The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Armies of Europe, by Fedor von Köppen

LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

“Let him who is desirous of peace prepare himself for war.” Thus runs the proverb which sums up the experiences and history of the most powerful Empire of old. If this maxim held good in the old Roman days, how much more applicable is it to the present time, when war-clouds are darkening the horizon, and threaten to burst in ruin and devastation on all nations who have not heeded the warning! There are, however, few who have not heeded it, and the governments of all nations have been for some time, and are still, reorganising their Armies and bringing them to a high state of efficiency in accordance with the experience taught them by the great wars of the last thirty years.

It is therefore necessary for all who take an interest in military matters, or in foreign politics, to become acquainted with the strength and organisation of the armed forces of the different European Powers, for it is only by a study of these Armies that we get to know the relative value of our own.

The matter contained in the following pages has been corrected up to date. The Corrigenda at the end of Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, refer to the alterations that have taken place during the progress of this work through the press.

A few words of the original text, such as “Landwehr” and “Ersatz,” have been retained in the translation, although applied to other than German countries. For their meaning, v. “ The German Army ,” p. 21, etc. There are no corresponding English words.

The British Army is constructed on a purely original system. It is like no other army in the world, and for this very good reason, that there is no empire in the world like the British Empire.

Great Britain and Ireland alone do not constitute the Empire. India, Australia, Canada, the Cape, and shoals of other colonies in every quarter of the globe, all help to build it up, and for its defence we must have an Imperial Army constructed to fit it. Let us see what we have got.

The first thing that strikes us about the Army is that, although of a decent size, it is not by any means too large—in fact, some people say that it is nothing like large enough. That, however, is a question which chiefly concerns the British taxpayer and his pocket, and with which we have nothing to do at this moment, so we will confine ourselves to contemplating its actual size.

The Empire contains, roughly, over 9,000,000 of square miles, and over 326,000,000 of inhabitants. To defend these we have an Army which numbers roughly as follows:—

altogether, 864,000 men at the outside. This apparently large number, however, includes every single able-bodied man, British or Native, who has been trained to bear arms: the Regular Army forms not quite a quarter of it. Taken altogether, this gives an average of about 1 combatant to 350 non-combatants—not a large proportion. Germany’s proportion is 1 to 99. This is a large proportion, it is true, but then she is threatened by powerful enemies on her eastern and western frontiers, whereas we are an island, and look to our Navy as the first line of defence. This being so, we can do with a moderately small Army, and need not (yet) have recourse to the system of all other European countries—namely, universal conscription.

It is absolutely necessary, however, that we should follow the principle which underlies the military systems of all countries, whether their armies are composed of conscripts or not. This principle is that of keeping a small number of troops under arms in peace-time, with a large reserve of [Pg 2] trained men ready to be called out in case of war. In our case, the small number under arms in peace-time is represented by the Active Army, both British, Indian, and Colonial, [2] and the large reserve by the 1st and 2nd Class Army Reserves, the Militia, the Militia Reserve, the Yeomanry, and the Volunteers.

Before starting on the details of these different forces, it would be as well to give the mode of enlistment and terms of service of the British soldier, with a slight sketch of his history.

The system of recruitment throughout the Army is that of voluntary enlistment. As mentioned above, we are the only country in Europe whose soldiers are thus enlisted. The subjects of all other European countries are liable to be enrolled in the army whether they like it or not, and, as a rule, they do not like it. This voluntary enlistment is a great advantage for us in one way, in that only those need be soldiers who want to be; but, on the other hand, the strength of our Army is chiefly dependent on the number of men who happen to fancy soldiering, and this is hardly a matter for congratulation. Up till now, the system has sufficed: let us hope we shall never have to change it.

It is not generally known that there exists an Act [3] which has to be suspended annually by Parliament (or else it would now be in force), by which the Crown is empowered to raise by ballot as many men as may be necessary for the Army. In other words, the country is liable to conscription, as far as may be determined by the Crown’s advisers. This Act has, however, not been enforced since 1815. N.B.—This mode of raising troops must not be confounded with the “Embodiment of the Militia,” of which more hereafter.

Recruiting [Pg 3] is carried out by paid recruiters (non-commissioned officers) in the different districts. Formerly, the recruiting-sergeant used to clinch the bargain with the would-be recruit by presenting him with a shilling, on which the recruit usually got drunk. The “Queen’s Shilling” has, however, been done away with, and the recruit has now to get drunk at his own expense.

After going through certain formalities and answering certain questions before a magistrate, the recruit signs his “attestation-paper,” and is then considered as enlisted.

The terms of service are, as a rule, seven years with the colours and five years thereafter in the Reserve. There are a few exceptions to this; men joining the Household Cavalry, Colonial Corps, [4] and one or two other smaller branches of the Service, enlist for twelve years with the colours; men for the Royal Engineers or Foot Guards have the alternative of the usual term, or three years with the colours and nine years in the Reserve; whilst the Army Service Corps and Medical Staff Corps men and a few others serve for only three years with the colours and a varying term of years in the Reserve.

Recruits, at the date of their enlistment, must have the physical equivalent of 19 years of age, must be at least 5 ft. 4 in. high, and must have a minimum chest-measurement of 33 inches. [5]

Re-engagements up to seven or twelve years with the colours are permitted in most, and up to twenty-one years in special, cases.

At a very early period of English history every able-bodied man was bound to take up arms in the event of a civil war or invasion. He was, however, only liable to serve in his own county. This force thus formed was called the General Levy.

During the Middle Ages the feudal system was in force, i.e. , the retainers, tenants, and vassals of every knight were required to attend their master if he went to fight abroad. The knights in their turn were bound to attend the king when he went to fight abroad, and thus a very respectable army was formed for the time being. This army, i.e. , the knights and their followers, was called the Feudal Levy. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, members of the General Levy were told off for the service and defence of the Crown. They were trained and exercised in the profession of arms, and received the name of Trained Bands. The Honourable Artillery Company, a similar force, was raised about this time. The Sovereign could, if necessary, hire additional mercenary soldiers to assist him in war, and these were paid by Parliament. The Civil War, however, in Charles I.’s reign, upset the general military system, and for some time there was no National Army.

On the Restoration, in 1660, considerable changes and improvements took place. The Feudal Levy was abolished, the General Levy became the Militia, and the foundations were laid of the present Standing Army.

It may be news to some people that the “raising or keeping a standing army within the kingdom in time of peace is against law,” but such is the fact. Parliament has every year to specially notify its consent to a standing army; otherwise the Army would cease to exist.

Since Charles II.’s time, the Standing Army has gradually been increasing and improving. Voluntary enlistment dates from his reign, but it apparently has not always been sufficiently productive of men, for we find in the last century that debtors and criminals were obliged to serve in the ranks, in order to keep the Army up to strength. The pressgang was also in force till 1780. It is hardly astonishing then that some, nay, a great many, ill-educated people have been taught, by means of traditions handed down from their great-grandfathers, to look upon the Army as a sink of iniquity, and that they still hold extraordinary and utterly unreasonable views on the subject. They need be under no apprehension about letting their sons and relations enlist. The Army is now composed of a very good class of men, drawn chiefly from the labouring and not from the criminal classes (as some people seem to imagine). The proportion of educated recruits is rapidly increasing, a better class of men is now enlisting, and the military crime of to-day is absurdly small as compared with that of twenty years ago, and is still decreasing.

1. The Regular Army consists of Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, and Infantry; besides these are the non-combatant branches, [Pg 5] consisting of the Army Service Corps, the Ordnance Store Corps, the Medical Staff Corps, the Pay, Medical, Chaplains, and Veterinary Departments, and a few more.

The British Cavalry is the smartest in the world. In the Cavalry of nearly all foreign armies, Germany for instance, and France, the horses are trained to a degree that is unheard of in the English arm; thus their men require but little skill in riding, and may be described as good soldiers on horseback. Ours, on the contrary, are born horsemen, and do not need to have their horses so thoroughly trained. The consequence is that when our men find themselves in a predicament not provided for by the Regulations, their natural qualities stand them in good stead, and by their brilliant riding and dash they turn to good account a situation which might otherwise offer serious difficulties. The British Cavalry is divided into Heavy, Medium, and Light, according to the size and weight of the men. The Household Cavalry, 1st and 2nd Dragoons, are heavy, and are never quartered abroad, the Hussars are light, and all the rest are medium Cavalry.

The Life Guards, Dragoon Guards (except the 6th), Dragoons, and 16th Lancers wear scarlet, the remainder of the Cavalry dark blue, tunics.

The Life Guards and Blues are the only regiments who wear cuirasses, and these they would probably leave behind on active service. They, the Dragoon Guards and the Dragoons (except the 2nd Scots Greys, who wear bearskins), wear steel or brass helmets, with plumes varying in colour according to the regiment. The Lancers wear the well-known Lancer cap, with the scarlet [6] “plastron” in front of their tunics. The Hussars wear the busby, with busby-bag and plume of different colours according to the regiment; and they have also six rows of yellow braid across the front of the tunic. All the Cavalry wear dark blue pantaloons [7] or overalls, with red, white, or yellow stripes, and the Household Cavalry has in addition white leather breeches and jackboots for full dress. The Cavalry forage-cap is a small round one, and always worn over the right ear.

Their arms are sword and carbine throughout; the Lancer regiments in addition carry the lance of male bamboo, and with a red and white pennon. The Cavalry carbine is of the Martini-Henry pattern, with a bore of ·450 in.; it is sighted up to 1,000 yds., and is a first-rate little weapon.

A Cavalry Brigade numbers 3 regiments, and details altogether 114 officers, 2,280 men, and 2,200 horses.

A Cavalry Division numbers 2 brigades (6 regiments), 2 batteries Horse Artillery, 1 battalion Mounted Infantry, and details altogether 325 officers, 6,600 men, and 6,500 horses.

with several depôts and 3 depôt batteries for their maintenance and supply. The Horse and Field Batteries are formed into groups of 2 or 3 batteries, chiefly for tactical reasons, called Brigade Divisions, each under a lieutenant-colonel.

A Horse Artillery Battery consists of 1 major, 1 captain, 3 subalterns, 21 N. C. O.’s, and 160 men (of which 73 are drivers), 193 horses, 6 guns, 6 ammunition wagons, and 7 other wagons.

Of these patterns, the 12-pounder alone is a breech-loader; the others are muzzle-loaders.

The 12-pounder is being issued as fast as possible to all R. H. A. batteries. The F. A. will be divided into Light and Heavy Field Artillery, the former of which will receive the 12-pounder B.-L. gun, and the latter a new pattern 20-pounder B.-L. gun, with 8 horses to a team. When this is done, the R. H. A. will probably receive a new 10-pounder B.-L. gun.

2 guns and wagons together are called a Section; 1 gun and wagon, a Sub-division.

A Garrison Battery is variously constituted, according to its locality. The men of the battery have to work guns of all sorts and sizes in the different forts where they are quartered, and, as a rule, have no guns of their own.

	Weight of Shell.	Calibre.	Sighted up to.	Are Armed with it.
a	12 lbs.	3 in.	5,000 yds.	14 R. H. A. and 29 F. A. batteries.
b	13 lbs.	3 in.	4,800 yds.	1 R. H. A. and 12 F. A. batteries.
c	16 lbs.	3.6 in.	4,800 yds.	2 F. A. batteries.
d	9 lbs.	3 in.	3,500 yds.	5 R. H. A. and 37 F. A. batteries.

Of the 96 Garrison Batteries, 4 are Siege-train batteries, quartered in the United Kingdom, and armed with heavy guns for battering purposes, and 4 more are “Heavy” batteries, quartered in India, the [Pg 7] guns of which are drawn by elephants and the wagons by bullocks.

The Garrison Artillery is grouped in 3 divisions: the Eastern (29 batteries), Southern (42), and Western (25). Although these divisions are by way of corresponding with the different points of the compass in Great Britain, the batteries composing them are scattered in every quarter of the globe, and the Militia Brigades attached are not necessarily Eastern, Southern, and Western ones.

The Mountain Artillery is armed with 2½-inch 7-pounder jointed guns, each gun and gun-carriage being carried in pieces on 5 mules. One battery is in England (Newport), one in South Africa, and the rest in India.

The Royal Malta Artillery is for the defence of that island, and is composed of Maltese officers and men.

Men of the Horse Artillery are dressed in dark-blue Hussar-like jackets, and busbies with a white plume and scarlet busby-bag; the remainder of the Artillery in dark-blue tunics with red facings, and black felt helmets with a brass ball instead of a spike. They are armed with Martini-Henry carbines, and either sword or sword-bayonet, according to their branch of the arm. The forage-cap is a small, round, brimless one, with a band of orange braid.

The corps of Royal Engineers is divided into a number of battalions, depôts, and other units, which are given below as far as possible. As will be seen, their duties, and especially those of the officers, are extremely various.

The officers are employed sometimes with their men and sometimes apart from them. A large number of R. E. officers (between 350 and 400) serve in India, in connection with Native Engineer troops; others are employed either at home or in a colony on staff work, public works, [Pg 8] Military Schools, the Ordnance Survey, military telegraphy and railways, Engineer Militia and Volunteers, and a host of other duties too numerous to mention. In fact, the Engineers form the Scientific Corps of the Army. The officers are trained in the R. M. Academy at Woolwich, and the rank and file are nearly all well-educated men, skilled mechanics and trained workmen forming the bulk of them. That their work does not interfere with their worth as soldiers has been shown on many a field, and individual instances of their gallantry are numerous.

Formerly the Corps was composed of a large number (about 40) of independent companies, split up and quartered throughout the Empire. Now they have been collated together and formed into different battalions and other units, according to their work.

(a.) A Bridging Battalion, consisting of 2 pontoon troops, each troop numbering 5 officers, 28 N. C. O.’s, and 183 men, with 20 pontoon- and 8 other wagons, and 190 horses. Each troop carries the material for 120 yards of pontoon-bridge.

(b.) 2 Field Battalions, each of 4 companies. The companies however still preserve their independence to a great extent, being quartered in widely divergent localities, according to requirements.

The 1st Battalion consists of the former Nos. 7, 11, 17, and 23 independent companies, and the 2nd of Nos. 12, 26, 37, and 38.

A Field Company consists of 7 officers, 26 N. C. O.’s, 184 sappers, etc., 70 horses, and 13 vehicles.

These companies, as their name implies, are employed in digging, sapping, making field-works, and blowing up places, on active service.

(c.) A Telegraph Battalion of 2 divisions (in war, of 4 sections), the whole consisting of 6 officers, 15 N. C. O.’s, 224 men, 171 horses, and 22 vehicles. Their duties consist in laying lines of field telegraphs, and making themselves generally useful in their branch of science wherever they may happen to be.

(d.) A Submarine Mining Battalion, consisting of one depôt and 11 service companies (the old Nos. 4, 21, 22, 27, 28, 30, 33, 34, 35, 39, and 40), numbering about 760 of all ranks. Their strength varies according to the locality in which they are employed.

(e.) A Coast Battalion of 3 divisions, altogether about 240 of all ranks, employed in defensive works on the sea-coast.

(f.) 4 Survey Companies (Nos. 13, 14, 16, and 19), 330 men in all, engaged in the Ordnance and other official Surveys.

(g.) 17 Fortress Companies, of varying strengths (Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 15, 18, 20, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32, 36, 41, and 42), which are employed in the repair and keeping up of fortresses. In war-time they would design and execute siege-batteries, parallels, and all work connected with either the attack or defence of fortresses. In peace-time they number altogether about 1600 men.

(h.) 8 Depôt Companies, which are employed in the training and drilling of recruits, and in work relating to the Corps. They number 820 men.

(i.) 2 Railway Companies (Nos. 8 and 10), which number 140 men together, and would be employed in the laying and repairing of railway lines on service.

(k.) A Supernumerary Staff of nearly 400 men, which is employed in a great variety of duties too numerous to mention.

420 more men are distributed in different parts of the world and in military schools of different sorts.

Officers and men are dressed, armed, and equipped very similarly to the Infantry of the Line (q. v.). They may, however, be readily distinguished by the broad red stripe on their trousers, and by the Royal Arms in front of the helmet. The forage-caps of the rank-and-file are small round ones with a broad yellow band and no brim, worn on the top of the head. Officers wear a black and gold pouch belt instead of a sash. The facings are of dark-blue velvet, with yellow edging.

Napoleon the Great said of the British Infantry: “It is the best infantry in the world; luckily, there is not much of it.” It has certainly not deteriorated since his day; but, unfortunately, it is not much more numerous now than it was then.

Two years ago a distinguished Russian general said to an English Guardsman: “Are your men as fine a lot as they were in ’54?” and on receiving an answer in the affirmative, said: “I am sorry for it, if we ever have to fight you again. I had more than enough of them in the Crimea.” And Moltke said of the late Nile Expedition in 1885: “No one but English soldiers could have done what they did.”

These three regiments form the Sovereign’s Body-Guard, and do not usually serve out of Europe. The late campaigns in Egypt, however (1882 and 1885), and the prospective campaign in Canada in 1864, in all of which two or more battalions of Guards took part, go to prove that every rule has its exceptions.

At home, usually five battalions are quartered in London, and the other two in Windsor and Dublin respectively.

The uniform of the Guards differs from that of the Infantry of the Line chiefly in the shape of the facings and in the head-gear, the latter being the well-known bearskin, with white or red plumes for Grenadiers or Coldstream respectively. The forage-cap is round, with bands of red, white, and dice for the three regiments respectively. The armament and equipment is precisely that of the Infantry of the Line.

Of the 69 Regiments of the Line, one (Cameron Highlanders) consists of 1 battalion; two (60th King’s Royal Rifle Corps and Rifle Brigade) of 4 battalions; and the remainder of 2 battalions each. Total 141 battalions.

The regiments are now called after their “Territorial Districts,” which are the districts whence their recruits are drawn, and in which their depôt is situated. Up to 1881, the Infantry of the Line consisted of 109 regiments, mostly of 1 battalion each, and numbered up to 109. In that year, however, the system was changed, and a regiment is now known by the county or part of the country it recruits in, with occasionally the addition of a few other titles, such as “Borderers,” “King’s Own,” “Loyal,” etc., etc.

The Infantry, with the exception of the four Rifle regiments, is, of course, clothed in scarlet tunics, with facings of dark blue, white, yellow, or green, according as whether the regiment is a “Royal,” English, Scottish, or Irish one.

The head-dress of the Fusiliers is a busby of rough sealskin, shaped similarly to the Guards’ bearskin, but much smaller. The (5th) Northumberland Fusiliers wear a red and white plume, the remainder none.

The Rifle regiments are clothed in a very dark green, almost black, uniform. The Rifle Brigade facings are black, those of the 60th K. R. R. red, and those of the other two, Scottish and Irish Rifles, dark and light green respectively. The first two mentioned are historically connected with Hussar regiments, [8] and consequently the officers wear round forage-caps, trailing swords, and a few other Cavalry-like details; and the late head-gear used to be a Hussar-like black busby. The helmet of all Rifle regiments is at present black, but it will shortly be exchanged for a black Astrakhan fatigue-cap, with plume for full dress.

The five Highland regiments are the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), the Seaforth, the Gordon, the Cameron, and the Argyll-and-Sutherland Highlanders. They wear the feather-bonnet and well-known Highland dress—plaid, kilt, hose, white gaiters, and shoes. The tartan, sporran, hose, and a few other details differ in the various regiments.

The remainder of the Infantry, whether Light Infantry or not, wear [9] black felt helmets with brass spike and fixings, the scarlet tunic aforesaid, and blue-black trousers. Their forage-cap is the “Glengarry.”

The West India Regiment consists of two battalions of negroes, officered by Englishmen. The battalions are quartered, turn and turn about, in the West Indies and in our possessions on the West Coast of Africa. The men are dressed in white jackets, with a red vest over them, loose blue Zouave knickerbockers, and yellow gaiters. The head-dress is a turban.

The Infantry, whose weapon for the last seventeen years has been the Martini-Henry rifle, will very shortly be all armed with the new [Pg 11] magazine rifle, which has already been issued to a considerable number. The action is on the breech-loading bolt system; by it cartridges may be fired either singly or by means of the magazine, which is a black tin box, holding eight cartridges, and suspended immediately in front of the trigger-guard. The bore is extremely small, being only ·303 inches. The bullet is coated with a hard metal composition, for if it were of lead, it would “strip” in the grooves of the barrel, and by degrees choke it up. The powder is as yet not definitely fixed on, though numerous varieties have been tried with great success. It shoots point blank up to 300 yards, and is sighted on the back sight up to 2,000 yards. By a hanging foresight arrangement, it can be sighted up to 3,500 yards—nearly two miles! The cartridges are so small and light that more than twice the amount of ammunition can now be carried than was possible in the case of the late weapon.

The new bayonet is a much shorter implement than the late one, looking more like a large knife than a bayonet. The name of the new rifle is the Burton-Lee.

The equipment consists of a valise and canteen, suspended by leather braces to the belt, a havresack, wooden water-bottle, and bayonet-frog. Inside the valise is carried the great-coat (under the valise flap), and such articles as are necessary for the time being, such as boots, shirt, socks, hold-all, etc.

Two pouches are attached to the belt in front, holding twenty rounds Martini-Henry ammunition each. Thirty more rounds are carried in the valise and havresack, making seventy in all. With the new rifle cartridges, however, and new pouches, it is expected that each man will be able to carry 150 rounds.

A battalion of Infantry is composed of 8 companies, each company numbering 3 officers, 10 N. C. O.’s, and 111 men on a field establishment. In peace-time, the company rarely numbers above 90 men all told, except in India. The battalion consists therefore of—

30 officers (1 lieut.-colonel, 4 majors, 5 captains, 16 subalterns, etc., etc.),

These horses and carts belong for the most part to the Regimental Transport, which has been issued to each battalion forming part of the 1st Army Corps (of which more hereafter).

An Infantry Brigade consists of four battalions and details, and numbers in war-time 130 officers, 4,350 men, and 530 horses.

An Infantry Division consists of 2 brigades, 3 batteries Field Artillery, 1 squadron of Cavalry and details—total, 327 officers, 10,060 men, and 2000 horses.

An Army Corps is to consist of 3 Divisions of Infantry, 3 Horse Artillery, and 2 Field Artillery batteries, Royal Engineers, Cavalry squadron and details—total, 1,158 officers, 35,000 men, and 10,000 horses.

The Medical Staff Corps consists of 17 Divisions, distributed throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and numbering altogether about 400 medical officers and 2,000 N. C. O.’s and men. The depôt and training-school is at Aldershot, and the Army [Pg 12] Medical School at Netley. This Corps does not include the Indian Medical Staff Corps.

The Army Service Corps corresponds to the former Commissariat and Transport Corps, and deals with the issue of rations and general transport duty. It is divided into 37 companies, distributed throughout Great Britain and Ireland, and numbering 230 officers, 3,363 N.C.O.’s and men, and 1,300 horses and mules.

The Chaplains’ Department consists of about 80 chaplains, divided into four classes. There are four official denominations allowed, Church of England, Roman Catholic, Presbyterians, and Wesleyans. Men belonging to any other of the numerous sects of religion prevalent in England are officially entered as “Church of England.”

The organisation of the remaining departments, i.e. , Ordnance Store, Veterinary, and Pay, is uninteresting, and need not be detailed here.

Of the Regular Forces, 21 regiments of Cavalry, 91 batteries of Artillery, most of the Engineers, and 73 battalions of Infantry are quartered in Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is divided into 11, Ireland into 3, and the Channel Islands into 2, Districts, each under the command of a major-general. These districts are sub-divided into Regimental Districts, each of these latter comprising the recruiting ground, depôt, and Volunteer battalions of a Territorial ( i.e. , Line Infantry) Regiment of two Regular and two or more Militia battalions. The Artillery and Engineers, both Regular, Militia, and Volunteer, are also apportioned to each district. The Regular Corps of all arms rarely remain more than two years in the same quarters, changing from station to station in accordance with different rosters and requirements.

The whole of the Regular Forces, with the exception of the five Heavy Cavalry regiments and Brigade of Guards, take their turn at foreign service in India and the Colonies. As a rule, one battalion of each regiment of the Line is abroad for sixteen years, and is “fed” with men from the other battalion at home. This system, by which all the best and soundest men of a regiment are sent abroad, can hardly be called a good one, but it is difficult to suggest another. For foreign service it is no use having the youngest and unmatured soldiers—they would probably only fall sick in a hot climate. It is, therefore, necessary to keep and train the men till they know their duty thoroughly, and then send them out as full-grown men. It is for this reason that complaints are so often seen in the newspapers that certain regiments are apparently composed of “beardless boys.” This may be so with the home battalion, but if the complaint-makers were to journey to the Colonies and see the other battalion, they would soon alter their opinion.

It sometimes occurs that both battalions are abroad together, in which case the depôt of the regiment is largely increased; in order to feed the two.

Cavalry regiments stay abroad from twelve to fifteen years, and are fed by their depôt.

This foreign service is one of the main impediments in the way of recruiting by conscription.

Of the Regular Forces abroad, 9 Cavalry regiments, 88 batteries of Artillery, 3 companies R. E., and 53 battalions of Infantry are in India; and 1 Cavalry regiment, 27 batteries Artillery, [Pg 13] 13 companies R. E., and 20 battalions of Infantry are in the Colonies.

The Royal Marines, although not coming strictly under the head of the Army, are yet soldiers in the widest sense of the word, for they have been engaged by land and sea in every single campaign since their formation in 1755. They consist of two divisions, i.e. Artillery (16 companies) and Light Infantry (48 companies), in all nearly 14,000 men. They enlist for twelve years’ service, and may re-engage for nine years more. In garrison they perform the same duties as the Regular army, and on board ship work of a military character, such as guard mounting, working big guns, forming part of armed force on boat service, or fighting on shore under all sorts of conditions and in all climates. The latest development of the Marine is not a Horse-, but a Camel-Marine, a force of Marines having served up the Nile with the Camel Corps.

The Marines have done well wherever they have been, and still form, chiefly no doubt owing to their long service, some of our steadiest troops on service.

Their uniform and equipment is very similar to those of the corresponding branches of the Regular Army. A Marine may always be told from a Linesman by the badge on his helmet and shoulder-straps—a globe with the thoroughly apposite motto of “Per Mare, per Terram.”

The Native Indian Army is composed of Native Cavalry, Artillery, Engineers, Infantry, Medical Corps, etc., etc., partly officered by Englishmen, and numbering altogether about 152,000 men, including 13,000 Volunteers.

It is divided into the Armies of the Bengal, Madras, and Bombay Presidencies. The English officers are drawn from the three Staff Corps of those Presidencies, which they have entered after serving for at least one year with their English regiments.

Hyderabad Contingent, 4 batteries F. Artillery, 4 regiments Cavalry, and 6 regiments Infantry.

Natives enlist for any period of service, from three years to thirty. Most of the troops enlist for nine or fifteen years. They [Pg 14] must be physically fit and physically equivalent to a full-grown man. They are for the most part very keen soldiers, especially those that come from the North-West Provinces and Punjab. In many regiments the men have to find everything except firearms—even horses, accoutrements, and food, on their pay of about eighteenpence a day; and yet in some popular regiments there are several hundred candidates waiting for admission.

The Infantry is armed and equipped similarly to the British Infantry. Their rifle is of the Snider pattern, and is being exchanged for the Martini-Henry rifle. The uniforms of the Indian Army are very variegated, ranging from scarlet to yellow, and drab to green. The usual head-dress is the turban, but the other details of costume vary too much for description. The English officers wear in some regiments the native uniform, in others an English one.

A Native Cavalry regiment consists of 4 squadrons of 2 troops each, with an establishment of 10 English officers, Native officers, N. C. O.’s, and about 540 privates.

A Native Infantry Regiment consists of 1 battalion of 8 companies, with an establishment of 9 English officers, Native officers, N. C. O.’s, and about 820 privates. Each Infantry regiment is linked with two others, one of them supplying the other two with men, etc., in time of war.

The Colonial Forces consist of those raised by each Colony of the British Empire for its own protection. With the exception of a few of the smaller islands in the West Indies and Pacific, it may be said that every one of our Colonies has trained a certain number of men for home defence.

The system of enlistment and service varies in almost every colony, according to requirements. In very few of them are there permanent forces under arms. They mostly correspond to our Militia, and are called out for an annual training only.

Of the above troops, a very small number are permanent troops; the remainder consist of Militia, called out for about twelve days’ training in the year. There is universal liability to service in the Militia Reserve for all men between 18 and 60, so that in case of war the armed levy of the country would amount to over 600,000 men! Not more than 45,000 of these however are regularly trained. The country is divided into twelve Military Districts, and these again into Brigade and Regimental Divisions.

Besides this force, there is a Royal Military College, [Pg 15] and Royal Schools of Instruction for Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery.

Jamaica possesses a force of Volunteer Militia, Mounted Rifles, and Garrison Artillery (1,300).

Natal possesses a paid Volunteer Cavalry, Field Artillery, and Rifles, 1,500 altogether.

New Zealand possesses a Corps of paid Light Horse Volunteers, 13 batteries Volunteer Artillery, Engineer Corps, Force of Militia Infantry, and 7 or more Rifle battalions. A total of 7,400 men.

Reserve Force of Cavalry, Artillery, and Infantry, 2,700 of all ranks; besides a Naval Brigade and Naval Artillery Volunteers numbering nearly 500 men.

Queensland has a Defence Force of three classes, numbering altogether over 4,500 men.

South Australia has 2 troops of Lancers, 1 Field and 2 Garrison Batteries, 2 battalions Rifles, and numerous Mounted Rifle Corps, numbering altogether 2,700 men, including Volunteers.

Victoria has a force of several Cavalry and Artillery Corps, 4 battalions Rifles, Mounted Infantry, and numerous Rifle Volunteer Corps, besides a Reserve. Total 8,300 men.

Tasmania has a small force of Artillery and 2 regiments of Rifles, total 930 of all ranks.

Western Australia has a small force of Volunteer, Infantry, and Artillery—640 altogether.

Trinidad and other islands in the West Indies have raised small forces for their defence, about 1,000 altogether.

Let us now turn to the Reserve Forces at home, composed of the two classes of Army Reserves, Militia, Militia Reserve, Yeomanry, and Volunteers. We will not take into account either the Native Indian Reserves, as they are not yet fully formed, or the Colonial Militia or Reserves, as they are inextricably mixed up with the Colonial Forces already described.

The 1st Class Army Reserve, created in 1877, consists of men who have served their three, seven, or eight years with [Pg 16] the Colours, and who then pass to this Reserve to complete their service to twelve years. They are liable to service at home and abroad when called out; this would happen only in case of war or national danger. The men would then either join their own regiments or be formed into separate corps, or, with their consent, be attached to a regiment or corps other than their old one. This class numbers over 54,000 men.

The 2nd Class Army Reserve, in which there are not quite 3,000 men, is composed of those men who have served twelve years with the Colours and then choose to enter this Reserve, and of a few other special classes of men. They do not serve out of Great Britain. Both classes are liable to be called out for an annual training, but have never yet been so called out.

The Militia consists of men voluntarily enlisted for six years, with power to re-engage for periods of four years up to forty-five years of age. The recruits are trained for six months or less at the depôt of the regimental district, and have subsequently to undergo only twenty-eight days’ [10] training a year with their corps when called out. During these twenty-eight days the men receive regular pay, with a “bounty” of 10 s. or upward at the end of the training. They are then dismissed till next year.

In cases of national emergency, the Militia may be called out, i.e. “embodied,” for active service. This has occurred four times already in this century; during the Crimean War, for instance, ten battalions of Militia were garrisoning our possessions in the Mediterranean, and no fewer than 32,000 entered the Regulars and fought before Sebastopol.

The Artillery consists of 34 brigades of Garrison Artillery, attached to the regular Garrison Artillery Divisions as follows:—4 to the Eastern, 21 to the Southern, and 9 to the Western Division. The Engineer Militia numbers 7 companies.

The Infantry consists of 131 battalions, attached to the different regiments of Infantry of the Line as their 3rd and 4th or other battalions, and belonging to the same regimental districts. Some regiments have only one Militia battalion attached, others as many as five.

The Militia is clothed, equipped, and armed identically with the Regular Army, the only distinction being that a Militia private wears the number of his battalion, and a Militia officer the letter M in addition on his shoulder-straps.

The Channel Islands have 4 regiments of Artillery, and 6 of Infantry Militia. Malta has 1 regiment of the latter.

The Militia Reserve consists of men enlisted from the Militia for six years or for the remainder of their Militia engagements. These are liable to an annual training, or to embodiment in case of national danger. The body was created in 1867 as a temporary expedient for an Army Reserve, the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 having caused extreme uneasiness to our authorities; for they discovered then that we had absolutely no reserves whatever, in case we went to war. The inducement to join is a pecuniary one, i.e. £1 bounty, paid in advance, for every year service in the Militia. It numbers altogether 30,160 men.

The Yeomanry is composed of 39 county regiments of Cavalry, and forms a species of Cavalry Militia or Volunteers. They are called out annually for only one week’s training. They are liable to be called out, in addition, for service in any part of Great Britain in case of threatened invasion, or to suppress a riot. They receive allowances and pay during their training, an allowance for clothing, and their arms, from the Government; but have to find their own horses. There is no Yeomanry in Ireland.

The Volunteers consist of a large number of Corps, both Artillery, Engineers, Infantry, and Medical Staff Corps, with 2 Corps of Light Horse and 1 of Mounted Rifles. The Honourable Artillery Company (composed of 1 battery Field Artillery, 6 troops Light Cavalry, and 8 companies Infantry), although not strictly Volunteers, may be considered as coming under this head.

The Artillery Volunteers are divided into 9 Divisions according to their locality, forming 62 Corps.

The Engineer Volunteers form 16 Corps of Engineers, 9 Divisions Submarine Miners, and 1 Railway Staff-Corps.

The Infantry comprises no less than 211 battalions, distributed throughout Great Britain, and attached to the different regular regimental districts. 31 Infantry Volunteer Brigades have now been formed, each consisting of five or more battalions, and each commanded by a colonel of Auxiliary Forces.

The number of Volunteers is unlimited, and has gone on steadily increasing, since their formation in 1859. The Corps were originally intended to be self-supporting, finding themselves in everything except arms. Now, however, the Government, having awoke to their importance as a great national reserve for home defence, gives a Capitation Grant of 35 s. a year to the different Corps for every efficient Volunteer on their lists, and £2 10 s. more for every officer and sergeant who obtains a certificate of proficiency.

Volunteers are liable to be called out for active military service in Great Britain, in case of a threatened invasion.

It is, however, a fact that, if they chose, the Volunteers might, on the eve of the invasion, all disappear within fourteen days by simply giving notice of their wish to retire! A little legislation on this point might not be out of place, though of course such a catastrophe is not to be dreamt of.

Volunteers are exempt from service in the Militia, and cannot be employed as a military body in aid of the Civil Power. They receive no pay, and have to attend a certain number of drills of different sorts every year, otherwise they are not considered efficient.

The Volunteers are not yet thoroughly equipped for service, but strenuous efforts are being made in this direction by private and public enterprise.

Their uniforms vary greatly in colour, from green or scarlet to drab or grey, and in appearance. It is, however, expected that all Corps will in time present a similar appearance to the Regular Forces, with the main distinction of silver or white-metal embroidery and buttons instead of the gold or brass of the Regulars.

The organisation of the Volunteer Corps [Pg 18] is identical with that of the corresponding Regular Forces.

There were on the 1st January, 1890, 216,999 efficient Volunteers, besides 7,022 non-efficients—total 224,021.

The mode of entrance of officers to the Regular Army is as follows:—The candidate, if wishing to enter the Cavalry or Infantry has two routes open to him. He may either pass a competitive “preliminary” and “further” examination for the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, remain there one year, and then enter his regiment direct (if successful in passing the “final” examination), or else he may be appointed as 2nd lieutenant to a Militia battalion, undergo two annual trainings, and then pass an examination equivalent to the Sandhurst “final.” Formerly this latter mode of entrance, i.e. through the Militia, was considered much the easiest, but now there is not much to choose between the two.

A candidate for the Artillery or Engineers has to pass two examinations in the R. M. Academy, Woolwich, and then spend two years there. The order of merit in which the cadets pass the “final” determines which branch they are to join. As a rule, those passing out high up join the Engineers, and the others the Artillery.

(a.) The Staff College near Sandhurst, which an officer may enter by means of a competitive examination, after he has served five years at least with his regiment. Here he remains for two years, and is instructed in the various acquirements necessary for a good Staff officer, and in the higher branches of his profession. Having passed the final examination, the officer is attached for two months each to the two branches of the service other than that which he belongs to, and then rejoins his own regiment; he is then entitled to put p.s.c. after his name in the Army List.

(b.) School of Gunnery at Shoeburyness, where experiments are carried out and new inventions in gunnery tried, etc., etc.

(c.) Artillery College at Woolwich.—Instruction, etc., in the higher branches of gunnery.

(d.) School of Military Engineering at Chatham, where officers and N. C. O.’s of different Corps are put through a course, experiments in engineering tried, etc., etc.

(e.) School of Musketry at Hythe, for instruction of officers and N. C. O.’s in the use of, and in details and experiments concerning, small arms.

(f.) Schools of Gymnasium and Signalling at Aldershot, the Army Medical School at Netley, the Veterinary School at Aldershot, and the School of Music at Hounslow, whose titles sufficiently explain their raison d’être .

A glance at the latest accessories to the Army in the shape of Mounted Infantry, Machine-guns, and Cyclists, may not be out of place here.

The authorities consider that a force of Mounted Infantry ( i.e. , Infantry with rifles on horseback) will be of the greatest use to the Army in case of war. Accordingly, a force is being trained, little by little, which would be available to act as such on active service.

For the past two or three years 2 companies at Aldershot, formed of volunteers from the different Infantry battalions quartered there, and 1 company at the [Pg 19] Curragh, consisting of 150 men each, have been trained during the winter months to act as Mounted Infantry. On the conclusion of the course, the men are sent back to their regiments, and a fresh lot come on the following winter. These companies are intended to be formed into battalions when required. The duty of this force on service will be to act as Infantry, but with a rapidity of transport from one place to another unattainable by ordinary Infantry. Thus they may be pushed forward to attack a village, to hold a defensive position till supported by other Infantry, to assist the Cavalry, or to perform a hundred other duties of Infantry far in front of the real Infantry.

It is proposed that every battalion of Infantry and regiment of Cavalry should in future wars have a Machine-gun Detachment of 2 machine-guns, worked by 1 officer and 12 men, attached to it. A large number of men have been trained in this work, but there are at this moment but few complete detachments in existence.

Corps of Cyclists, chiefly Volunteer, have also lately been started, but it seems very questionable whether they would ever be of any use in a hostile country except to carry messages to and fro along good roads.

Finally, mention must be made of the recent apportioning of the British Regular Army into Army Corps. Serious difficulties have arisen in organising this matter, for, since regiments are always on the move from point to point at home, or between home, India, and the Colonies, it is a very difficult task indeed to arrange so that even one Army Corps should be ready to take the field at the shortest possible notice. It has, however, been done, and the 1st Army Corps is an accomplished fact. The 2nd is on the high road to completion, though as yet it is badly off for horses.

The above gives a tolerably fair idea of the strength and constitution of the Army of the British Empire. The Navy, it is true, is still our first line of defence, as it has been for hundreds of years; but although the best in the world, it is not yet large enough for our needs. Our Regular Army has also been shown to be barely large enough. It is, therefore, doubly necessary to keep the Army at a high pitch of efficiency, and fully supplied with everything needful, in order that if we ever come into collision with one of the colossal European powers detailed in the following pages, we shall not be found wanting.

It was in the autumn of 1870, during the Franco-German War, that the preliminary arrangements were made for the forthcoming consolidation of the German Empire. Up to that time, Germany consisted of a multitude of States, each with its own Government and its own Army. The interests of these States, ranging as they did from kingdoms down to small principalities, were extremely conflicting, and internal hostility was frequently the result. The one great aim of King William of Prussia was to see them all united into one Empire, and defended by one Army. Aided by the genius of Bismarck, the negotiations were brought to a successful conclusion, and on the 18th January, 1871, William of Prussia was declared Emperor of Germany with the title of William I. At the same time the forces of the different States were combined, and the present German Army is the result.

In peace and war this United Army is under the command of the Emperor, and each man is bound by oath to render him faithful and loyal service.

Several of the States, whilst keeping their own troops, have, by means of special military conventions, attached themselves and their forces still closer to the chief military power of the Empire, namely, [Pg 21] Prussia. On the other hand, a few of the larger States have reserved for themselves a certain independence in the management of their armies. The chief outward and visible sign thereof is seen in the variations of uniform from the strict Prussian pattern. Thus, the Bavarian Infantry has kept its light-blue tunic, the Saxons still have red piping round their skirts, and the Württembergers wear double-breasted tunics and grey greatcoats.

1. The combined forces of Prussia and the following States, which have concluded conventions with her: Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Altenburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the two principalities of Reuss, Oldenburg, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Lippe, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lübeck, Bremen, Hamburg, Waldeck, Brunswick, Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Grand Duchy of Baden, and Grand Duchy of Hesse.

Universal Conscription is the keystone of the Army. Introduced on September 3rd, 1814, first of all, it was amended by the law of the 16th April, 1871, and perfected by subsequent laws passed in 1874 and 1881. The recent edict of the 11th February, 1888, has put the finishing touches to it, so that it now holds sway throughout the whole Empire. According to this law, every German who is physically capable and who is in the enjoyment of civil rights, is bound to serve as a soldier.

The 1st Class Landwehr is divided into complete units, and these are formed into Reserve Divisions for the Active Army. The 2nd Class Landwehr garrisons the interior and fortresses, and acts, if called out, as a reserve for the above-mentioned Landwehr Reserve divisions.

All men between the ages of 17 and 45 who are fit to bear arms and who are not serving in either the Active Army (including the Ersatz Reserve) or in the Landwehr, are enrolled in the 1st Class Landsturm. This body can only be called out in case of national invasion, or for garrison duty at home.

The Ersatz ( i.e. Supply) Reserve consists of those men who are physically fit, but have, owing to surplus numbers or other causes, escaped being sent to serve in the Regular Army. Part of this Reserve undergoes a training of ten weeks in the first, six weeks in the second, and four weeks in the third year. These are considered as belonging to the so-called “Furlough Men” [12] class, and serve when required to complete the Army in the field. On the completion of their thirty-first year, the men are sent to the Landwehr and 2nd Class Landsturm, and there they remain till the termination of their [Pg 22] liability to service, i.e. , their forty-fifth year. The men of the untrained portion of the Ersatz Reserve remain available for service up to their thirty-second year, and then pass over to the 1st and 2nd Classes of the Landsturm in due order.

If every single able-bodied young man were to be taken for the Regular Army, two disadvantages would accrue to the State; on the one hand an immense amount of industrial labour would be lost to the country, and on the other, it would be impossible for the State to support such a huge Army. For this reason the law of the constitution has laid down that the peace Army is not to exceed one per cent. of the population. This gives the Army the respectable peace-strength of 468,409 men (not including officers and one-year volunteers). Of these numbers about 156,000 annually enter the ranks as recruits.

There is a supplementary clause to the law of universal conscription, and that is the one which allows of One-year Volunteers . It stands to reason that with a three-years’ bout of compulsory service, a large portion of the youth of the country are interrupted in the studies which are to prepare them for their particular professions, and that at a period when they can least afford to lose the time. For the labourer, who needs but little knowledge for his daily task, and for those handicraftsmen whose work demands but little brain capacity or culture of any sort, this interruption of business is of small moment. It is far otherwise, however, with the young man who requires to spend some time in the higher schools in order to fit himself for the profession he has chosen, be it industrial or scientific. This disadvantage of the conscription law makes itself felt in proportion to the progress in education and general culture made in the country. At the same time it is obvious that a man who has the assistance of a well-educated and well-trained mind does not require so long a period to master the intricacies of soldiering as one who is less intelligent.

For this reason the Government allows young men who have either received a certificate of educational efficiency from one of the higher schools or else passed an examination before a commission appointed for the purpose, to enter the service as volunteers on completing their seventeenth year. After one year with the Colours they are sent “on furlough” to the Active Reserve, and for this privilege they have to find themselves in uniform, equipment, and food during the period of their service. They may become officers in the following manner: If they have behaved well and have subsequently, during two trainings of several weeks each, whilst attached to a Corps, shown themselves professionally and socially qualified to become officers, they are balloted for by the officers of their district. If the ballot is favourable, they are commissioned by his Majesty and become full-blown officers of the Reserve. These have, in case of war, to complete the active establishment of officers to war-strength, or have to fill vacancies as officers in the Landwehr.

The German Army represents the people under arms, and their officers represent the cream of the Army. The road to the [Pg 23] higher, and even to the highest ranks, lies open to every educated man, without reference to social standing or birth, if he only have the necessary qualifications thereto.

1. A good general education, of which the candidate must give satisfactory proof, either by the possession of an “Abiturient” certificate, [13] or by passing an examination before a commission held in Berlin.

Having satisfied the authorities on these subjects, the candidate now serves as a private for five months, generally with the regiment he intends to enter. At the end of this time, during which he is called an “avantageur,” he undergoes an examination in military duties, etc., and on receiving a certificate of satisfactory service from his superior officers, he becomes an ensign (“Porte-épée Fähnrich”) and is sent to a military college for a year. There he passes a final examination in military knowledge, and, if balloted for successfully by the officers of the regiment of his choice, he joins as second lieutenant.

As much as 40 to 45 per cent. of the officers are drawn from the Cadet Corps, which is distributed amongst establishments at Lichterfelde (near Berlin, head college), Kulm, Potsdam, Wahlstatt, Bensberg, Plön and Oranienstein, in Prussia; Dresden in Saxony, and Munich in Bavaria. A new college will shortly open in Karlsruhe. This Corps is chiefly composed of the sons of officers, who receive a cheap and excellent training and education. The proverb that “the apple falls close to the stem” is well exemplified here, for amongst the cadets are many who bear celebrated soldiers’ names, such as Roon, Steinmetz, Canstein, etc., etc.

Although the training in the Cadet Corps is chiefly a military one, yet on the whole the cadets receive an education equal to that of a first-class civilian college. Thus they are enabled in after-life, when they have left the Service, to pursue a civilian calling with greater ease than if their education had been purely military.

Mention may also be made here of the establishments in which the “Porte-épée Fähnrichs” (ensigns) are instructed: they are the military colleges of Potsdam, Engers, Neisse, Glogau, Hanover, Cassel, Anklam, Metz, and Munich. The higher branches of military science are pursued in the United Artillery and Engineer School, and the Staff College (Kriegsakademie), both in Berlin. The entire military education and training of the country are managed by an Inspection-General.

As in all large armies, the three great branches of the German service are Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery, besides the Engineers and Transport Corps, the latter of which is called the “Train.”

As everybody knows, Infantry is intended to go anywhere and fight anywhere. It is, therefore, equipped for all contingencies that may arise, and is armed with a weapon for use either at a long range or in close hand-to-hand fighting.

The German Infantry is [14] armed with a capital magazine-rifle, with a bore of ·315 inches, which, with a point-blank range of over 300 yards, will carry up to 2,400 yards. [Pg 24] The magazine is detachable, and holds 8 cartridges. The bayonet is a short sword-bayonet, very similar to the new English bayonet.

As a rule, the German foot-soldier has to carry his own equipment, both on the march and in action. The equipment consists of a knapsack with large mess-tin attached, great coat, bayonet and scabbard (to which latter is fastened a small spade), havresack, and water-bottle, and three pouches, two in front and one behind. These pouches hold, altogether, 150 rounds. The whole thing can be put on or taken off at a moment notice, by simply buckling or unbuckling the waist-belt and slipping the arms into, or out of, the knapsack braces. This new arrangement also obviates to a great extent the discomfort caused by the older pattern of equipment, which compressed the man chest considerably.

The old division of the Infantry into Grenadiers, Musketeers, and Fusiliers has now no significance, except from a historical point of view. Nowadays, the whole of the Infantry being identically equipped, they all receive exactly the same amount of instruction and training, with the sole exception that the Rifle battalions (Jäger) spend somewhat more time and pains on their musketry than the other troops.

“Grenadiers” first sprang into existence in the seventeenth century; as their name indicates, they were originally intended to throw hand-grenades amongst the enemy ranks. For this object, particularly powerful men were selected, and in France, under Louis XIV., four Grenadiers were at first attached to each company; subsequently, each battalion received a Grenadier company. Grenadiers were now introduced into every civilised army, but as there was seldom an opportunity for the employment of their special weapon, they were given muskets, and remained Grenadiers only in name, and thus the name came to be applied to particularly fine bodies of troops only. The Prussian Grenadier battalions of Frederick the Great were the flower of his Army, and in memory of these troops [Pg 25] the 1st Prussian Foot-Guard Regiment still wears the old sugar-loaf brass helmet on big review days and other special occasions. The title of “Grenadier Regiments,” which the first twelve Prussian Infantry regiments received in 1861, was only bestowed in order to keep green the memory of the old Grenadiers.

The names of “Musketeers” and “Fusiliers” come from the different firearms their predecessors bore, i.e. , the musket and the rifle (fusil), first introduced into France in the seventeenth century. The Musketeers were at first the Heavy Infantry, in contradistinction to the Fusiliers, who represented the Light Infantry. Later, however, on each branch receiving the same firearm, the distinction ceased, and it is now only remembered through the old Fusilier songs, of which there exist several, and whose burden is the chaffing of the heavy Musketeer.

The peculiar qualities necessary for good Light Infantry have been developed par excellence in the Prussian Rifle battalions. These draw a very large proportion of their recruits from the gamekeepers and forester class of the country. Such men have of necessity been already trained in the attainments required for that branch of the Infantry. They are well acquainted with firearms and can shoot; they can put up with considerable hardships, they can find their way about a strange country, and they have studied in the school of nature—in short, they are the very men to make into skirmishers and marksmen, and are in their element on outpost or patrol duty. Frederick the Great was the first to train the Jäger as Light Infantry, and his influence is seen to this day. “Vive le roi et ses chasseurs” was the motto engraved on their “hirschfänger” (lit. “stag-sticker,” a large knife still worn by keepers for the purpose of giving the stag his coup de grâce ) in his day, and it is still the watchword of the Prussian Riflemen of to-day. Frederick recognised that the true method of employing Riflemen was to extend them as skirmishers, and there is a story which tells how, when one day, in Potsdam, the Rifles were marching past him in close order, the old king shook his crutch-stick at them and shouted: “Get out of that, get out of that, you scoundrels!” and made them march past in extended order.

On the 1st of April, 1890, the German Infantry numbered 171 regiments of 3 battalions each, and 21 Rifle battalions—total 534 battalions.

Of the remaining Line regiments, 81 are Prussian, i.e. , Nos. 13–32, 41–72, 74–79, 81–85, 87–88, 97–99, 128–132, 135–138, and 140–143;

No. 96 is Saxe-Altenburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and the two principalities of Reuss,

Nine belong to the 2nd group, Saxony, i.e. , Nos. 102–107, 133, 134, and 139.

Six belong to the 3rd group, Württemberg, i.e. , Nos. 120–122 and 124–126.

The 4th group, Bavaria, has 18 regiments of the Line, which are numbered apart from the rest of the Army.

Prussia: 1 battalion Rifles of the Guard; 1 battalion Schützen of the Guard; 11 battalions Rifles of the Line (Nos. 1–11); 1 battalion Mecklenburg Rifles. Total, 14 battalions.

The Cavalry is intended for fighting chiefly at close quarters and on open ground. Their use on the battle-field is generally confined to the attack in close order.

Although both branches of the Cavalry, the Heavy and the Light, receive an identical training, yet the distinction between them has not yet entirely lost its old significance. The Cavalry of the German Army is divided into four groups, distinguished by different equipment and arms; they are the Cuirassiers, the Dragoons, the Lancers, and the Hussars. The chief weapon throughout is the sword, though the Cuirassiers differ from the others in being armed with a long straight sword, whilst that of the latter is slightly curved. Besides this weapon, the whole of the Cavalry is being armed with lances. As it may happen that the men may have to dismount and use firearms on foot, at present they are all armed with a useful carbine (Mauser, 1871 pattern); the non-commissioned officers and trumpeters wear a revolver instead.

The main point in a Cavalry fight is the shock, i.e. , the moment when they come into contact with the enemy. This must be the result of gradually quickening the pace till at the supreme moment an irresistible mass is hurled with crushing force on the ranks of the enemy. The best powers of man and horse must therefore be reserved for this moment, and it is a fact that the turning-point of an action has often been decided by the mere impetus of the charge, and without any use whatever of cold steel.

Of the whole German Cavalry the Prussian arm has the best record. This dates from the time of Frederick the Great and his celebrated Cavalry leaders Zieten, Seydlitz, and others, who made use of bold and clever offensive tactics which led to [Pg 27] grand results at Rossbach, Leuthen, Zorndorf, and other actions. Prussian horses are powerful, fast, and capable of considerable endurance, so that they are particularly suited to military service. In addition, the Prussian soldier is a capital groom. These qualities, in conjunction with thorough discipline and tactical training, have brought the German Cavalry to a height of excellence that is surpassed by few.

The Cuirassiers are the troops who from their outward appearance most resemble the knights of the Middle Ages. Although the cuirass, from which they take their name, has lately been abolished for field service in consequence of its weight and inability to keep off the enemy bullets, yet with the lance, just introduced, a genuine knightly weapon has been brought in to take its place.

The Prussian Regiment of Gardes-du-Corps, whose chief is ex-officio the King of Prussia, is equipped and armed in the same way as the Cuirassiers. Although it forms a Royal body-guard, still the regiment has seen a considerable amount of service. History tells of a memorable saying of the Commander of the regiment, Colonel von Wacknitz, at the battle of Zorndorf (25th August, 1758), where the enemy, the Russians, were getting the best of the day; Frederick the Great was with his regiment, the Gardes-du-Corps, and said anxiously to Colonel von Wacknitz: “What do you think of it? My idea is that we shall get the worst of the action.” [Pg 28] Von Wacknitz lowered his sword and said: “Your Majesty, no battle is lost, in my opinion, where the Gardes-du-Corps have not charged.” “Very good,” said the king, “then charge.” And the fortune of the day was decided by the brilliant and successful attack made by this regiment. The battle was won, and the country saved.

In Bavaria the two regiments of Heavy Cavalry, and in Saxony the regiments of Horse Guards and Carbineers, correspond to the Prussian Cuirassiers.

The Dragoons were originally intended to combine the fire-action of Infantry with the rapidity of movement of Cavalry, and were therefore armed, on horseback, with a light musket and bayonet. The Brandenburg Dragoons of the great Elector Frederick William came greatly to the fore in this double capacity at the battles of Warsaw and Fehrbellin. The uncertainty, however, of the results of shooting when mounted, and the inconvenience of dismounting or mounting according as to whether the fight raged on foot or on horseback, showed plainly as time went on that the idea of an intermediate arm, a sort of mounted infantry, could not yet be brought to perfection. The Dragoons were therefore, during the eighteenth century, gradually formed into Cavalry pure and simple, and at the present time they are horse-soldiers, and horse-soldiers only. One of the most celebrated Cavalry attacks was that of the regiment of Anspach-Bayreuth Dragoons in the battle of Hohenfriedberg (4th June, 1745). In this action, the regiment rode down no fewer than 20 battalions of Infantry, took 2,500 prisoners and 66 standards, besides a large number of guns: as Frederick the Great said, “It is a feat unparalleled in history.” This regiment was, at a later period, turned into a Cuirassier regiment, and is now known as the Queen’s 2nd Cuirassiers (Pomeranians).

The Bavarian Chevau-légers correspond to the Prussian Dragoons, and many a record testifies to their gallantry in action.

The spirit of Zieten, the “Hussar-father,” and of old Blücher, “Field Marshal Forwards,” still lives in the Hussars of the German Empire. Activity, boldness, and cheeriness are the attributes which make a good Hussar, and many are the songs which record their successes in camp and field.

The Uhlans (Lancers) who spread such terror amongst the enemy in the war of 1870–71, hail, as far as their name goes, from Tartary. [15] For this reason, the French took them for a wild tribe, such as the Kirghiz of the Steppes, or the African Turcos. The name is, however, the only foreign element about them, for their mode of fighting is essentially German.

The chief weapon of the Uhlan, the lance, with which they caused such consternation among the French, although it had been the most popular weapon of the Middle Ages, disappeared almost entirely from European armies on the introduction of firearms; the Russian and Polish Cavalry alone retaining it. After the second Silesian war in 1745, Frederick the Great armed a body of Light Horse with lances, and gave them the name of “Bosniaks.” Consisting at first of only 1 “company,” their strength was increased afterwards to 10 companies, and in the year 1800 they [Pg 29] were founded into a regiment under the name of “Towarczys,” i.e. , experienced in war. In 1808, the name was changed to “Uhlans,” and the corps was divided into several regiments, whose number was increased at a later period. In 1870 the French peasantry called the whole of the German Cavalry “ulans,” and the sudden appearance of a few of their horsemen in a district at a time when the Frenchmen flattered themselves that the enemy was still far distant, caused shouts of “les ulans! les ulans!” universal consternation, and immediate flight. The German Uhlans were everywhere at once. More than one populous town, e.g. , Nancy on the 11th August, 1870, opened their gates at their approach, and the small fortress of Vitry le françois surrendered to a mere handful of Uhlans.

The Cavalry of the German Empire consists altogether of 93 regiments of 5 squadrons each—total, 465 squadrons. On the regiment being ordered on active service, one of the squadrons remains behind as supply-squadron for the rest. Its duty is to replace the partially-trained or unserviceable horses by good ones, and also to fill up the ranks of the other squadrons with good men when required. By this means, the active part of the regiment is brought to a high state of readiness for action, and gains greatly in efficiency. There are:—

Of late years there has been a good deal of talk about reorganising the present force into a so-called “General” Cavalry, and this would be distinctly a move in the right direction. The term implies that all branches of the Cavalry arm should be equally and thoroughly equipped, armed, and trained for any service in which Cavalry could be called on to take part. An important step has been made in this direction by the recent arming of the whole of the Cavalry with lances. There is, however, no intention whatever on the part of the authorities to carry out the idea to extremities. Such measures as taking away their particular mode of action from the different branches of the Cavalry, or giving them all exactly the same uniform, would never be entertained for a moment. It is obvious that such measures would be the deathblow of all esprit de corps which, as we know, has led to such brilliant results in the past. The shock of Cuirassiers on their big horses, the charge of Uhlans with their fluttering lance-pennons, the sabre-work of Hussars, and the mobility of Dragoons and Chevau-légers, each has its particular effect on the enemy, and each distinctive attribute must be taken into serious account. There can be no doubt that a total amalgamation of the four branches, and the abolition of their distinctive uniforms, would produce much more harm in the end than good.

Before closing the subject of Cavalry, mention ought to be made of the lately-formed Empress’s Body-Guard, composed of one officer, two sergeants, and 24 men. They were first put on duty in August, 1889, during the visit of the Emperor of Austria. Their uniform is the usual dark-blue tunic, with cerise collar and cuffs, besides a full-dress white Cuirassier tunic. The skirts are lined with cerise cloth and fastened back with hooks. Both collar and cuffs have white braid-lace on them, like the rest of the Guard Corps. The breeches are of white leather, and big knee-boots like those of the Cuirassiers complete the costume.

Artillery has but one rôle to play on the battle-field, and that is to come into action and do as much harm as possible to the enemy from a long distance off.

The Field Artillery is intended, as its name implies, for action on the field of battle. One particular branch of it forms the Horse Artillery, in which all the men are mounted. The whole of the Field Artillery is armed with Krupp cast-steel guns (C. 73), the Horse Artillery guns having a bore of 2·95, and the others a bore of 3·43 inches. They carry “double-ring shells” (a form of segment shell which fly into about 180 pieces), Shrapnel shells (each containing 240 bullets), and case-shot. The guns themselves are handy to work, and carry with great accuracy up to about four miles.

A Battery is formed of six guns, though as a rule not more than four in peace-time have teams (4 to 6 horses each) to draw them.

There are altogether 318 batteries of Field-and 46 batteries of Horse Artillery, the whole forming 37 regiments.

To the Prussian group belong 29 regiments, forming 245 Field-and 38 Horse Artillery batteries—total 283 batteries.

Saxony has 2 regiments (Nos. 12 and 28) forming 21 Field-and 2 Horse Artillery batteries.

Of the 29 “Prussian” regiments, 2 are Guard Artillery, 24 (Nos. 1–11, 15–24, 26, 27, and 31) are Prussian, 2 belong to Baden (Nos. 14 and 30), and 1 (No. 25) is Hessian.

In the course of the next few years the Field Artillery will undergo considerable changes in matériel as well as in organisation. It is intended to give each Army Corps 3 F. A. regiments, each of 2 divisions of 3 batteries each. Thus each of the two divisions of the Army Corps would have one F. A. regiment of 6 batteries, and the 3rd regiment would be available as Corps Artillery. It is also proposed to introduce a common calibre of gun for the whole, both Field and Horse Artillery, and also a common projectile which would combine the advantages of common shell and shrapnel. The introduction of this latter would tend greatly to simplify both the action and the supply of the gun.

The men of the Garrison Artillery are employed in the attack and defence of fortresses. They have no guns of their own, but simply work the big guns of the Siege-train or the fortresses, according to circumstances. These gunners go by the name of “cannoniers.” They are armed with the Mauser carbine of the 1871 pattern.

The Garrison Artillery consists of 14 regiments of 2 battalions each, of 4 companies each, besides 3 independent battalions, altogether 31 battalions.

Of this force, Prussia has 11 regiments (1 Guard regiment and Nos. 1 to 8, 10 and 11) and 2 independent battalions (No. 9 and No. 14), the latter belonging to Baden.

The officers of the corps of Engineers are [Pg 32] divided into the Engineer Staff Corps ( i.e. , generals and field officers) and 4 “Engineer-Inspections” (captains and lieutenants).

This is in the Prussian group. The Saxon, Württemberg, and Bavarian officers are not so divided. Engineer officers are employed either with the “fortification branch,” i.e. , that branch which superintends the construction, repair, etc., of fortresses, or with the “Pioneers,” i.e. , Field Engineers.

1 Guard battalion and 14 others (Nos. 1–11, 14–16), including 1 Baden battalion (No. 13), to Prussia.

Each battalion numbers 4 companies; of these the 1st is a Pontoon company, the 2nd and 3rd are Sapper companies: i.e. , for sap-work, construction of siege-batteries, and field-works, etc.; and the 4th is a Mining company, for laying mines and subterranean galleries in siege-work.

Besides these, there is a Railway Regiment of 4 battalions (including 1 Saxon and 1 Württemberg company), and 1 Bavarian Railway battalion of 2 companies, for the construction of military railways and railway-bridges. Included in the Railway Regiment are the Field-Telegraph and Balloon sections.

The “Train” (corresponding to our Army Service Corps) is for the transport of supplies, ammunition, and war-material of all sorts. The drivers and men of the corps are trained in peace-time in the Train battalions, and the wagons are stored in Train depôts.

14 battalions, each of 2 to 3 companies, and a depôt (the Guard battalion, and Nos. 1–11, 15 and 16), in Prussia; one (No. 14), in Baden, and 1 Train company in Hesse; one (No. 12) in Saxony, one in Württemberg (No. 13), and 2 in Bavaria.

To the depôt of each battalion belong: 5 provision sections, 3 medical detachments with field hospitals and bearers, 1 remount-depôt, 1 field bakery section, and 5 sections of transport.

The above account gives a general résumé of the fighting force of Germany. It now remains to give the tactical organisation of the different branches of the Army.

In the Infantry, the smallest independent body of troops, or “tactical unit,” is a battalion (except in the case of the independent Rifle battalions, where the unit is represented by the company). In the Cavalry it is a squadron, and in the Artillery a battery. The war strength of a battalion is, at the outside, 1,000 men; that of a squadron is about 150 mounted men; and that of a battery is 6 guns, with 12 wagons and men in proportion. The peace-strength of each unit is dependent, on the one hand, on the numbers required for its full strength in time of war; and, on the other hand, on the amount of training requisite for its efficiency. In a less degree also, it is dependent on the state of the Treasury.

N.B.—A Regiment of Infantry consists of three battalions, so that in calculating the strength of a regiment, the regimental staff (colonel, lieutenant-colonel, regimental-adjutant, surgeons, etc.), should be taken into account.

The peace-strength of the corresponding troops in Bavaria, Württemberg, and Saxony is much the same. The Guard regiments and those in Alsace-Lorraine are somewhat stronger.

As a rule, two regiments of Infantry (6 battalions), or two of Cavalry (8 to 10 squadrons), form a Brigade, under a Major-general as brigadier.

The first unit composed of all three arms is the Infantry division. It consists of usually two brigades of Infantry and one regiment of Cavalry; and, in the field, has in addition 6 batteries of Artillery and 1 company of Engineers, the whole under the command of a lieutenant-general. A Cavalry Division varies in strength, but has always, if possible, one or two batteries of Horse Artillery attached.

Two, or three, Infantry Divisions, with a brigade (2 regiments) of Field Artillery, [Pg 34] Engineers and Train, constitute an Army Corps, under the command of a full general. The Army Corps therefore comprises all branches of the service, and is thoroughly independent.

The 12th (Saxon) and 13th (Württemberg) Corps have a slightly different composition. They each number 4 Infantry, 2 Cavalry and 1 Field Artillery Brigades (each brigade consisting of 2 regiments), besides one battalion of Field Engineers and one of the Train. The Guard Corps also is constituted rather differently from any other.

On the 1st April, 1890, the entire German Army consisted of 20 Army Corps, quartered as follows:—

The Guard Corps, in Berlin, Potsdam, Charlottenburg, and Spandau (with the exception of the 4th Guard Grenadier Regiment, which is quartered at Coblenz).

The nineteen Territorial Districts of the Army correspond to the nineteen Army Corps Districts. The recruits, however, of the XVth and XVIth Corps districts are not allowed to serve there, but are distributed amongst other corps. The Guard Corps draws its recruits from the different districts of Prussia, and from Alsace-Lorraine.

The main idea which directed the above recent apportioning of troops was to distribute them so as to be immediately available in case of war in any quarter. Formerly, the tendency was to group the forces where they could be most conveniently trained and worked, without reference to the possibilities of war.

Now that the new distribution of Army Corps has placed three Corps (XIVth, XVth, and XVIth) on the western, and four Corps (Ist, IInd, Vth, XVIIth) on the eastern frontier, it will be possible at the first declaration of war with either France or Russia to combine large masses of Cavalry and throw them at once into the enemy’s territory. One or two battalions of Jäger are also to be sent shortly into Alsace, in order to watch the passes over the Vosges.

Corps.	District.	Head Quarters.
I.	East Prussia	Königsberg
II.	Pomerania	Stettin
III.	Brandenburg	Berlin
IV.	Province of Saxony	Magdeburg
V.	Posen	Posen
VI.	Silesia	Breslau
VII.	Westphalia	Münster
VIII.	Rhine Provinces	Coblenz
IX.	Schleswig-Holstein	Altona
X.	Hanover	Hanover
XI.	Hesse-Nassau [16]	Cassel
XII.	Kingdom of Saxony	Dresden
XIII.	Kingdom of Württemberg	Stuttgart
XIV.	Grand Duchy of Baden	Carlsruhe
XV.	Alsace	Strasburg
XVI.	Lorraine	Metz
XVII.	West Prussia	Danzig
1st Bavarian Corps.	Bavaria	Munich
2nd Bavarian Corps.	Bavaria	Würzburg

In consequence of the extension of the Landwehr and Landsturm, it is difficult to arrive at an exact estimate of the German war-strength. [17] In the event of war, different Army Corps and Cavalry Divisions will be combined into Armies, but their number [Pg 35] and strength will necessarily depend on the theatre in which they are to be utilised, on the plan of campaign, and on the strength of the enemy. The resources of the Empire will not, however, come to an end with the 20 Army Corps whose strength we have just been describing. Behind the men doing their seven years of service, who compose the Active Army, come those of the 1st and 2nd Class Landwehr, and behind these again come the Ersatz Reserve and the Landsturm.

Although this tremendous Army of close on two million of well-trained and well-armed men may at first sight appear a menace to the peace of the world, still we must remember that Germany is absolutely obliged, for the preservation of her very existence, to keep up these huge forces, and that she has no intention of using them except for that purpose. As an old national proverb has it: “He who wants to come to grief in war had better try a fall with Germany.”

ADDENDUM TO GERMANY.

P. 25 . The German Infantry now numbers 173 regiments and 19 Rifle battalions—total 538 battalions.

P. 31 . The Artillery has lately been increased to 387 batteries of Field, and 47 batteries of Horse Artillery, the whole forming 43 regiments.

The latest estimate of the German Army at war-strength, i.e. Active Army, Active Reserve, and 1st class Landwehr, is as follows—

The next on the list is Germany’s powerful neighbour, friend, and ally on her southern frontier, Austria-Hungary.

There is in the Austro-Hungarian Army a varied assemblage of different races: the honest Austrian, the proud and fiery Hungarian, the smart Czech, the true-hearted Tyrolese, the thin onion-eating Wallachian, the hot-blooded Croat, the nomad Slowak, the homeless gipsy, etc., etc., are all represented in its ranks. All these have been welded together by the iron bands of discipline into the “Imperial and Royal” Army. The Emperor is Commander-in-Chief, and with him rests the decision for peace or war.

After the disastrous campaign of 1866 the Austrian Army was entirely reorganised. The reorganisation is now almost completed, and the Army now takes its place as one of the foremost in the world. The division of the Empire into Cis- and Trans-Leithania— i.e. this side, the Austrian, and that side, i.e. the Hungarian, of the Leitha, a tributary of the Danube, is only partially carried out in the military system.

According to the conscription law of December, 1868, universal conscription is now the rule; in the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire, and exemption by purchase, formerly allowed, is now abolished. The forces are divided into the Standing Army, the Ersatz Reserve, the Landwehr, and the Landsturm.

About 103,000 recruits are yearly admitted into the Standing Army, of which Cis-Leithania contributes 54,000. Those able-bodied young men who are not taken into the Standing or Active Army are sent for ten years to the Ersatz Reserve, which is intended, as in Germany, to provide reinforcements for the Active Army. Service in the latter is for three years with the Colours and seven years in the Active Reserve. Service in the Landwehr is for two years for those who have served ten years in the Active Army and Reserve or in the Ersatz Reserve, and for twelve years for those who have been sent straight thither, for various reasons, on conscription. After the Landwehr service, the soldier is sent for five years to the 1st Class Landsturm, and for five years more to the 2nd Class Landsturm. By this time he is forty-two years of age. The one-year Volunteers are enlisted in the same manner as in Germany (q. v.).

The whole Empire is, for military purposes, divided into fifteen Territorial Districts; these are of various sizes, so that the Austrian Army Corps are not all of the same strength. In case of war, the whole “Imperial and Royal” Army would be grouped into three armies, under [Pg 37] one supreme command, each army consisting of three or more Army Corps. The Army Corps consists of 2 Infantry Divisions, each of 2 brigades. The division is commanded by a “field-marshal-lieutenant,” corresponding to our lieutenant-general, and the brigade by a major-general.

Each Infantry brigade has as a rule 2 regiments, and 1 battalion of Rifles. Besides the 2 Infantry brigades, each Division has in addition 2 to 4 squadrons of Cavalry, 1 battery division (2 to 3 batteries of Field Artillery), and 1 company of Engineers.

The Infantry of the Active Army comprises 102 regiments, each of 4 Field and 1 Ersatz battalions; the latter is in peace-time represented by a cadre only. The 4th Field battalions, so-called “Mobile” battalions, have mostly a stronger peace-establishment than the others, and are used to garrison Bosnia, Herzegovina, and the Sanjak of Novi-Bazar; i.e. they are completely separated from their regiments.

The Rifles comprise the Tyrolese Rifle Regiment of 10 Active and 2 Ersatz battalions, and 32 independent battalions of Rifles, each of 4 Field and 1 Ersatz companies.

The Infantry has (since 1868) laid aside its historical white uniform, and is now clothed in dark blue tunics or loose jackets, and light blue trousers, the latter in the Hungarian regiments being ornamented with embroidery and fitting like tights. The Hungarian regiments wear lace-boots, the remainder Wellingtons. The usual head-dress is the fatigue-cap, and, on great occasions, the shako. The Rifles are dressed in blue-grey.

After 1866 the Austrian Infantry was armed with an excellent breech-loader, the Werndl rifle. Since the German Infantry have attained a certain moral superiority by being armed with a magazine-rifle, the authorities have introduced a magazine-rifle for the Infantry and Rifles.

So quickly has the work of manufacturing and issuing them proceeded, that by the autumn of this year (1890) it is expected that they will all be thus armed, and will have overtaken the German Infantry. The new Austrian magazine-rifle, called after its inventor, Colonel Männlicher, is of ·315-inch bore, and can fire 30 to 40 shots in the minute.

Austria possesses an excellent Rifle Regiment in the Tyrolese, the so-called Emperor Rifles, mentioned above, which is composed of men accustomed from their youth up to the use of the rifle. They are recruited in the Tyrol and Vorarlberg.

Each regiment consists of 6 squadrons and a depôt-cadre. In case of mobilisation the latter develops into one Ersatz squadron (in which are trained the Ersatz men and the extra horses required), one Reserve squadron for supply purposes, and two sections of Staff Cavalry for service at the headquarters of Corps and at Field-Supply stores. The peace establishment of the Austro-Hungarian Cavalry accordingly comes to 246 squadrons, and the war-establishment to 246 Field, 41 Reserve, and 41 Ersatz squadrons, besides the Staff Cavalry.

The Cavalry Regiments are clothed according to their nationality. The Dragoons wear a light-blue tunic, the Uhlans their tunic of peculiar cut, and the Hussars the jacket and attila, the latter as a rule suspended by yellow cords from the shoulder. The whole Cavalry wear red breeches, tight in the Hussar regiments, and loose in the others.

The Hungarian Hussars, on their small but swift horses, are a peculiarly national institution. These Hussars (from a Magyar word “husz,” meaning “twenty,” from the fact that every twenty houses in Hungary had to provide one horseman in days gone by) have always been particularly prominent in the Austrian Army and were long held to be pre-eminent in their mode of fighting, until Frederick II. formed some regiments after their pattern. These were afterwards increased to ten in number, and, under celebrated leaders like Zieten, soon won for themselves renown equal to that of their Hungarian cousins.

The whole of the Cavalry is armed alike, with sword and Werndl carbine. The Uhlans’ lances have been done away with since 1884, but there is a question of the re-introduction of this old Polish weapon. After the Infantry has been fully armed with the magazine-rifle, the Cavalry will, it is said, be armed with repeating-carbines, which will have been served out by next spring (1891). This is an example which, it is to be hoped, other armies will soon follow. [18]

The Artillery comprises Field and Garrison Artillery. The Field Artillery consists of 14 regiments of Corps [Pg 39] Artillery, numbered according to their Army Corps and each of 5 batteries; and of 28 independent Heavy Battery Divisions, each of 3 batteries. Several Corps Artillery Regiments have in addition a couple of Horse Artillery Batteries, or a Mountain Battery.

The batteries have each in peace-time 4, and in war-time 8, fully-horsed guns. An exception to this are the Horse Artillery batteries, which always have 6 guns in the battery.

The Mountain Batteries, which have been found most useful in campaigns in Dalmatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, are a peculiar feature of the Austrian Artillery. Their guns can be dismounted and packed on the backs of mules, and in this way they can be transported along narrow mountain-paths.

The Corps Artillery Regiments are to have their number of batteries increased by one each, but this will barely be completed before 1892.

The Austrian Field Artillery has an excellent weapon in the shape of the 2·95-inch Uchatius steel bronze gun, and also that of the 3·43-inch bronze gun for the heavy batteries, both equal in worth to the Krupp gun. The shells are of the German pattern, but the shrapnel have fewer bullets than the German ones. Besides these projectiles, case-shot, fire-shells, and so-called high-angle shells, for bursting among troops behind cover, are carried with the battery.

The Garrison Artillery numbers 12 battalions, each of 5 Field and 1 Depôt-cadre companies. Eighteen more battalions have been projected, and will be formed in the course of the next few years according to the amount of money in hand.

The uniform of the Artillery is dark-brown. The men are armed with sword and revolver, those of the Garrison Artillery carrying the Werndl rifle instead.

The Corps of Engineers is composed of the Engineer Staff and Engineer troops. The former is exclusively composed of officers; the latter of 2 regiments of 5 battalions each. Each battalion has 4 Field, 1 Reserve, and 1 Depôt-cadre companies. The Pioneer Regiment, not considered as Engineers, consists of 5 battalions, similarly constituted to the Engineer battalions.

The Railway and Telegraph Regiment, which has but recently been formed, after the German model, consists of 2 Field and 1 Depôt-cadre battalions.

There is no Guard Corps in the Austrian Army, so several bodies of troops have been formed for the honour of protecting the Emperor person and guarding his palaces. These are the Arcieren squadron of Life-Guards, the Hungarian Body-Guard, the Trabanten Body-Guard, the squadron of Horse-Guards, and the Infantry Company of the Guard. These troops are richly dressed in peculiar uniforms.

The Landwehr is formed into two distinct bodies, which are also quite distinct from the Active Army; each Landwehr is under its own ministry of defence. In peace-time only the cadres exist; that is to say, that of 92 Infantry battalions and 6 Cavalry regiments (24 squadrons) of Cis-Leithanian Landwehr, only 1 strong company per battalion and 1 strong squadron per Cavalry Regiment are kept up.

The Native Rifles (Landesschützen) of the Tyrol and Vorarlberg consist of 10 battalions in time of peace, which are in war-time increased by ten Reserve battalions.

In Trans-Leithania the Landwehr forms [Pg 40] a peculiar national Hungarian Army, the so-called Honvéd Army, which is subject in war-time only to the commander-in-chief, and in peace-time only to the Royal Hungarian jurisdiction, i.e. the Ministry of Defence and the Landwehr Ministry. It forms in peace-time the Cadres for 92 battalions of Infantry and 15 regiments of Honvéd Hussars (60 squadrons). The officers of this force are trained in the Honvéd Ludovica Academy at Buda Pesth. It is on this Army, whose standards and badges are of the Hungarian colours, and which in time of war reaches nearly 200,000 men, that the pride of Hungary rests. It is this Army whose predecessors saved the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy from destruction a century and a half ago. On the 21st of September, 1741, the Empress Queen, Maria Theresa, came to her Parliament at Presburg in dire distress. Dressed in the national Hungarian dress, with her newly born son (destined to become Joseph II.) in her arms, pain and courage depicted on her noble countenance, she advanced towards the Hungarian nobles, and in a powerful Latin [Pg 41] speech asked for the National Army to be called out, to protect her and her country from her many foes. Then the Hungarian magnates tore their crooked swords from their scabbards, clashed them wildly together, and shouted: “Moriamur pro rege nostro Maria Theresa!” With the help of her brave Hungarians, Maria Theresa, after making peace with Frederick II. of Prussia, succeeded in beating off her numerous enemies.

If we consider that the total strength (on a war establishment) of the Austro-Hungarian Army, Line and Landwehr included, exceeds one million of trained men, of which 778,889 belong to the 1st Line, and we remember that the Cis-Leithanians are in no way inferior in warlike spirit, that inheritance of their forefathers, to their brethren on the far side of the Leitha, we shall come to the conclusion that in the Austrian Army, with its excellent Corps of officers and excellent material in the shape of men and horses, any State in Europe would find either a powerful adversary or a most desirable ally.

In Italy we have the third of the Powers who have formed the Triple Alliance in order to maintain the peace of Europe and to make common cause against any disturber thereof. The history of this country has been very similar to that of Germany. In this instance also, an energetic Prince, King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia (died 1878), supported by an active statesman, Count Cavour, placed himself at the head of the national movement in favour of unity, and formed the various States of the Peninsula into one kingdom under his rule.

The kingdom of Italy appears thenceforth as the last formed among the European Powers, and it has raised an excellent Army in order to maintain its position as such. The development of the latter has since that time progressed considerably, and especially so during the last decade, when a distinct advance has been apparent.

Constituted on the principle of Universal Conscription, the land forces of Italy are formed, similarly to those of the German Empire, into a Standing Army, a Landwehr (Milizia mobile), and a Landsturm (Milizia territoriale).

The liability to serve commences with the twentieth year, and continues till the thirty-ninth. It consists of eight years in the Standing Army (three with the Colours and five in the Reserve); four years in the Landwehr, and seven years in the Landsturm. Those who have been exempted from service by ballot are sent straight to the Landsturm for nineteen years.

When the young men attain the age rendering them liable to serve, those physically unfit are “cast,” and some are put back who are ill or excused for domestic reasons. The remainder of the men draw lots and are placed according to their lottery number in the 1st or 2nd class, those excused being placed in the 3rd class. The 1st class conscripts are distributed throughout the Standing Army. The 2nd class go through three months’ training, to form an Ersatz (or reinforcing) Reserve, and the 3rd class men are called out every four years for a few days at a time for instruction in the use and manipulation of their arms.

The Standing Army consists accordingly of eight yearly batches of the 1st class and eight of the 2nd class; the Landwehr of four yearly batches of men who have served their time in the Standing Army, and four batches of the 2nd class; and the Landsturm comprises seven batches of the 1st, seven of the 2nd, and nineteen of the 3rd class.

The Infantry of the Standing Army consists of 96 regiments (including 2 Grenadier regiments), each of 3 battalions and 1 Ersatz company. Besides these, there are the special Corps d’Élite, the Bersaglieri (“marksmen”—from bersaglia = a target), and the Alpini (Alpine Rifles).

The Bersaglieri, in 12 regiments, each of 3 battalions and 1 Ersatz company, are Light Infantry, trained to execute all movements at the “double,” exceedingly good shots, and looking very smart in their neat uniforms, the large hats of which are ornamented with a waving bunch of cock feathers.

The Alpine Troops consist of 7 regiments (forming 75 companies), to which are attached 9 mountain batteries. These are also considered Corps d’Élite.

Composed of herdsmen and gamekeepers, familiar with every footpath in the Alps, never fatigued, quick of sight and hearing, and excellent shots, they are equally valuable in reconnoitring work or on the field of battle, although their original rôle is that of acting in defence of their mountain passes. The Alpine companies are placed in summer as near as possible to the particular mountain passes whose defence is assigned to them, and are stationed for only half the year in the towns as winter quarters.

Their duty is carried out with a particular object in view, and consists mostly in shooting, skirmishing, constant marches over mountain paths, reconnaissance duty and patrolling, and in minor tactics.

The whole of the Italian Infantry is at this moment armed (until the alteration of their former weapon, the single-loader Vetterli, is completed) with an excellent repeating rifle, the Vitali. Particular attention is paid to musketry instruction, and facilities for shooting are given and encouraged by the holding of National Rifle Meetings at stated times. At these meetings, any soldier on furlough is allowed to compete, with his Service rifle.

The Cavalry of the Italian Army, on account of the scarcity of useful horses, and the mountainous character of the land, is weak in comparison with the Cavalry of other European armies.

It consists of 24 regiments, each of 6 squadrons and an Ersatz-cadre; i.e. , 10 Lancer regiments and 14 regiments of Light Cavalry (Cavalleggieri).

The Light Cavalry are armed with a long curved sword, and the Lancers with a lance. In addition to these weapons, the whole of the Cavalry is armed with a rifled breech-loading carbine.

The Field Artillery consists of 24 regiments, each of 8 batteries; there are also 6 Horse Artillery and 9 Mountain batteries. It can put in the field in war-time 1,196 guns. The heavy batteries are armed with 3·54-inch breech-loaders; the Light and Horse Artillery batteries with 2·76-inch breech-loaders. The mountain guns, for the transport of each of which three horses or mules are provided, are of 2·95-inch calibre, of steel-bronze, and mounted on wooden carriages.

The Garrison Artillery consists of 5 regiments; the Siege-train of 2 parts—each of 200 guns.

The Engineers consist of 4 regiments, including a Railway and Telegraph Company, a Pontoon and a Bridging Troop.

The men of the Field Artillery and Engineers carry a revolver besides a sword; Garrison Artillerymen are armed with a breech-loading carbine.

There is also a Corps closely connected with the Army which deserves mention, namely, the Gendarmes, or “Carabinieri Reali,” whose strength amounts to 543 officers, 22,487 Foot Gendarmes, and 11 legions of Mounted Gendarmes.

Formerly many a story was told of the fights between the Carabinieri and the banditti. Nowadays, both the robbers and the old Carabinieri have disappeared, and the present Carabinieri Reali form an excellent Corps, whose duty it is to maintain peace and good order in the country.

In war-time a battalion of them is sent with each Army Corps. They have then to provide orderlies for the Staff, as well as to act as Military Police.

In peace-time the Army Corps vary in strength. In war, each Army Corps consists of 2 Divisions, the Division numbering 2 Brigades (each brigade consisting of 2 regiments of Infantry), and an Artillery Division of 3 batteries. Besides these, each Army Corps has 1 regiment of Bersaglieri, 1 or 2 Artillery Divisions, each of 4 batteries, 1 regiment of Cavalry, 2 companies of [Pg 45] Engineers, with bridging-train, and 1 battalion of Carabinieri, forming altogether 27 battalions of Infantry, 5 or 6 squadrons of Cavalry, 12 to 16 batteries of Artillery, and 2 companies of Engineers, etc.—total, about 29,000 men and 112 guns.

The Landwehr consists of 48 regiments of Infantry, 18 battalions of Bersaglieri, 22 Alpine Companies, 61 batteries of Artillery, and 35 companies of Engineers. It is formed into twelve divisions in time of war.

Besides the above, there are 342 battalions, 30 Engineer companies, and 100 companies of Foot Artillery of the Landsturm, for garrison purpose. In peace-time depôts for the Landwehr and Landsturm are not organised: preparations are however being made for instituting them.

In this manner is organised the Army which has now for about ten years proudly taken its place alongside the proved and war-tried armies of the senior Powers. Anyone accustomed to English or German troops, such as the Brigade of Guards in Hyde Park, or the German Foot-Guards at Potsdam, will find much that is strange on seeing the Italian Army, resulting from the peculiarity of race. He will miss the upright bearing, the regular movements and the steady drill of the Infantry, and the well-groomed and glossy horses of the Cavalry; but he will be pleased with the picturesque uniforms of the Army, the extremely smart appearance and active movements of the Bersaglieri, with their waving green plumes, and with the martial and powerful bearing of the Alpini, with their upright plumes in their head-dress; and he will find that the cry of “Evviva il Re Umberto” sounds just as loud and strong here as our own English “God save the Queen.” The impression that he will take away with him will be that the like spirit of the ancient Romans has not been lost in their descendants, and that the young kingdom of Italy is well prepared to throw her Army as a decisive weight on to the side of victory in some future European war.

ADDENDUM TO ITALY

P. 43 . Additional troops have lately been raised for service in Africa. They consist of—

The next on the list is France, our nearest continental neighbour, who for a long time was the foremost of European Military Powers. In the disastrous war of 1870 she lost this position entirely, and has ever since then been making the most strenuous exertions to regain something of her old strength by thorough revision and reorganisation of her Army.

The laws of 1872 and 1873 were passed with a view to this object, and by them Universal Conscription was introduced, as in Germany. On economical grounds, all able-bodied conscripts were divided into two classes, the first of which serves five years with the Colours, and the second only one year.

After his five years’ active service (or one year, as the case may be) the soldier goes for four (or eight) years to the Active Reserve. Thereafter he enters the Territorial Army for five years, and the Territorial Army Reserve for a subsequent six years, making twenty years in all. The Active Army and its Reserve form the Army of the 1st Line, and the Territorial Army and its Reserve the Army of the 2nd Line.

The institution of one-year Volunteers covers a much larger area than in the German Army. The main point looked to in a would-be one-year Volunteer is whether he can pay his 1,500 francs; the scientific and educational certificates required from such candidates in Germany are quite a secondary consideration in France.

France was not content with following the German model when she re-constituted her Army, but endeavoured to organise a [Pg 47] system whereby an enormous number of trained soldiers should be turned out in the shortest possible time—something like the “levée en masse” which took place at the time of the French Revolution in 1793. This has been the aim of successive war ministers since 1871. It seems to have been brought to a conclusive issue by the law of the 15th July, 1889, which for severity and harshness appears to surpass any military sacrifices and duties ever demanded of any people.

3. Abolition of all exemptions from service; even the only sons of widows, the eldest sons of orphans, and those whose brothers are already serving, must serve one year, and may be sent away at its conclusion; if, however, they have not given satisfaction in the ranks, they may be kept on for another two years. Candidates for the higher professions and theological students will have to serve for one year, the latter to serve as bearers during active service.

4. One-year Volunteers to be drawn exclusively from students of science, and from a few moderately high schools.

5. Payment of a military tax by all, and an extra one by those who are unfit for service, and by any who are conscribed for less than three years.

A final point is given to this law by stating that no one is to accept a governmental or departmental office without having previously served for five years in either Army or Navy, and during two of these years to have served in the capacity of either officer or non-commissioned officer.

The war-strength of France was, before [Pg 48] the passing of this law, and according to French sources:—

It is almost impossible to calculate, from the new law, what her strength will be exactly, but it appears to be nearly equal to that of the three Powers together who form the Triple Alliance!

Whether this law has been promulgated in view of an approaching war, or whether it will be carried out in all its Spartan severity throughout the present peace—and long may it last!—is a question only to be determined by the future. In either case the spirit of self-sacrifice which has prompted the French to lay the heavy burden on themselves is much to be admired. The mainspring of this spirit appears, however, to be more the frantic effort to get back the country’s former military prestige than pure patriotism.

The peace-strength of France is no criterion by which to measure the forces that she could put in the field in case of war.

The magazine rifle of the French Infantry, introduced in 1887, and called after its inventor, Colonel Lebel, director of the Normal School of Musketry at Chalons, is certainly equal to both the German and Austrian magazine rifles in shooting and general value. As regards the powder for its cartridges, the composition of which [19] remains a secret up till now, the inventor has claimed that its use will revolutionise Infantry tactics. According to French accounts, the powder is both noiseless and smokeless. If this were the case, no doubt it would produce changes in the mode of fighting, and surprises would be greatly facilitated thereby. Last year, however, experiments were made at the German Artillery School and at the Manœuvres with an almost identical powder, the results of which proved that the advantages of the French powder were greatly exaggerated. The report of the rifle is distinctly heard, and is little, if at all, less loud than that of the old powder. The smoke, it is true, is very much less, but is still quite visible on a still day, its colour being a transparent dull blue. The new powder, therefore, certainly possesses advantages, but these will be of little account when all armies—as seems very probable in the near future—come to use the same powder.

The Lebel rifle is apparently being superseded by a new rifle, that invented by Captain Pralon, and it is said that the Rifle battalions will shortly be armed with it. The uniform of the French Infantry is the same as it has been for the last forty years, the main features in field-order being the long blue-grey great-coat, red képi and loose red trousers. The full dress is [Pg 49] shako and double-breasted dark-blue tunic. The Rifle battalions wear blue-grey trousers.

The foreign troops, chiefly African, form a remarkable feature in the French Army; they consist of Zouaves, Turcos, Foreign Legion, and Spahis, and take the field with the French troops against any Power, civilised or otherwise.

The Zouaves were originally an Arab tribe, whom the French conquered and forced to pay tribute. Their dress is picturesque, consisting of an open blue jacket, red sash, loose red knickerbockers, and white gaiters, their head-gear being a red fez with or without a white turban. At the present time, there are but few Africans amongst them, the greater portion being Frenchmen, pure and simple.

The Turcos are natives of Algeria and Tunis, induced to enlist by a bounty of £16. Their dress is similar to that of the Zouaves, excepting that their knickerbockers are blue, or white, instead of red.

Both Zouaves and Turcos have many attributes of good Light Infantry. The former are renowned for their energy and activity in the attack, and the latter for their stalking and crawling powers. As long as there is a prospect of victory, these troops are full of élan and courage, but a defeat takes much of their spirit out of them.

Another peculiar body of troops are the five battalions of Zéphyrs Light African Infantry. They consist of very bad characters who are sent to the Corps as a punishment for their crimes. They garrison different districts in Algeria, as a rule the most unpleasant ones, and though formerly never employed in Europe, will now be allowed to do so in future wars.

The Foreign Legion, numbering 5,000 men, consists of foreigners voluntarily enlisted for five years. They do not have a happy time of it.

The Cavalry, with the latest additions to it, is composed of 79 regiments of 5 squadrons each (including a depôt-squadron), and 4 regiments of Spahis of 6 squadrons each—total, 419 squadrons. They consist of—

The whole of the Cavalry is armed with the cut-and-thrust sword. Lances there are none. The Cuirassiers carry a revolver, the other regiments a carbine. The cuirass is still worn in Cuirassier regiments.

The French horse is not by a long way as lasting or as fit for service as the German ( i.e. , Lithuanian and Hanoverian) horse. Nor is the French Cavalry soldier a good groom. The Chasseurs d’Afrique and the Spahis, mounted on Arabian stallions, form exceptions to this rule. The Spahis are for the most part natives of Africa, officered by Frenchmen. Their whole appearance produces a novel impression, dressed as they are in their Oriental attire of blue jacket and baggy breeches, long red-leather riding-boots, with the white burnous slung over their shoulders, and mounted on their sinewy little horses, which they guide at will with a mere turn of the wrist. It is a strange sight to see these children of the desert at their games, tearing along with wild war-shrieks and waving their long guns frantically over their heads, each man [Pg 50] and horse straining every muscle to be first in the race.

The Field Artillery consists of 19 brigades (one to each Army Corps), each of 2 regiments. One of these regiments has 12, the other 11 batteries, including between them 3 batteries of Horse Artillery, so that each Army Corps has 23 batteries. Each battery has 6 guns, fully-horsed even in peace-time. Besides these, some mountain batteries are going to be formed, but only in case of need.

The Artillery is armed with an excellent (3·53-in.) gun, on the De Bange system. It was entirely re-armed with these after the 1870–71 campaign, and at an enormous cost.

The Garrison Artillery, 16 battalions of 6 batteries each, is also armed with first-rate new guns.

Of Engineers there are 4 regiments, each of 5 battalions. An independent Railway Regiment has lately been formed.

The Corps of Gendarmerie, numbering as many as 25,000 men, is more or less connected with the Army, for though in peace-time it is employed on police-duty, in war-time it would be formed into as many Field Divisions of military police as would be required for keeping order in rear of the Army. The Garde-Républicaine of Paris (Cavalry and Infantry), is a branch of the Gendarmerie, and not of the Army, and the Regiment of Sapeurs-Pompiers, though militarily organised, is in reality only the Fire Brigade.

Besides the above troops, there are military corps organised for Postal and Telegraph service in the field; also a Balloon Corps, a Carrier-pigeon Corps, a Cyclist Corps, and a Dog-training Corps.

There are numerous schools in France intended either for military education or further military instruction. Chief amongst them is the Military School of St. Cyr, into which 400 candidates are admitted every year as cadets, after a competitive examination. The course lasts for two years, and the cadets are then sent as 2nd lieutenants to the Infantry and Cavalry. The Polytechnic School in Paris sends 250 cadets annually under like conditions to the Artillery and Engineers. In the time of Napoleon I., a great many of the officers, including some of his most famous marshals, rose from the ranks; and even now a very large proportion of them come from the same source.

The whole of France is divided for administrative and organising purposes into 18 Regions, in each of which an Army Corps is quartered. The 19th Corps is in Algeria.

Each Army Corps comprises 2 Infantry Divisions, each of 2 brigades of 2 regiments each, besides a battalion of Rifles, a brigade of Cavalry (2 regiments), and a brigade of Artillery.

On reviewing the size and organisation of the French Army, we cannot help being struck by the fact that, besides being exceedingly numerous, it is well organised, well armed, and endowed with a proper warlike spirit. Although not “the best in the world,” as every Frenchman will tell you, the French soldier is possessed of many excellent and soldier-like qualities. One cannot form one’s judgment by the extremely slack and unsmart appearance of the men, both as regards physique and uniform. The “Piou-piou,” as the Infantry soldier is called by his fellow-countrymen, who lounges about with his képi well on the back of his head and his hands deep in his baggy trouser-pockets, does certainly not present a soldier-like appearance, but all the same he is an active and handy man on service, and on the field of battle advances pluckily through a murderous fire, with little thought of danger or alarm.

If we now come to the question why, with an Army which has given such numerous proofs in many campaigns of its valour and excellence, France has not kept up her prestige, the answer is to be found, not in the morale of the Army, but in that of France herself, a country in which the spirit of order and subjection, and that stern devotion to duty which is the foundation [Pg 52] of all discipline, have never taken root. Ambition and desire of conquest form the motive-power of many great and glorious deeds, and are certainly not wanting in the French character. Higher than these, however, stands the feeling of duty which keeps a man at his post through all hardships and perils, without a thought for his own gain or loss, simply because he has learned to subject his will to a higher one. On this foundation can be raised a discipline which permits of no loosening of the bonds of training and order even in times of disaster, and which keeps up the spirit of the Army and faith in its final success even under the heaviest blows of misfortune. This feeling cannot be learnt in a three years’, nor five years’, nor even twenty-five years’ service, if it is not ingrained and actually born in the national character and national system of education. Without these main features even universal conscription itself will not be successful, and the recent Draconian law in France, although it may bring forth vast masses of armed men, will not produce that feeling of combined action and willingness to follow their leaders to the death which is so characteristic of nations in whom the military spirit is thoroughly implanted.

France is well-armed for attack as well as defence; for attack, by means of the great armed masses which she can throw into the enemy country at the first declaration of war, in conjunction with the troops she has had stationed on her frontier during peace-time; and for defence by means of a defensive system on a vast scale, the outer line of which consists of frontier-fortresses and stop-gap forts from the Swiss to the Belgian frontier, from Belfort, over the Vosges ridge to Epinal, now a strong fortress, Toul and Verdun, on the right bank of the Meuse. Behind this first line of defence a second one has been built, consisting of entrenched camps between forty and fifty miles apart, and reaching from Langres to Rheims. There are, in fact, but few roads into France which are not covered by the fire of some fortress or other. The central point of the whole of this vast defensive system is the huge fortress of Paris, which, with her circle of protecting forts surrounding her on a fifteen-mile radius, is more like a fortified province than a fortress.

The secret of victory, however, does not lie in vast armaments like these. “It is the spirit which forms the body” and brings into subjection the material powers for its own objects. War is not only a combat of material forces; it is in a higher sense a combat of cultured forces. Let us, therefore, remember that the best preparation for trial by combat does not lie in continual striving to over-reach another in material and brute force, but in the striving after a more complete development of warlike skill.

ADDENDUM TO FRANCE.

Pp. 46, 47 . Now that the new law has come into force, July 1890, the terms of service have been entirely changed. As the law now stands, seven-tenths of the annual contingent of recruits have to serve for 3 years, and three-tenths for 1 year. After his colour-service, a man joins the Active Reserve for 7 (or 9) years, then the Territorial Army for 6 years, and after that the Territorial Reserve for 9 years more—total 25 years.

312,000 youths reach the military age (20) every year. Of these only 174,000 are required for colour-service. The effect of the new law will be that by 1915 A.D. there will be no fewer than 3,500,000 of Frenchmen properly trained as soldiers and ready to take the field, and 60,000 trained men per annum will have been added to the army!

N.B.—The war-strength of over 4,000,000 given on page 47 includes all men, old and young, who have ever received any military training, and is therefore hardly a just estimate of the French fighting-strength. The latest trustworthy estimates put it at 2,790,000 men.

P. 49 . The Cavalry is now, or will be very shortly, composed of 92 regiments of 5 squadrons, and 4 regiments of Spahis of 6 squadrons each—total, 484 squadrons.

P. 49 . 12 Mountain Batteries are being formed. There are, in addition to the numbers given, 12 batteries in Corsica, Algeria, and Tunis.

Russia is situated, from a military point of view, quite differently to any other European country, for of the whole Russian Empire only about a quarter lies in Europe. This quarter, it is true, is larger than the rest of all Europe put together, but it contains only a third of the population. Although by far the greater part of her dominions lies in another continent, Russia has had a pretty large finger in the European pie, and will in the future, no doubt, often mix herself up in European politics. Her policy, if it can be called so, is to try to influence Western questions in such a manner as eventually to bring all Slav races under her rule.

Russia has therefore organised her Army on an European footing, and chiefly on the German model. In 1874 she brought in Universal Conscription, from which, however, the upper classes, i.e. , the nobility, the clergy, and officials, are exempt. The actual Colour service lasts six years; after that the soldier is sent for nine years more to the Reserve, which can be called out to reinforce the Standing Army. During the rest of his time, i.e. , up to his twentieth year of service he belongs to the Opoltschenie—a body of men similar to the German Landsturm.

The number of able-bodied young men who annually attain the requisite age, 21 years, comes to about 800,000. Of these only 225,000 are conscribed, and the requisite number for the Army are selected from these by lot; the remainder are sent to the Opoltschenie. The latter body, therefore, consists of a huge mass of men, but mostly untrained. There is no middle body of men, like the German Landwehr, in the Russian Army.

The Regular Army is divided into four bodies, according to the respective duties required from them. They are the Field Forces, Reserve Forces, Ersatz Forces, and Local Forces.

Their Infantry consists of 192 regiments of 4 battalions each, and 58½ Rifle battalions, as follows:—

The Guard Regiments enjoy many privileges denied to the rest, and their officers rank one step higher in the Army.

Many alterations in the uniform have [Pg 54] been made by the present Czar. The dark green colour has been preserved, but the cut of the tunic has been altered from that of the Prussian tunic to a loose double-breasted jacket fastened with hook and eye, and with no buttons. The head-gear is a round fur-cap, white in the case of Generals and Staff-officers, and black in all others. The soldier has little to do in the way of metal-polishing, it is true, but still the eye misses the accustomed glint which one usually associates with a military uniform. The Regiments of the Guard and Grenadiers have special distinguishing marks on their uniform.

The Infantry rifle is a useful breech-loader with bayonet, on the system of the American General Berdan. Regarding the question of magazine-rifles, the Government has not yet made up its [Pg 55] mind; so that, for the present at all events, Russia is rather behindhand in the matter.

The Cuirassier regiments have 4, the remainder 6 squadrons each. Besides the above, there is a Division (2 squadrons) of Crimean Tartar Cavalry, which would be expanded in case of war to a regiment.

The uniform of the Guard Cavalry, as can be seen by our plates, is very brilliant compared with that of the Dragoons of the Line. The whole Cavalry is armed with a light and slightly-curved sabre, called a “Shashka,” which is worn on a narrow band over the right shoulder. The front-ranks of the Cuirassiers and Lancers carry lances on garrison-duty and on full-dress occasions, but these would not be taken on service. The Dragoons carry a rifle, somewhat shorter than that of the Infantry, the bayonet of which is worn on the “Shashka”-scabbard; other Cavalry regiments carry the Berdan carbine.

The Horse Artillery consists of 1 Brigade of Guard Artillery, and 23 batteries of Horse Artillery of the Line; besides the above, there are two Mounted Mountain Batteries.

The Field Batteries have 8 guns, only 4 of which are horsed in peace-time. A Horse Artillery Battery always has 6 fully-horsed guns.

The matériel consists of excellent steel-guns, mostly from Krupp works in Essen, the bore of the heavy field-guns being 4·16 inches, and that of the light ones 3·39 inches.

The Engineers consist of 17 battalions of Sappers (including 1 Guard and 1 Grenadier Battalion), and a few independent companies, 8 battalions of Pontonniers, 9 Railway battalions, 6 Field-parks, 16 Military Telegraph-parks, and 2 Siege-parks.

There is no Train; it is formed in war-time by taking men from the Cavalry Reserves. Hence it would appear that the mobility and manœuvring power of the Army in the field would not be very great.

During peace-time the Reserve forces, which would have to complete the Army to war strength on its taking the field, and the Ersatz forces, whose duty it would be to fill up gaps caused by death, wounds, disease, etc., during the war, are only represented by depôt-cadres.

To the Local forces belong 50½ battalions of Garrison Artillery, distributed amongst the fortresses of the country, besides 32 Line battalions, quartered in Asiatic Russia for garrison duties; they may, however, if necessary, be employed on Active Service. To these forces also belong the “Instruction troops,” which practise new regulations, tactical and otherwise, as they are brought out, and experimentalise with new arms [Pg 56] and equipment when necessary. The Corps of Gendarmes and the Frontier Guards may also be said to form part of the Local forces.

The Field Forces are in peace-time divided into 19 Army Corps (including the Guard Corps and the Grenadier Corps); 2 to 3 Infantry Divisions, and 1 Cavalry Division, with their Artillery, form an Army Corps. The Infantry Division numbers 2 Infantry Brigades, each of 2 regiments and 1 brigade of Field Artillery. A Cavalry Division numbers in the same way 2 brigades of 2 regiments each; besides 2 batteries of Horse Artillery.

The peace-strength of the Regular Army comes to something like 700,000 men and 1,538 field-guns, and the war-strength to 1,800,000 men and 3,260 guns.

In addition to this enormous number there are the Irregular troops—a force quite peculiar to Russia—namely, the Cossacks. [20]

The Cossacks are tribes of mixed Russian, Turkish, and Tatar blood. They are descended from tribes of horsemen, who after the Mongol invasion in the thirteenth century settled on the Don and Dnieper and established their own forms of government. Every three years they used to elect a “Hetman” as chief, with a council of elders, “Narschines,” to assist him. The Don Cossacks of Great Russia have their head-quarters north of the Sea of Azov and in the mountainous districts of that region. Branches of these Cossacks have settled on the Volga, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, along the Ural, in the Kuban North-Western Caucasus and in Siberia. Ever since they became subject to Russia they have assisted in carrying the Russian dominion further into Asia. The history of the settlement of these tribes in Siberia, led by the Cossack chief Jermac, is exceedingly interesting. This bold leader crossed the Ural mountains in 1758 with a following of only 840 Cossacks. His conquering progress equalled that of the Spaniards under Cortez in Mexico for adventure and for the great results that flowed from his successes.

Although attached to Russia, the Cossacks are Russian in neither their language, religion, nor customs. Gifted with extraordinarily sharp senses, good-humoured, and hospitable, born warriors, excellent horsemen, and good shots, they are yet difficult to govern, and inclined somewhat to insubordination. Now that they have been bound down to stay in settled districts, instead of wandering all over the country, their wildness has been somewhat toned down, and they are of inestimable value to Russia in her service on the Chinese frontier, in the Ural, in the Kuban, in Siberia, in the Crimea, and on the Seas of Azov or of Aral. In return for lands granted by the government on the different frontiers, every Cossack is bound to serve as a soldier. They have a military organisation and are divided into Cavalry regiments, or “polks.”

They are gradually being more and more definitely organised, disciplined, and trained. Each man has to provide himself with clothing and equipment according to regulation, and with a horse, and keep them up during his time of service. The uniform consists in a short coat, “kasakin,” or a long one, “tcherkesska,” with a woollen shirt, “beshmet,” loose trousers, long boots, no spurs, and a fur-cap, “papasha.” Their [Pg 57] chief weapon is a long pennonless lance, with sabre (“shashka”), pistol, or in the case of Cossacks of the Caucasus, long knives, “kinzhal,” and finally, a rifle of some sort.

Their small insignificant-looking horses are not to be beaten for speed and endurance. A day journey of twenty hours is not too much for them; their hardiness is extraordinary, and the worst forage possible does not come amiss to them.

A Cossack rides in the Oriental manner, i.e. with a loose rein, high saddle, short stirrup, and toes down; he is very fond of his horse and treats him kindly.

Their extraordinary mobility, endurance, and cleverness in getting over all obstacles of ground, particularly fit the [Pg 58] Cossack troops for outpost and reconnaissance duty, for rapid raids and bold surprises, as well as for the pursuit of the enemy. What is also by no means their least advantage is that this mode of employing them in war would leave the regular Russian Cavalry free for actual combat in the field.

The Cossack Army which best shows the Cossack peculiarities of character and organisation is that of the Don Cossacks, which numbers in peace-time, besides the Bodyguard Regiment of Cossacks, 15 regiments of Cavalry, 1 battery of Guard-Cossacks, and 7 batteries of the Line. In war-time these numbers can be considerably increased, and the whole Cossack Army would amount to 14 battalions Infantry, 136 regiments Cavalry, and 40 Horse Batteries (236 guns).

This gipsy-like nation of horsemen, who eat, drink, sleep, live and die in their saddles, and, eager for plunder, either precede the Regular Army or attach themselves to it, is well known in Germany, where it appeared during the Wars of the Liberation (1806–1815). One might say with Schiller: “The rider and his swift horse are fearsome guests.” On the whole, it seems to be the fate of the Cossacks to be regarded with feelings of greater respect as enemies than as friends.

Still less amenable to discipline than the Cossacks are some of the other foreign tribes found amongst the Russian Irregulars, such as the Tatars of the Crimea, the inhabitants of the Caucasus, the Tcherkesses, the Bashkirs and the Tunguses. Although these people render Russia most valuable service in her Asiatic possessions, still she can hardly count on their services in an European war, so that an invasion by these Asiatic races, like what happened in the times of Tamerlane or Jengiz-Khan, need not be taken into account by the Europe of to-day.

Laying aside the question of these Irregular troops, we cannot deny that Russia possesses a well-disciplined Army, and one which is prepared for war. It is a mistaken idea to imagine the Russian soldier to be half a barbarian and a foe to higher culture. Frederick the Great learnt to respect Russia as a powerful adversary, and in the beginning of this century she brought a heavy weight to bear in favour of Austria and Prussia, and fought valiantly as their ally against the power of Napoleon I. Since that period Russia has made important progress, not only in her culture, but in the organisation and arming of her Army; universal conscription has also acted as a powerful assistant to universal education. Whether Russia will fight Germany in the near or in the distant future is a matter that does not concern us here; we will leave the discussion of the probabilities pro and con to the newspapers. The time may come, but all we need know about the matter is that Germany is fully prepared and, though respecting her possible adversary, is not afraid of her.

ADDENDUM TO RUSSIA.

The military organisations of the Great Powers of Europe have served as patterns to the smaller Powers, for even the smallest State must have an Army of its own wherewith to defend its independence and secure the vindication of its rights, actual or imaginary. Its strength would depend on the size, geographical situation, and historical associations of the State.

In recent times the small State of Denmark has once or twice been obliged to have recourse to arms, in order to keep possession of the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, to the right of attaching which to the Danish crown, or rather to their absorption into the Danish commonwealth, Prussia objected. In the year 1848–49 the small Danish Army succeeded in making such a gallant stand against the might of Prussia, that time was gained for other great Powers, namely, Russia and England, to step in in her favour. The result was that Prussia was obliged to stay her hand from taking under her protection the German inhabitants of the two Duchies.

In 1863–64, when Prussia and Austria took in hand the German rights in the Duchies, circumstances were considerably altered, and the war, which lasted a whole year, was brought at last to a close by the Treaty of Vienna, which once and for all separated the Duchies from Denmark and gave them to Prussia. The resolution and courage, however, with which the men of the tiny Danish Army withstood the vastly superior forces of the other two Powers, and the determined opposition which they offered, more especially in their fortifications at Danewirke, Duppel, and the Island of Alsen, until their last hope of foreign intervention had gone, bear most honourable testimony to the excellence and courage of the Danish troops.

After this war Denmark made use of her bitter experience in reorganising her Army on new lines, a proof that she had, in spite of the loss of her lands, by no means given up the idea of being a Power in the North of Europe. She has now made an important step in the military line by introducing universal conscription, the terms of which are four years with the Colours, four in the Reserve, and eight in the “Reinforcement” Reserve.

10 Regiments of the Line, each of 3 battalions Active and 1 battalion Reinforcement Reserve, forming 5 brigades [Pg 60] (2 Jutland, 2 Seeland and 1 Fünen) of 2 regiments each.

1 Regiment Hussars of the Guard and 4 regiments of Dragoons, each of 4 squadrons.

Field Artillery—2 Regiments of 2 divisions each—total, 12 Line and 4 Reinforcement Reserve Batteries.

Garrison Artillery—2 Battalions—total, 6 Line and 4 Reinforcement Reserve Companies.

The total strength of the Danish Army is reckoned at about 50,000 men, with 128 guns. The Reinforcement Reserve battalions and batteries only exist as depôt-cadres.

The Infantry is still armed with a single-loading rifle, the Remington, but it is intended to shortly arm them with a magazine-rifle, which is now in course of preparation.

The Cavalry is armed with the sabre and Remington carbine. Their Jutland horses are clumsy, but enduring, animals. Recently large purchases of horses have been made in Germany to improve the breed.

The Danish character is better adapted for stout resistance and endurance than for daring courage, and the Army accordingly is better fitted for a defensive rôle, such as holding a fortified position to the last extremity, than for offensive action and bold attack.

The general plan of national defence is based on this characteristic, for the capital, Copenhagen, is going to be turned into a great entrenched camp, which would be garrisoned by the larger portion of the Danish Army in case of war.

Sweden , which once, in the time of the Thirty Years’ War, represented the first Military Power in Europe, keeps up now only a small Army, just large enough for the needs of the country. The military system of Sweden is a peculiar one, and entirely different from that of other States.

The whole land is divided into a great many small “Rote” or Divisions, each of which has to supply one able-bodied man of the right age for the Army. This man serves for as long as his physical powers last. He receives a small property, consisting of house, farm, and ploughland, and definite pay as long as he is actually with the Colours.

Men for the Cavalry are provided in a very similar manner with their horses by the larger landowners or “Rusthalters,” in return for their exemption from certain taxes.

The second portion of the Swedish Army consists of the “Värfvade,” the men of which body enlist voluntarily for from two to six years’ service, and may re-engage for further service.

The Värfvade men can be trained much more thoroughly than those of the Indelta, for the former are continually with their Corps, whilst the latter are, during the greater part of the year, on furlough, looking after their farms.

The third portion is the “Bewäring,” which consists of all men between their twenty-first and twenty-sixth years of age. In case of war they would have to reinforce the other two portions.

Each regiment consists of 2 battalions in peace-and 3 in war-time: this would give 48 and 69 battalions respectively.

Artillery—3 Regiments of Field Artillery, of 5 divisions [Pg 62] of 2 batteries each, the regiment consisting of 10 (2 “Driving,” 6 Horse-Artillery, and 2 “Foot”) batteries, besides the Reserve Artillery of 3 Foot and 6 Driving-batteries. Each battery has about 6 guns, which gives a total number of 234 field-guns.

Engineers—1 Pontoon battalion, including a Field-Telegraph Company, and 1 battalion of Sappers.

The Swedish Infantry drill is somewhat out of date. The quiet and leisurely way in which a battalion drills is something astonishing. The skirmishers have to keep exactly in line and are directed by a sergeant in the centre with uplifted rifle. Every time a man in the firing-line snaps his rifle, he shouts out “Piff-paff!” The introduction of a new magazine-rifle will, therefore, probably cause some fatigue to the throats of the Swedish Infantry.

NORWAY.

Although Norway is united under the same Crown with Sweden, still her military system differs entirely from that of the latter.

Every able-bodied man of twenty-two years old is sent to the so-called “Land-armament,” to serve five years in the Line, four in the “Landwehr” and four in the “Landsturm.” The conscripts remain but very few weeks with the Colours. The main portion of the Army consists of men voluntarily enlisted, who are bound to stay for six years.

The Rifle Corps, of five companies, of which one forms a Guard-Company, consisting entirely of voluntarily-enlisted men, constitutes the only Corps under arms in time of peace; of the remaining troops there are only cadres in existence. In the event of war, the Line Infantry would consist of 5 brigades of 4 battalions each—total, 20 battalions. The Cavalry of 1 brigade of 3 Corps of Light Dragoons—total, 11 squadrons; the Artillery of 5 battalions = 11 batteries with 66 guns; the Engineers of a small division. Grand total, about 18,000 men.

The rifle of the Swedish and Norwegian Infantry is the Remington, which, however, will shortly be replaced by a magazine-rifle [Pg 63] invented by Colonel Jarman of their Army.

The Cavalry carries the Remington carbine in addition to the sabre. The Artillery is being re-armed with new guns, made partly in the Krupp works at Essen, and partly in the Swedish cast-steel works.

It is strange to find here, in the north of Europe, a head-dress similar to that south of the Alps. The Norwegian Rifleman wears an almost identical hat with the Italian Bersagliere.

The idea of having their Army organised for a foreign campaign does not appear to have been entertained by the Norwegian-Swedish government. The men, however, are tough fighters and good campaigners, sturdy and enduring, abstemious and unassuming, and there is every reason to believe that the Scandinavian Army would be in any case fully equal to its true and destined use— i.e. , the defence of the country.

In most European States the Army is worked by the Sovereign or Government of the country for the defence of the Crown and the nation, and for the upholding of the Law. This, however, was for a long time not the case in the south-western portion of Europe, i.e. the Iberian Peninsula. It could not be the case, for during even this century revolution has succeeded revolution, and the different forms of government introduced at rapidly-recurring intervals have made it impossible for the Army to be always at the beck and call of the head of the State for the time being. The energetic young king, Alfonso XII., who ascended the Spanish throne in 1874 (and died in 1885), experienced the necessity of making himself chief of the Army, and instituted a military system by which he hoped to put an end to the earlier irregularities.

The Army of Spain is therefore now divided into the Peninsular Army, which serves in Spain itself, and the Colonial Army, which serves in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands.

The Peninsular Army is founded on the system of universal conscription, to which every Spaniard becomes liable on attaining his twentieth year. Those who are exempted by law from the Army are only called out in time of war, and those who belong to certain named professions are allowed to buy exemptions from service for £60. Of the remaining able-bodied men it is the ballot which decides which are to enter the Active Army.

Service is for twelve years on the whole, of which six years, as a rule, or three, or even less, are passed with the Colours. The remainder of a man’s service is passed in the Active Reserve. All those who are not taken by lot to serve with the Colours, including those exempted by law and purchase, are classed as “Disponible Recruits;” these receive only a very short training and are called out to reinforce the Army in case of necessity only. After six years’ service as such, the “Disponible” recruits enter the 2nd Reserve.

The kingdom of Spain is divided up into 14 Military Districts, each under a Captain-general. These are again divided into 140 Military Zones, each under a colonel, who is responsible for mobilisation and supply details.

Each Zone comprises 1 Active, 1 Reserve, and 1 Depôt battalions. These latter two battalions are in peace-time represented only by cadres, which would be expanded into either Field or 2nd Line battalions in case of mobilisation. Of the 140 active battalions 20 are Rifles; the remainder form 60 Line regiments of 2 battalions each.

There are in peace-time no higher units than battalions; brigades, divisions, and army corps would be formed only in case of war.

Cavalry—8 Regiments of Lancers, 14 Regiments of Cazaderos (Light Horse), 2 Regiments of Hussars, 4 Regiments of Dragoons, each of 4 squadrons. Besides these there are 28 Reserve regiments, of which only cadres exist in peace-time, and 1 squadron of Life-Guards.

Artillery—5 Regiments of Divisional Artillery of 6 batteries each, altogether 30 batteries with 180 guns; 5 regiments of Corps Artillery of 4 batteries each, altogether 20 batteries with 120 guns; 2 regiments of Mountain Artillery, each of 6 batteries, altogether 72 guns, and 1 regiment of Siege and Position Artillery, 4 batteries of 4 guns each, altogether 16 guns. Total therefore, 388 guns, and 9 battalions Fortress Artillery.

Engineers—5 Pioneer regiments, 1 Railway battalion, 1 Telegraph battalion, and 5 Reserve regiments.

Besides these there are 16 regiments of Gendarmes (Guardia Civil), numbering 15,000 men, and 11,000 men of the Carabineros, or Frontier Force.

The Infantry is armed with the Remington rifle, the Cavalry with sword and Remington carbine. Three sections [21] of each squadron of Lancers carry the lance. The Artillery is armed with cast-steel Krupp guns of 3·15 inches calibre; the Mountain Artillery with those of 2·95 inches. The guns have, however, been altered to Colonel Placentia’s system.

The two Royal Household Companies, Halberdiers, are the only ones who wear the old Spanish dress.

The Spaniard combines the liveliness and hot blood of the southerner with the determination and endurance of the northerner, and would now count as one of the best soldiers in Europe if it were not that, in consequence of the long civil wars and disturbances in the country, he had become somewhat less amenable to discipline than formerly. If an instance is required of what Spaniards can do when fighting for their land and freedom, we have only to look at the guerilla and mountain warfare waged by this plucky nation against the old campaigners of Napoleon at the beginning of this century, before the English troops came to their assistance.

PORTUGAL.

Universal Conscription is the rule in Portugal as well as in most other countries, but there are numerous exemptions and sendings on “unlimited furlough with the Colours” (in order to save the national exchequer), so that the Army does not by any means comprise as many men as would appear from the strength as laid down on paper. With a nominal peace strength of 37,000, the actual strength is only about 18,000.

The terms of service are three years with the Colours, five years in the 1st Class, and four in the 2nd Class Reserves.

The Infantry consists of 24 Line and 12 Rifle regiments, each of 2 Active and 1 Depôt battalions, altogether 72 battalions, the Depôt battalions being skeleton ones.

Cavalry—10 regiments, of which the first two are Lancers, and the remainder Light Dragoons (Caçadores a Cavallo). Each regiment consists of 3 Active and 1 Depôt squadrons.

Artillery—3 Regiments of Field Artillery of 12 batteries each, 2 Regiments of Garrison Artillery of 12 companies each, 1 Mountain Brigade of 6 batteries.—Total, 32 Active and 10 Reserve batteries with 132 guns.

Portugal has, besides this Army, a Colonial Force of 9,600 men, chiefly natives.

The Infantry is now armed with the Kropatschek repeating-rifle; till quite recently, they had the Enfield rifle. The Field Artillery is chiefly armed with 3·54-inch steel Krupp guns.

More attention appears to be paid in Portugal to the Navy than to the Army, and it seems unlikely that the latter will be engaged in war, at all events for some time to come.

The Swiss Republic, or rather the Free Confederation of twenty-two small Republics (Cantons), had its beginning in the four “Forest” towns of Schwyz, Uri, Unterwalden, and Glarus. It was by the treaties of 1815, upon which, after the downfall of Napoleon I., the present distribution of Powers was founded and still to a great extent remains, that the neutrality of Switzerland was recognised, so that she is now, to all intents and purposes, excluded from taking part in an European war. Being, however, surrounded by three Great Powers, whose Armies may at any time traverse her territories from any quarter, she is obliged to guard her neutrality very strictly. This object she seeks to accomplish by universal conscription and by a military system which is adapted to the exigencies of the country and rests on the so-called “Militia System.”

According to this system the conscript has to pass only a few weeks or months in being trained, and is subsequently called out for only a few weeks annually during peace-time. This system certainly allows of universal service in the widest sense of the word, and also gives a small State the power of calling out a proportionally large Army in time of war. At the same time, however, this system, in order to be of any use, would require the people to be naturally of a warlike tendency, and every man to be thoroughly accustomed to the use of a rifle; in fine, it would require that there should always be a nucleus of thoroughly-trained troops, even in peace-time.

Every Swiss is liable to service from the 20th to the 44th year of his age. Of these twenty-five years of service, thirteen are spent in the “Auszug” (Active Army) and twelve in the “Landwehr.” All able-bodied men between the ages of 17 to 50 who are not employed in either of the above branches belong to the “Landsturm.” Anyone who is not fit to serve has to pay a small fine as a sort of compensation.

Artillery—24 Regiments of Field Artillery, and 1 of Mountain Artillery, each of 2 batteries of 6 guns [Pg 68] each—total, 300 guns, besides 10 batteries of Position Artillery.

The strength of the Field Army comes to about 100,000 men. It consists of the Army Staff and 8 Divisions, each comprising 2 Infantry Brigades, each Brigade comprising 2 Regiments of Infantry, 1 Rifle Battalion, 1 Regiment of Dragoons, 1 Company of Guides, 1 Brigade of Artillery, 1 Battalion of Engineers, 1 of Train, 1 Field Hospital and 1 Administration Company.

The Landwehr consists of nearly as many men as the Auszug, but the former are only called on to serve on garrison duty at home. As for arms, the Swiss troops are not behindhand with other nations. The Infantry is armed with the repeating Vetterli rifle, the Rifles with a similar short repeating-rifle, and the Dragoons with a repeating-carbine. The Field Artillery has three patterns of guns: the light 3·28-in., the heavy 3·93-in., and the mountain 2·92-inch guns. The Swiss soldier is more of a Light Infantry man than anything else; as for the Swiss Cavalry, it is not to be considered on the same footing as the Cavalry of other nations, being feeble.

The Swiss Militiaman is trained for a short time and then sent home with his uniform and rifle. Thereafter he appears yearly for a short training, in order to “keep his eye in.” This sketchy military education is, however, greatly helped by the numerous Cadet divisions in the schools, and by Volunteer Rifle and Gymnastic clubs.

The “Kingdom of the Netherlands,” instituted by the Vienna Congress in 1815, was, after the revolt of the southern provinces, divided into two kingdoms, Holland and Belgium, the former extending from the mouth of the Ems to those of the Rhine, Maas, and Scheldt, and the latter from these mouths to the north-eastern frontier of France. The neutrality of these two States, recognised by the other Great Powers of Europe, have so far exempted them from keeping up large standing armies, that their organisation remains very much as it was in 1830.

The Dutch military system is a combination of the old Voluntary Enlistment and the Militia systems. Every able-bodied young man between 20 and 25 years of age is bound to enter the Militia; the number of these not to exceed 11,000 annually. The length of service of these men, nominally one year, is as a matter of fact shortened to nine or even six months.

The Army consists partly of voluntarily-enlisted men, who bind themselves to six years’ service, and partly of Militiamen. Gaps are often caused by the impossibility of filling Volunteer vacancies by Militiamen, and this leads to the disadvantage that the training of the Militiamen is not so thorough as it might be, and also that the troops are not always kept up to their full establishment.

Infantry—1 Grenadier and Rifle Regiment (comprising 3 battalions of Grenadiers and 2 of Rifles), and 8 Line Regiments of 5 battalions each—Grand total, 45 battalions.

Artillery—1 Corps of Horse Artillery, 3 regiments Field Artillery, altogether 42 batteries with 252 guns: and 4 regiments of Garrison Artillery.

Engineers—3 Field Companies, 3 Fortress, 1 Railway and Telegraph Company, and 1 Instruction and Depôt Company.

Besides the above there is a Colonial Army Depôt of three companies, and the Corps of Maréchaussée, which corresponds to the Gendarmerie in other States, 373 men.

The total strength of the Active Army approaches 64,000 men and 270 guns. The [Pg 70] Colonial Army, recruited entirely by voluntary enlistment, comes to about 30,000 men.

In case a necessity should arise for reinforcing the Dutch Army, another body of men has been formed, called the “Schutterij,” of all Dutchmen between their 20th and 30th years not included in the Active Army or Militia. No great expectations can be formed of this body, for the members are only trained for forty to fifty hours annually.

The Landsturm and Rifle Clubs are also destined to increase the strength of the Army in case of emergency.

Since Holland has been declared a neutral State, and her energy is chiefly devoted to the furthering of her commercial and colonial interests, the chief duty of the Army will probably be confined to that of national defence. The numerous sluices and canals, which would offer numerous obstacles to an invading army, would be of great assistance in case of war. It has, in fact, already happened that the country has been saved by letting in the sea through the sluices and forming a general inundation.

BELGIUM.

Belgium also is not one of the warlike States. She has, however, often served as a theatre of war for other nations, and her neutrality has not been always duly respected. She must therefore possess an Army, if only to watch her frontiers, and to prevent her total dependence on the will of other Powers. Her Army is, however, not numerous, and is considerably behindhand both in organisation and training.

Conscripts are chosen by ballot at the yearly so-called “Appels,” but this is easily evaded by either paying a substitute, or by paying an exemption of £64, in consideration of which the Government provides a substitute of its own finding.

The Infantry numbers 4 Divisions, or 9 Brigades of 2 or 3 regiments each, i.e.:

The Carbineer Regiment consists of 4 Active and 2 Depôt battalions; the remainder of 3 Active and 1 Depôt battalions, the latter being only skeleton battalions. This makes altogether 58 Active and 20 Depôt battalions.

each regiment numbering 4 Active and 1 Depôt squadrons—Grand total, 8 regiments, forming 32 Active and 8 Depôt squadrons.

Artillery—4 Regiments Field Artillery, consisting of 30 Field, 4 Horse and 6 Reserve batteries. The Reserve batteries are skeleton ones and have no guns. The remainder have 6 guns each—total, 34 batteries with 204 guns, besides 3 regiments of [Pg 72] Siege Artillery, each of 16 Siege, 1 Reserve, and 1 Depôt batteries.

Engineers—1 Regiment of 3 battalions, and 5 companies for special work, i.e. , pontooning, railway, telegraph, pyrotechnic and general trades.

The whole peace-strength numbers about 45,000 men, with 204 guns. Both Dutch and Belgian Infantry are armed with single breech-loaders, the Beaumont and Albini rifles respectively, and there seems no present intention of introducing magazine-rifles.

The Belgian Army is clothed chiefly according to the French model; the tall bearskins of the Grenadiers and Guides are peculiar and striking.

Both Holland and Belgium will have to follow the example of other nations in adopting strict universal conscription. It will be only when this is accomplished that their Armies will represent the armed strength of the nation and satisfy the demands made on a National Army.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the inhabitants of Europe were several times alarmed by a common danger, that of invasion of their territories by a foreign race, Asiatic by extraction, and connected primarily with the Mongols. This race, known as Turks or Osmanli, had made itself master of Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, in 1453, and set up its government there under a Padishah or Sultan. From this point they extended their empire further and further to the north-west, over Hungary and the intervening lands, and took possession of the Hungarian capital, Buda, or Ofen. In 1683 they actually besieged Vienna, and this city would undoubtedly have fallen if it had not been for its heroic defence by Field-Marshal Rüdiger von Starhemberg, [Pg 74] who held out till he was succoured by Duke Charles of Lorraine with the Army of the Austrian Empire, and John Sobieski, King of Poland.

The Turkish power now began to wane, and its forces gradually declined in strength during the wars with Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. One by one the provinces of the Turkish Empire became detached from Turkish rule and proclaimed their independence under their own sovereigns. In this way arose the independent kingdoms of Greece, Servia, and Roumania, and the principality of Bulgaria (under Turkish suzerainty), all of them during the present century. Eastern Roumelia is still in the hands of the Turks, but she has her own administration. The Turkish Empire—once the terror of Christendom—is now fighting for very existence, and to retain her hold over the small remnants of her European possessions. Russia, who considers herself the champion of the Greek-Catholic Church in the East, would by this time have undoubtedly seized the lands of the “Sick Man” on the Bosphorus, if it were not that the ambition of other Powers has secured a frail but fleeting life for him. Since, however, Turkey is determined not to let go of her European possessions without a stiff fight for them, and since no one can foretell what far-reaching consequences such a war would entail, we must not skip her over, but must give a short account of her Army as well as of the others.

Turkey has now, since the disbanding of the Janissaries (who formed the Sultan body-guard, of 12,000 men at first, and later of 100,000), organised her Army on a purely European footing. The officer who is chiefly responsible for this organisation, and who was sent for that purpose to Turkey, at the request of the then Sultan Mahmoud II., from 1835 to 1839, is no less a personage than Field-Marshal Count Moltke.

Since his time, the Turkish Army has improved after every war. Though it is yet by no means equal to that of any of the great Powers, still that is the fault of neither the military system nor yet of the Turkish soldier. The responsibility lies with the confused system of military administration, which deals in the most hopeless and in the worst possible way with the clothing and equipment, and even with the feeding and pay of the Army.

According to the Law, every able-bodied Mahomedan inhabitant of Turkey is bound to serve in the Army. Christians are exempted on payment of a fine.

Service in the “Nizam,” or Active Army, lasts six years, of which the Infantry soldier spends three and the Cavalry and Artilleryman four years with the Colours and the remaining time in the Active Reserve or “Ikhtiat.” After this the soldier joins the Landwehr or “Redif” for eight years, and subsequently six years in the Landsturm or “Muhstafiz.” As a matter of fact, the period of service with the Colours is usually reduced to two years, or three at the outside.

The whole Turkish Empire is divided into 7 military districts or “Ordu,” of which the seventh, Arabia, is exceptionally constituted. “Ordus” 1 to 6 have each in peace-time to supply 1 Army Corps of Nizam troops, and, besides this, 1 to 2 Army Corps of the Redif in case of necessity. The seventh Ordu only possesses 1 Army Corps altogether.

Each Corps consists of 2 Infantry Divisions, 2 Cavalry Divisions, 1 Regiment [Pg 75] of Field Artillery, 1 battalion of Pioneers and 1 of the Train.

A Division consists of 2 brigades; an Infantry brigade numbers 2, and a Cavalry 3, regiments. A regiment of Infantry numbers 5 battalions, of which 1 is a Depôt battalion; a regiment of Cavalry, 5 squadrons, of which 1 is a Depôt squadron.

The Artillery Regiment numbers 14 batteries, of which 3 are Horse Artillery and 2 mountain batteries, each of 6 guns.

The 18 Army Corps of the Turkish Field Army, (including Redif) comprise a strength of 612,000 men, with 1,512 guns, [22] and these could be heavily reinforced by drawing on the “Muhstafiz.”

The Infantry is armed with three different patterns of rifles at this moment, but will shortly be armed altogether with a magazine-rifle. Cavalry and Field Artillerymen are armed with a repeating carbine. The guns are good cast-steel breech-loaders from the Krupp works. The mountain batteries have steel guns.

As regards discipline and training, the Turkish soldier cannot be compared on the same grounds with his European comrade. As for a discipline founded on feelings of honour, respect, and love of country, the Turks wots not of it. These feelings are, however, compensated for to some extent by a religious fanaticism and a warlike spirit.

The Turkish soldier is easily satisfied, quiet in his demeanour, unruffled, sparing of words, dignified, obedient, and true to the death. The romantic halo which formerly endowed the Turks with unequalled fighting powers in the assault and unconquerable stubbornness in the defence of strong positions, has faded. In vain does one now look for the Spahis and Delhis on their fiery horses, with crooked swords, flashing turbans and waving garments. With the exception of the red fez, the uniform of the Turkish troops has a distinctly European cut. The “Nizam” wear a dark-blue coat, usually wide in the body, to allow of the growth and alterations of the body, which take place during their six years’ service, and the “Redif” wear jackets or sleeved waistcoats. The most adventurous-looking are the Bashi-Bazouks ( i.e. “lost heads”), a wild body of Irregular troops who carry on war in their own fashion, and who are little amenable to discipline. These wear bizarre and wild-looking dresses, and are armed with long rifles. The Army is extremely plucky in war, but is sadly deficient in good officers and non-commissioned officers.

The armies of the smaller States of the Balkan Peninsula, organised on the lines of great European Powers, will in future wars probably only act as allies to either Russia or Turkey. We need therefore cast but a hasty glance at them.

Artillery—2 Field, and 2 Mountain battalions, and 1 Garrison Artillery battalion, altogether 10 batteries with 64 guns.

The Army (including Engineers and Train, as well as Gendarmerie) consists of about 30,000 in peace-time, which could be reinforced in war-time to 80,000 men.

Roumania can bring into the 1st Line 4 Army Corps, well-drilled and well-armed (with repeating rifles and Krupp guns), and into the 2nd Line 4 more Divisions. Her peace strength consists of—

Infantry—16 battalions of the Line, 4 battalions of Rifles and 65 battalions of the Dorobanze (a Territorial Militia)—total, 85 battalions.

Cavalry—16 squadrons of Roșiori, (Hussars) and 54 squadrons of Kalaraschi (a species of Gendarmerie)—total, 70 squadrons.

The war-strength consists of 120 battalions of Infantry, 80 squadrons of Cavalry, 72 batteries of Artillery, 20 companies of Engineers, and details; altogether 150,000 men and 448 guns.

Besides these there are 32 Local Militia battalions and a body of men corresponding to the German Landsturm.

Field Army—45 battalions, 25 squadrons, 25 batteries, besides Engineers and Train—total, 65,000 men and 100 guns.

Landsturm—60 battalions, comprising 30,000 men. Total war-strength 130,000 men and 200 guns.

Bulgaria , although her constitution is as yet not definitely settled, is not at all behindhand in the organisation of her Army. The principality would be able to put into the field an Army of over 30,000 [Pg 77] well-trained men, besides 24,000 Landwehr and 7,000 Landsturm.

The Army of Eastern Roumelia is a species of Militia, which would in war-time amount to 64,000 men. The Standing Army numbers only 3,400 men, and their efficiency is not very great.

Montenegro. In the western portion of the Balkan Peninsula, between the Dinaric Mountains and the Adriatic, though not touching the latter, lies a wild and craggy mountain land. According to the inhabitants, “When the Creator was walking over the earth, distributing rocks and plains, the bag in which the rocks were split, and those which remained fell on to Montenegro.”

There can certainly not have been many rocks in the bag, for the land of the Black Mountains (Montenegro or Tzernagora) is a tiny country of only about 2,300 square miles. The inhabitants are as wild as their country. They are a small, liberty-loving nation, of great physical beauty, and born warriors. When the Czar, the other day, called the Prince of Montenegro the best friend he had on earth, his speech probably referred less to the Prince himself than to the people whose merit and determined bravery he so much admired.

This nation has for centuries known how to preserve its independence. Turkey, who tried to exercise a sovereignty, over the people, came to grief when met by their determined opposition. In 1862 the inhabitants of Herzegovina rebelled against the sovereignty of the Crescent, and were supported in their revolt by the Montenegrins. The Turkish Government thereupon recalled their best general, Omar [Pg 78] Pasha, from exile, and gave him the chief command of the forces sent against Herzegovina and her ally.

Omar Pasha forced his way into Montenegro at the head of a powerful Army. His forces were so superior to those of the Montenegrins that the latter could not keep up their brave opposition for very long, but the Turkish losses were so considerable, and their enemy so impossible to get at, that the former were glad when the Montenegrins showed themselves willing to treat for peace on easy conditions. Montenegro, therefore, stands to this day a rocky fortress and a bulwark against the advance of the Crescent.

Montenegro requires no law of universal conscription, for every able-bodied man has, as a matter of course, been trained to arms from his youth up. It has also no Standing Army, only a Body-Guard for the Prince, composed of 300 men, [23] of whom 50 are mounted. It is, however, stated that at least 35,000 men and a few mountain-guns could be put in the field in case of war, in order to defend the country against an invader from any quarter.

We have now finished with our bird-eye view of the Armies of Europe. A country armed strength does not, however, consist exclusively of her Army; her Navy has to be reckoned with as well. We will, therefore, glance at the naval forces of the chief of the European States.

The first place amongst Naval Powers is undoubtedly still held by Great Britain as queen of the seas, however much other nations may try to overhaul her in ships and material. There have certainly been voices heard lately in Parliament anent the alleged standstill— i.e. , backsliding, when the race with foreign nations is taken into account—in the naval development of England. The late great Naval Review, however, last August, appeared to disarm all hostile criticism as to the strength and efficiency of the British Fleet. There were at that time, off Portsmouth, several square miles of vessels, altogether 112 fighting-ships. Yet this was but a small portion of England Navy, for the total English Fleet amounts to altogether 763 vessels, as follows:—

Russia has of late years considerably increased her fleet, spending her substance chiefly on large ironclads, which appear to be the fashion nowadays. Her biggest ironclads are those in the Black Sea. The Russian Navy should not be, all the same, considered as a very powerful one, for a great many of her ironclads and torpedo-boats are out of date, and not up to the requirements of modern naval warfare.

The naval forces of Italy have increased very rapidly during the last twelve years. At present they number—

The latest recruit to the Naval Powers is Germany, “last not least,” of whose naval organisation we will give a few details.

The officers of the German Navy consist of 2 “Station-Chiefs” at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven with 2 flag-lieutenants, 3 vice-admirals, 17 post-captains, 33 corvette-captains, 64 “captain-lieutenants,” 120 lieutenants, and 114 sub-lieutenants. Besides these, there are 100 naval cadets, and engineers, paymasters, and surgeons in proportion.

The men, when on shore, are formed into 2 Divisions of seamen and 2 Divisions of dockyard men, at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. Besides these, there is a Division of “ship-boys,” a Naval Police Corps, 2 battalions of Marine Infantry at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, and 2 companies of Marine Artillery at Friedrichsort and Wilhelmshaven, and the Naval Medical Department.

The Marine Reserve and “Seewehr” are formed similarly to the Army Reserve and Landwehr.

The original plan for forming a fleet, started in 1872–73, has been departed from in several details, gained from the [Pg 81] experience of other nations and from the knowledge of German requirements; economy had also something to do with the matter. The building of huge ironclads was not persevered in, and more attention was paid to increasing the torpedo-flotilla for the defence of the coasts and ports.

Although the Imperial Navy is not yet strong enough to compete successfully with those of other great naval powers on the open sea, still one great object has been gained, i.e. , the protection of trade and the merchant service. Germany is also now enabled to enter into commercial and political relations with distant countries, and to make the German flag respected in all parts of the world in a way which would not otherwise have been possible. The Navy will also be able in the future to defend the German coast-line and make the foreign invasion of her coasts an impossibility. It is difficult to forecast the probable development of the German Navy, for the colonies which the country has recently founded and is still founding will increase its task and may lead to the formation of a much larger fleet.

The recognition which the German Navy has lately won on all sides, especially on the part of England, allows of the hope that it will soon be considered as fit to go hand in hand with the German Army. One thing is certain, and that is, that its successes, whether in the hoisting of the national flag in distant parts of the world, or in the more peaceful task of cementing friendly relations with other Powers, are followed with the greatest interest and appreciation by the whole of the German Empire.

[1] This article has been entirely re-written by the Translator.

[2] The Colonial forces really form a class between the two, but may be taken here with the Active Army.

[3] The Militia Ballot Act.

[4] I.e. , West India Regiment, Malta Artillery, etc.

[5] More than 40 per cent. of would-be recruits are annually rejected by the doctors.

[6] Blue in the 16th and white in the 17th Lancers.

[7] Crimson in the 11th Hussars and brick-red in the lévée dress of the officers of the 10th Hussars.

[8] The Black Brunswick Hussars came over to England after Waterloo, and their uniform was so greatly admired that the 60th and 95th, who were in process of being changed from Light Infantry to Rifle regiments, adapted their Hussar uniform to the Infantry pattern.

[9] With one or two exceptions.

[10] Though liable to fifty-six days.

[11] Or in the Navy and Naval Reserve respectively as required.

[12] “Beurlaubtenstand.”

[13] Corresponding somewhat to our University Degree.

[14] Or rather, will be in the near future.— Tr.

[15] The word Uhlan means “belonging to the hoof,” in the language of that region.

[16] Including the independent (25th) Hesse-Darmstadt Division.

[17] It may be taken as 36,582 officers, 1,493,690 combatants, 27,000 non-combatants, 331,904 horses, 2,952 guns.— Tr.

[18] Turkey set this example long ago.— Tr.

[19] Invented by Colonel Bruyère.

[20] From the Turco-Tataric word Kasak, which means in Turkish a robber, and in Tatar a free lightly-armed warrior.

[21] Out of four.

[22] Numbering 468 battalions Infantry, 432 squadrons Cavalry, 252 batteries Artillery, and 72 companies Engineers.— Tr.

[23] “Peganicis.”

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Transcriber’s Note

A small number of obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
The spelling and punctuation of the source book have not been changed even though some of the punctuation would not be accepted today; for example, the plural of NCO (non-commissioned officer) is printed as N. C. O.’s.
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Each of the colour plates appears as two images in this ebook.
The following captions appear on each of the double-page colour plates:
Printed by G. Löwensohn, Fuerth Bavaria
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Regular Forces	202,000
1st and 2nd Class Reserves	57,000
Militia and Militia Reserve	134,000
Yeomanry	11,000
Volunteers	224,000
Colonial Forces	84,000
Indian Native Army	152,000

2	Regiments of Life Guards (Household Cavalry).
1	Regiment of Royal Horse Guards (Blues) (Household Cavalry).
7	Regiments of Dragoon Guards (1st to 7th).
3	Regiments of Dragoons (1st, 2nd, and 6th).
5	Regiments of Lancers (5th, 9th, 12th, 16th, and 17th).
13	Regiments of Hussars (3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th to 15th, and 18th to 21st inclusive).

6	officers,
16	non-commissioned officers, and
122	rank and file, of whom 26 are dismounted, and
144	horses, including draught-horses.

4	Regiments of Foot-Guards,
4	Regiments of Guard Grenadiers,
12	Prussian Grenadier regiments (Nos. 1–12),
1	Mecklenburg Grenadier regiment (No. 89),
2	Baden Grenadier regiments (Nos. 109 and 110),
2	Saxon Grenadier regiments (Nos. 100 and 101),
2	Württemberg Grenadier regiments (Nos. 119 and 123),
1	Bavarian Body-Guard regiment,
1	Hessian Body-Guard regiment (No. 115).

12	Prussian Fusilier regiments (composed of 1 Guard Fusilier regiment, and Nos. 33–40, 73, 80, and 86 of the Line).
1	Mecklenburg Fusilier regiment (No. 90), and
1	Saxon Rifle (Schützen) regiment (No. 108).