THE BALKANS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 173, 21 January 1914, Page 3

THE BALKANS.

TURKISH ARMY REORGANISATION. GERMAN INSTRUCTORS. The, Constantinople correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, writing a few : weeks ago regarding scihemes for military reform, said: I l" have just bad a conversation on [this subject witii the interim Minister lof War,' Malunud Pasha, (hanks to j j whose, kindness 1 am able to supply th» following details:: Military reorganisation in Turkey was in tlie lirst place lieguii by a French military mission, »but this mission was recalled to France at the time, of the Franco-German war. .After the war,; Turkey, with much courtesy and loyal-' fy, again approached France, requesting her to send a new military mission. With this request the French Government found its.df unable to comply. ; .Turkey then addressed herself to Germany.' who immediately sent Baron von ; der Colt/, with a few ollicers of each arm, and since then the military education of Turkey has remained in Hit hands of Germany. THE RECENT DEFEATS. It might have been thought that Hie results of the last war would somewhat ha*', shaken the prestige of the German instructors; bu(, contrary to all suppositions the actual effect has been to augment both the power of the mission mid (he numerical importance of the stall' of instructors. At the time of (he first reverses in the month of November, 1912, the German instructors loudly proclaimed that they were not responsible for these defeats; that they had forseen everything, and that Hie pigeon-holes at the Ministry of War were full of their reports, of which no notice had been taken. Since then the only alternatives for the Turkish Government were either to choose other instructors or to summon new German instructors and extend their powers. As it appeared to be impracticable, and very daring not to continue the appeal to German instruction, since two generations of officers and all the present .Ministers, fzzet, and Ma mini Pasha, as well as Perlew and Salili Pashas, and many others, arc pupils of Von der Goltz. and all Hie regulations for instruction and field service, in the Turkish, army are based upon the German regulations, the second alternative was naturally adopted. MISSION'OF FORTY OFFICERS. According to the system which has now (>een approved, the military mission will consist of forty ollicers of all arms, instead of twenty as hitherto. Moreover, whereas formerly the different ollicers composing the mission were divided between the different arms, either in Constantinople or in the provinces, without any superior authority which should eo-ordin-ate or control

their activity, the present mission will be commanded by General l.iemann von Sanders, who will have, fall autfliority to dispose of the different members of the general staff with ample, power to change their functions and in case of need have them replaced by others. The commander of the mission will also be a member of the Superior Council of War. Several of the officers of the mission will have effective command, which was already the case with some of the German officers before the war, but in addition to this (a thing wliieh is without precedent), I learn from a diplomatic source that General Liemann von Sanders will have effective command of the Army Corps of Constantinople, which is to be considered as a model army c.orps'. Malumtif Pasha pointed out to me that the powers of the German military adviser would not in any case he grealer than Uiose of the British naval adviser, and that the Government was thinking iof asking Great Britain to lend some more naval ollicers so as to {jive the naval mission all the necessary import-