Otto Liman von Sanders

Otto Viktor Karl Liman von Sanders

Dr. phil. h. c.
(German: [ˈɔtoː ˈliːman fɔn ˈzandɐs]; 17
February 1855 – 22 August 1929) was an Otto Liman von Sanders
Imperial German Army general who served as
a military adviser to the Ottoman Army during
the First World War. In 1918 he commanded an
Ottoman army during the Sinai and Palestine
Campaign.[1] On the whole Sanders provided
only limited help to the Ottoman forces.[2]

Early life and career

Otto Liman was born in Stolp (now Słupsk,
Poland) in the Province of Pomerania in the
Kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of Carl
Leonhard Liman and his wife Emma née
Michaelis. Carl Liman was a prosperous
businessman, who purchased the lordship of
the manor (Rittergut) of Schwessin (now Birth name Otto Viktor Karl Liman
Świeszyno, Poland). Although divergent details
Born 17 February 1855
of Carl Liman's paternal ancestry are recorded,
Stolp, Pomerania, Kingdom of
it is generally agreed that his father and Otto's
Prussia
grandfather was born to a Jewish family by the
(now Słupsk, Poland)
name of Liepmann and was later baptised a
Christian.[3] Died 22 August 1929 (aged 74)
Munich, Bavaria, Weimar Republic
After gaining his diploma (Abitur) at the Buried Darmstadt, Germany
Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin, Otto Allegiance German Empire
Liman entered the army on 13 March 1874 as a Ottoman Empire
Fahnenjunker in the Leibgarde-Infanterie-
Service / Imperial German Army
Regiment (1. Grossherzöglich Hessisches) Nr.
branch Ottoman Army
115. From 1878 to 1881 he attended the
Military Academy (Kriegsakademie) in Berlin, Years of 1874–1918
and was subsequently transferred to Garde- service
Dragoner-Regiment (1. Grossherzöglich Rank General of the Cavalry (Germany)
Hessisches) Nr. 23. In 1885 he was promoted Field Marshal (Ottoman Empire)
to Oberleutnant and in 1887 seconded to the Unit
Grossherzoglich-Hessisches
General Staff. Promoted to Hauptmann in
Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 115
1889, he was appointed a squadron commander
(Eskadronschef) in 1891. In 1900 he was Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 23
assigned command of Husaren-Regiment "Graf
Goetzen" (2. Schlesisches) Nr. 6, first as Major, Commands
I. Armee-Korps
and from 1904 as Oberst. He was promoted to
Generalmajor in 1908 and given command of 22nd Division
the 22nd Division, based at Kassel.[4] He Husaren-Regiment Nr. 6
attained the rank of Generalleutnant in 1911.[4] Fifth Army (Ottoman Empire)
Yildirim Army Group (Ottoman
On 16 June 1913, on the occasion of the 25th
Empire)
Jubilee of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Liman was
ennobled. As his nobiliary suffix he chose the Battles / World War I
maiden name of his late first wife, Amelie von wars
Gallipoli Campaign
Sanders (1858–1906). He was thereafter known
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
as Otto Liman von Sanders. In accordance with
the rules of German nomenclature, this Awards Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves
surname is correctly abbreviated "Liman" (and Spouse(s)
Amelie Lily Karoline Gabriele von
not "von Sanders" or "Sanders", as is often the
Sanders (1858–1906)
case in English-language publications).[5]
Elisabeth Alberti

German Military Mission to

the Ottoman Empire and
World War I
In 1913, like several other Prussian generals before him (such as
Moltke and Goltz), Liman was appointed to head a German
military mission to the Ottoman Empire.[1] For nearly eighty
years, the Ottomans had been trying to modernize their army
along European lines. Liman von Sanders would be the last
German to attempt this task.[2]

On 30 July 1914, two days after the outbreak of the war in Europe,
the Ottoman leaders agreed to form an alliance with Germany Generalleutnant Otto Liman von
Sanders at the Ottoneum in Kassel
against Russia, although it did not require them to undertake
circa 1913
military action, and on 31 October 1914, the Ottoman Empire
officially entered the war on the side of the Central Powers.
Britain and France declared war on it on 5 November, and the
Ottomans declared a jihad (holy war) later that month, but the call
for jihad failed as many of the Arab nationalists formed an alliance
with the British (which led to the Arab Revolt).

Gallipoli
The first proposal to attack the Ottoman Empire was made in
November 1914 by the French Minister of Justice Aristide Briand Hans-Joachim Buddecke, Otto
and was rejected. Later that month Winston Churchill, First Lord Liman von Sanders, and Oswald
Boelcke in Turkey, 1916
of the Admiralty, proposed a naval attack on the Dardanelles,
based in part on erroneous reports of Ottoman troop strength. An
initial attempt to force the Dardanelles by sea failed on 18 March 1915, due to gunfire from Ottoman
forts on both sides of the strait. The Allies then turned to planning amphibious operations to capture the
forts and clear the strait, which led to the Battle of Gallipoli.

Liman had little time to organize the defences, but he had two things in his favour. First, the Ottoman 5th
Army in the Gallipoli peninsula was the best army they had, some 84,000 well-equipped soldiers in six
divisions. Second, he was helped by poor Allied leadership. On 25 April 1915, the British landed a major
force at Cape Helles. His decision to pull back the strong line of coastal defenses the local Turkish
commanders had established and group them inland in preparation for the Allied attack almost gave an
early victory to Allies. He was also convinced that Allied landings would take place at Saros Bay and did
not believe for a long time the landings at Arıburnu was the main assault, not a ruse. He did not release
the main troops in the critical first day of the landings.[6] One of Liman's best decisions during this time
was to promote Mustafa Kemal (later known as Atatürk) to command the 19th division. Kemal's division
was crucial to the Ottomans' defense. His troops marched up on the day of the landings and occupied the
ridge line above the ANZAC landing site, just as the ANZAC troops were moving up the slope
themselves. Kemal recognized the danger and personally made sure his troops held the ridge line. They
were never forced off despite constant attacks for the next five months.

From April to November 1915 (when the decision to evacuate was made), Liman had to fight off
numerous attacks against his defensive positions. The British tried another landing at Suvla Bay, but this
also was halted by the Ottoman defenders. The only bright spot for the British in this entire operation was
that they managed to evacuate their positions without much loss. However, this battle was a major victory
for the Ottoman army and some of the credit is given to the generalship of Liman von Sanders.

Early in 1915, the previous head of the German military mission to the Ottoman Empire, Baron von der
Goltz, arrived in Istanbul as military advisor to the (essentially powerless) Sultan, Mehmed V. The old
Baron did not get along with Liman von Sanders and did not like the three Pashas (Enver Pasha, Cemal
Pasha and Talat) who ran the Ottoman Empire during the war. The Baron proposed some major
offensives against the British, but these proposals came to nothing in the face of Allied offensives against
the Ottomans on three fronts (the Dardanelles, the Caucasus Front, and the newly opened Mesopotamian
Front). Liman was rid of the old Baron when Enver Pasha sent him to fight the British in Mesopotamia in
October 1915. (Goltz died there six months later, just before the British army at Kut surrendered.)

Sinai and Palestine

In 1918, the last year of the war, Liman von Sanders took over command of the Ottoman army during the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign, replacing the German General Erich von Falkenhayn who had been
defeated by British General Allenby at the end of 1917.

Liman was hampered by the significant decline in power of the Ottoman army. His forces were unable to
do anything more than occupy defensive positions and wait for the British attack. The attack was a long
time in coming, but when General Allenby finally unleashed his army, the entire Ottoman army was
destroyed in a week of fighting (see the Battle of Megiddo). In the rout, Liman was nearly taken prisoner
by British soldiers.

Alleged war crimes

After one group of 300 Armenians were deported from Smyrna, Liman von Sanders blocked additional
deportations by threatening to use military force to obstruct them. However, this action was not motivated
by humanitarianism, but by his insistence to avoid chaos in a war zone.[7]

Liman von Sanders has been accused of perpetrating war crimes in his dealings with the Greek civilian
population of Aivali, by proposing to the Ottoman authorities their deportation "for the security of the
army"[8] (the deportation did occur in 1917 and led to the death of many[8]), or by directly ordering, as an
autocratic military dictator, the mass deportation of Greeks and Armenians.[9] British Admiral Sir
Somerset Gough-Calthorpe accused him of being behind the deportation of 35,000 Greeks from Aivali
"under horrible conditions", as part of the deportation and partial assassination of 300,000 Ottoman
Greeks under his complete authority, and that the 1915 expulsion of 1.5 million Armenians and 450,000
Greeks was overseen by von Sanders.[10] Von Sanders was also accused of "deliberately" cutting a trench
system through the British war cemeteries at Gallipoli[9] and of the maltreatment of British prisoners of
war.[10]

British authorities arrested him in 1919 on war crime charges, concretely for sanctioning massacres of
Greeks and Armenians, kept him for half a year on Malta with the Malta exiles, but then released
him.[8][11]

Later life
After being released, Liman returned home and retired from the German army later that year.[8] After
former Ottoman Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha was assassinated by Armenian revolutionary Soghomon
Tehlirian in Berlin in March 1921, Liman was called upon to testify as an expert witness at Tehlirian's
trial. Tehlirian was ultimately acquitted.[12]

In 1927 he published Fünf Jahre Türkei (tr. Five Years in Turkey), a book he had written in captivity in
Malta about his experiences before and during the war.[13]

Liman von Sanders died in Munich on 22 August 1929, at the age of seventy-four.[1]

See also
Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim (1859–1915), diplomat for Imperial Germany accused of
complicity in the Armenian genocide
Bund der Asienkämpfer (1918-1938), social welfare organisation for German World War I
veterans who had served in the Near East and the Balkans
Erich Prigge (1878–1955), adjutant to Marshal von Sanders (1914–19) and military
memoirist

References
1. "Marshall Otto Liman von Sanders dies. Famous Marshal. German Commander Defended
Gallipoli For Turks Against The British. Vanquished In Palestine. Began Reorganization Of
Sultan's Armies In 1913. Honored By Former Kaiser" (https://www.nytimes.com/1929/08/25/
archives/von-sanders-dies-famous-marshal-german-commander-defended-gallipoli.html).
 The New York Times. Associated Press. 25 August 1929. Retrieved 2010-07-04. "Field
Marshal Otto Liman von Sanders, who directed operations against the British in Gallipoli
during the World War, died on Thursday in Munich at the age of 74. ..."
2. Trumpener, Ulrich (1966). "Liman von Sanders and the German-Ottoman Alliance". Journal
of Contemporary History. 1 (4): 179–192. doi:10.1177/002200946600100407 (https://doi.or
g/10.1177%2F002200946600100407). JSTOR 259896 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25989
6). S2CID 154099517 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:154099517).
3. W. Rost, "Die Nachkommen des Wolff Nathan Liepmann. Ein Beitrag zur Liman-Forschung",
Genealogie. Deutsche Zeitschrift für Familienkunde 29.2 (1980), pp. 44-51; F. Menges,
"Liman von Sanders, Otto" in: Neue Deutsche Biographie 14 (1985), pp. 563–565; J.
Jacobson, Jüdische Trauungen in Berlin 1759 - 1813 (Walter de Gruyter: Berlin 1968), p.
286.
4. C. Mühlmann, "Liman von Sanders", Deutsches Biographisches Jahrbuch XI
(Stuttgart/Berlin 1932), pp. 180-89
5. P. Rance, The Struggle for the Dardanelles. The Memoirs of a German Staff Officer in
Ottoman Service (Pen & Sword 2017), pp. 13, 40.
6. "Diriliş - Çanakkale 1915", Turgut Özakman, 2008, pp 230-250
7. Dadrian, Vahakn (2004). "Patterns of twentieth century genocides: the Armenian, Jewish,
and Rwandan cases". Journal of Genocide Research. 6 (4): 487–522 [494].
doi:10.1080/1462352042000320583 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F1462352042000320583).
S2CID 72220367 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:72220367). "Liman van
Sanders, the German general in charge of the military security of that zone, threatened the
Ittihadist governor of the province with the use of military force to block the deportation of
the rest of that city's Armenian population after one contingent was already deported; as the
German Foreign Office in Berlin supported the stance of the German general, the Turkish
governor felt constrained to oblige"
8. "Otto Liman von Sanders (1855-1929)" (https://www.greek-genocide.net/index.php/overvie
w/perpetrators/124-otto-liman-von-sanders-1855-1929). Greek Genocide Resource Center.
Retrieved 21 May 2020.
9. Tusan, Michelle (2012). Smyrna's Ashes (https://books.google.com/books?id=JbswDwAAQ
BAJ&pg=PA131). Volume 5 of Berkeley Series in British Studies. University of California
Press. p. 131. ISBN 9780520289567. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
10. Tusan, Michelle (2017). The British Empire and the Armenian Genocide: Humanitarianism
and Imperial Politics from Gladstone to Churchill (https://books.google.com/books?id=NhOM
DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA216). Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 216. ISBN 978-1-7867-3123-4.
Retrieved 21 May 2020.
11. "First Hun Held for Atrocities" (https://www.greek-genocide.net/index.php/bibliography/news
papers/178-15-mar-1919-first-hun-held-for-atrocities-the-evening-independent). The
Evening Independent. Florida. 15 March 1919. Retrieved 21 May 2020. "He is known to
have sanctioned Turkish atrocities, including massacres of Greeks and Armenians."
12. "Official Trial of Soghomon Tehlirian" (http://www.cilicia.com/armo_tehlirian.html). Cilicia.
German Government. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
13. Liman von Sanders, Otto Viktor Karl (1927). Five years in Turkey (https://archive.org/details/i
n.ernet.dli.2015.24341/page/n3/mode/2up). United States Naval Institute..

Further reading
Kerner, Robert J. (1927). "The Mission of Liman von Sanders. I. Its Origin". The Slavonic
Review. 6 (16): 12–27. JSTOR 4202133 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4202133).
Kerner, Robert J. (1927). "The Mission of Liman von Sanders. II. The Crisis". The Slavonic
Review. 6 (17): 344–363. JSTOR 4202174 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4202174).
 Kerner, Robert J. (1928). "The Mission of Liman Von Sanders. (III)". The Slavonic and East
European Review. 6 (18): 543–560. JSTOR 4202208 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4202208).
Kerner, Robert J. (1928). "The Mission of Liman von Sanders. (IV)". The Slavonic and East
European Review. 7 (19): 90–112. JSTOR 4202243 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/4202243).
Mulligan, William (July 2006). " 'We Can't be more Russian than the Russians': British Policy
During the Liman von Sanders Crisis, 1913–1914". Diplomacy & Statecraft. 17 (2): 261–282.
doi:10.1080/09592290600695276 (https://doi.org/10.1080%2F09592290600695276).
S2CID 154327109 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:154327109).
Travers, Tim (October 2001). "Liman von Sanders, the capture of Lieutenant Palmer, and
Ottoman anticipation of the allied landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915". The Journal of
Military History. 65 (4): 965–979. doi:10.2307/2677625 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F267762
5). JSTOR 2677625 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2677625). ProQuest 195631453 (https://w
ww.proquest.com/docview/195631453).
Trumpener, Ulrich (1966). "Liman von Sanders and the German-Ottoman Alliance". Journal
of Contemporary History. 1 (4): 179–192. doi:10.1177/002200946600100407 (https://doi.or
g/10.1177%2F002200946600100407). JSTOR 259896 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/25989
6). S2CID 154099517 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:154099517).

External links
World War One.com (http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/liman.htm) Short biography. January
2006.
"Liman von Sanders, Otto Viktor Karl" (http://www.lagis-hessen.de/pnd/11878000X).
Hessische Biografie. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 17 July 2016.
Newspaper clippings about Otto Liman von Sanders (http://purl.org/pressemappe20/folder/p
e/011454) in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

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