Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843–1916)

In 1883 the Prussian general and military writer Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz was sent to Constantinople to help with the reorganization of the Ottoman Army. On his return to Germany in 1896 Goltz continued his military career to the rank of Prussian Field Marshal in 1911. Also in 1911 he founded the Jungdeutschlandbund, an umbrella organization of more or less paramilitary German youth associations, and from 1901 he served as chairman of the Deutsch-Asiatische Gesellschaft. Between 1909 and 1913 he returned on several occasions to the Ottoman Empire as a military expert. When the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War on the side of the Central Powers in 1914 Goltz was appointed military aide to Sultan Mehmed V (1844–1918) and put in charge of the Sixth Ottoman Army.

Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz (1843–1916), black-and-white photograph, unknown photographer, date unknown [between 1911–1916]; source: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Washington, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.29293.