Otto Karl Viktor Liman von Sanders  
(17.02.1855 - 22.08.1929)
place of birth:  Stolp, Pommern  (Slupsk, PL)
Königreich Preußen:  OBH,  General der Kavallerie ch. z.D.


Imperial German General Otto Liman von Sanders was responsible for molding the Ottoman Army into an effective fighting force during the Great War. He was born on the Pomeranian manor belonging to his businessman father, Carl Leonhard Liman and his spouse Emma Michaelis. Otto traveled to Darmstadt to join an infantry regiment in 1874 as an officer candidate. During his three-year training period at the War Academy, he was transferred to the cavalry regiment in Darmstadt, Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 23.

After graduating from War College, Otto spent about eleven years assigned as a general staff officer (1887-1898.) He then served as a commanding officer in various cavalry units for next thirteen years (1898-1911.) As a Generalleutnant and commander of 22. Infanterie-Division, Liman was elevated into the hereditary Prussian nobility in June 1913, the 25th anniversary of Kaiser Wilhelm II's accession to the throne. The suffix von Sanders was chosen as his first wife Amelie was the last member of that Scottish family. Soon thereafter, the Kaiser selected General Liman von Sanders to head up a German military delegation requested by Ottoman authorities to deploy to Constantinople in order to help restructure the Turkish Armed Forces. The German Generalleutnant Liman's arrival in the Turkish capital, followed by his assignment as I. Armee-Korps commander, caused alarm amongst diplomatic representatives from Russia, France, and England. Kaiser Wilhelm's fix for this potential crisis was for Liman to be simultaneously promoted to General der Kavallerie and to Field Marshal (Müschir) of the Ottoman Army.

General Liman thus became the Inspector General of the Ottoman Empire's military forces prior to the War. The Empire initially remained neutral but officially entered the War on the side of the Central Powers on 31 October 1914, days after their Black Sea Raid surprise attack on Russian seaports. At this point, Liman was put in command of the 1. Armee protecting the capital city. He later took control of the 5. Armee during its defense of Gallipoli (1915) and thus helped prevent the seizure of Constantinople by the Allies. For his distinguished service and leadership during this campaign, he was decorated in August 1915 with the highest Royal Prussian order of bravery, the Pour le Mérite.

Field Marshal Liman von Sanders was sent in early 1918 to the Palestine Front where he relieved General Erich von Falkenhayn of his command of Heeres-Gruppe F (Yildirim.) This army group was formed by forces of the Turkish 7. Armee and 8. Armee (and later 4. Armee) which were active in Syria and Palestine. Being greatly outnumbered during this campaign led to the demoralization and ultimate defeat of his Turkish troops. In September, his Nazareth headquarters was overrun by the British, but Liman and army were able to escape capture and retreat back to Damascus. With the Turks capitulating in October 1918, Liman returned to Constantinople and secured the transport of his troop contingent of German nationals back to the Fatherland. He was then captured by the British and incarcerated in a Maltese prison for several months. Thereafter, Liman was finally able to return to Germany and retired from the military on 10 October 1919. Due to his ancestry (his great grandfather Wolff Nathan Liepmann was a Jewish merchant from Halberstadt,) Otto Liman von Sanders was considered by some fellow generals such as Hans von Seeckt to be unfit for command a German corps. General Liman passed away on 22 August 1929 in Munich at the age of 74. 

	General der Kavallerie	13.01.1914
	Pour le Mérite	23.08.1915  (Eichenlaub:  10.01.1916)