Page:1902 Encyclopædia Britannica - Volume 25 - A-AUS.pdf/717

 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY]

ARMIES 663 park, 1 telegraph park, and administration units. The Cavalry. — Forty-two regiments, viz., 15 dragoon, 16 hussar, and 11 uhlan. Each regiment has 6 squadrons and a pioneer active army can supply 12 army corps. The peace strength of a squadron is 5 officers and 166 Mobile Militia. — The mobile militia is organized in section. men. The dragoons are recruited from the Austrian provinces, the 144 infantry battalions of 4 companies, 18 battalions hussars from Hungary, the uhlans mainly from Galicia. They are of bersaglieri, and 22 companies of Alpini. In addition all armed alike with sabres and repeating carbines. Artillery.—Fourteen brigades of field artillery, each consisting there are 12 brigades of field artillery, each of 4 batteries, 34 companies of garrison artillery, 9 of mountain of 1 corps regiment and 3 divisional regiments. In each regiment are 4 field batteries with a peace strength of 4 officers, 101 artillery, 30 companies of engineers; 4 field batteries and there men, and 4 guns (to be raised to 8 guns in time of war). Attached 2 companies of garrison artillery for Sicily; together with to regiments of the corps artillery there are 8 divisions of horse 9 battalions of line infantry, 1 battalion of bersaglieri, 1 artillery, making 16 horse batteries of 5 officers and 122 men each, squadron of cavalry, 2 batteries of field, and 1 company of and 11 batteries of mountain artillery of 2 officers and 60 men each. There are also 3 additional mountain batteries which garrison artillery for Sardinia. form a separate division. Of fortress artillery there are 6 regiTerritorial militia is organized in 320 battalions of ments and 3 independent battalions, making 18 battalions in all. infantry, 75 companies of Alpini, 100 companies of In each battalion there are 4 field companies of 4 officers and 98 men. garrison artillery, and 30 companies of engineers. Engineers, dec.—Fifteen pioneer battalions, each having 5 comColonial Troops.—A special force exists for the garrison- panies of 5 officers and 107 men. The 5th company is expanded ing of Eritrea composed of volunteers from the active into 3 fortress companies in war. The train includes bridgearmy or reserve and of native troops. equipment. There is a railway and telegraph regiment of 3 battalions, each having 4 companies of 50 officers and 118 men. The armed strength of Italy numbers about:— The engineer staff comprises 146 officers. 8 Officers. and Men. Active army and reserve 19,450 805,000 The general staff of the army numoers 481 officers, of Mobile militia 3,600 295,500 whom 276 belong to the staff corps, and the rest are Territorial militia 5,200 1,617,000 attached. There are 29 infantry regiments (to be increased to 32) of Austrian landwehr, and 28 of Hungarian, making Total 28,250 2,717,500 195 battalions in all. Each battalion has 4 companies (g. S. C.) of about 55 men. The landwehr cavalry consists of 6 Austria-Hungary. regiments of uhlans and 10 regiments of Hungarian hussars, The military forces of Austria-Hungary consist of (1) of 6 squadrons each, and there are also 3 squadrons of the active army with its reserves, (2) the landwehr, (3) Tyrolese and Dalmatian mounted infantry. The peace the landsturm. The active army is superintended by a strength of the squadrons is from 43 to 65 men. There single war ministry for the whole monarchy ; but the land- are no landwehr artillery or engineers. The infantry are wehr and landsturm are under two separate ministries of armed with the Mannlicher magazine rifle of 8 mm. (0’315 national defence,—one for the troops of Hungary, Croatia, inch) calibre, the latest pattern being of 1895. It is and Slavonia (the “ Honved ” troops), the other for the sighted to 3000 paces. The magazine holds 5 cartridges remaining states. Liability to military service was made which are inserted simultaneously in a clip. The field universal in 1868. The law at present regulating it was and horse batteries are armed with steel-bronze guns of passed in 1889. Except in “the occupied provinces,” 9 cm. (3-42 inch) calibre, the field gun weighing 9J» cwt., Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have special treatment in and that of the horse artillery about 8 cwt. The pattern several respects, substitutes are not allowed. The liability is of 1875, and no provision has yet been made for subbegins at the age of 20, and the term of service is 12 stituting quick-firing guns; but something has been done years; but the nature of the service varies. Out of to check recoil and make the present guns more effective. 180,000 able-bodied men annually available, over 100,000 The higher units of the army are of variable strength. are taken for the army, and after 3 years in its ranks, An infantry brigade consists of 6 to 9 battalions; a spend 7 years in the reserve and 2 years in the landwehr. cavalry brigade of 2 or 3 regiments. Two brigades form About 23,000 serve their whole term in the landwehr. a division. An infantry division comprises also 3 or 4 The remainder go to the ersatz (depot) reserve of the squadrons of cavalry, and a regiment (4 batteries) of field army or the landwehr as supernumeraries. The destination artillery. A cavalry division has 2 batteries of horse of the recruits is determined partly by lot, partly by artillery and one or two battalions of rifles. A corps is their claims to consideration. Young men of good educa- ordinarily made up of 2 infantry divisions, a cavalry tion are admitted as “one-year volunteers” at their own brigade, a regiment of corps artillery, and technical troops. cost, or sometimes at the cost of the state. All men The territory of Austria-Hungary (including Bosnia and between the ages of 18 and 42 are further bound to Herzegovina) is divided into 15 corps districts and 1 serve in the landsturm, or general levy, if not otherwise divisional district (Zara in Dalmatia). There are 5 enrolled ; but the landsturm is not called out during peace, cavalry divisions, of which 2 are attached to the 11th and in war only when the landwehr and ersatz-reserves corps (in East Galicia) and the other 3 to the 1st, 2nd, are insufficient. Young men who are found unfit for and 10th corps. The total peace strength of the regular service have to pay a military tax, according to their army is about 283,000 men, and of the landwehr about means, for the benefit of disabled soldiers, or of the 49,000, making 350,000 in all, officers included. The widows and orphans of soldiers. The officers of the war strength of the various units is not published now, standing army are drawn from the military schools. but the field troops available on mobilization would probPromotion is mainly by seniority, subject to tests of ably amount to 800,000 men, the landwehr to 320,000, qualification, but selection is not excluded. The reserves the ersatz-reserves of army and landwehr to 480,000. It are officered by retired officers and one-year volunteers. is reckoned that another million of trained men could be The units of the standing army (omitting depot cadres, found in the landsturm. (e. m. l.) &c.) are as follows :— Russia. Infantry.—102 regiments of the line, 4 regiments of Tyrolese rifles, 4 Bosnian-Herzegovinian regiments, all of 4 battalions ; also Since the war of 1877-78 many changes have been 26 independent rifle battalions ; making a total of 466 battalions. There are four companies to each battalion, and their normal peace introduced into the Russian army, which was not previously organized in higher units than the division. strength is 4 officers and 93 men.