminder of the bitter defeat in the 1877-78 war. Bab-ı Âli’s (Ottoman government) decision makers were aware of the bitter lessons of the 1877-78 war and how their historical enemy Russia could threaten Istanbul. The maintenance of an open route Berlin – Sofia – İstanbul was also of vital importance.
In addition to this, Bab-ı Âli was making efforts to demonstrate equal treatment under the law for both countries. In the Galician front, references to the old Ottoman campaigns stand out, albeit for propaganda purposes, as a way to assert the Ottoman Empire’s continued significance among the major powers of Europe. Journalist Ahmed Emin(Yalman) Bey, in his article in Tanin newspaper, emphasized that Ottoman soldiers did not come to Europe solely to engage with the Russians but also took on the task of combating misconceptions prevailing among Europeans about the Ottomans. Turkey, in accordance with the spirit of alliance, sent troops to Galicia and other European fronts to strengthen its hand in determining the post-war situation and the abolition of capitulations. However, the heavy defeat after the First World War overshadowed these objectives.
Note: Special thanks to Haluk Oral, Yiğit Mustafa Ertunç, Fuat Serdar Aydın for their feedbacks, suggestions and for obtaining photos Ferit Bakır. All errors are my own.
This article was originally published in the February 2024 issue of Salient Point Magazine and is aired here by courtesy of the editor Alex Churchill.
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