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 665 turkey] ARMIES engineer parks are in peace time administered in 7 brigades. In siderable interchange of troops in the military districts. war the units are distributed among the field and other troops. All Mussulmans are liable to military service, but the There are 25 sapper battalions in Europe and 4 in Asia, 8 pontoon battalions and 7 field parks. The sapper battalion has usually nomad Arab tribes are not regularly recruited, and many 3 sapper companies and 1 telegraph company. Its usual establish- of their men evade the conscription. Liability to service ment strength is:— commences at the age of 20, and lasts 20 years. The Peace. War. armed strength is divided into 3 categories, in which the Officers ..... 22 26 period of service is nominally as follows :— N.C. O.’s and men (combatants). 488 937 I. Nizam (active J with colours . . 4 years, Horses ..... 14 321 army) in reserves. . 2 ,, Carriages ..... ... 119 II. Redif (landwehr). . . . 8 ,, A pontoon battalion carries from 340 to 400 yards of bridge III. Mustahfiz (landsturm). . . 6 ,, equipment. There are 7 railway battalions, 4 in Europe and 3 in The period of 4 years with the colours is sometimes Asia. The latter are kept at war strength : 30 to 35 officers and 1300 to 1560 N.C.O.’s and men combatants. There is in peace an varied, and the nizam reserve is liable to be recalled at instructional balloon park, which would form detachments in war any time. Between 130,000 and 140,000 men become for armies in the field. Higher Organization for War. —The active army in Europe and liable to service in each year, and about 50,000 join the the Caucasus supplies 24 army corps composed of 51 infantry and nizam force. Those not drawn are exempted from colour 23 cavalry divisions and 2 rifle brigades. There are also 1 service, but receive some small training. independent rifle division, 5 independent rifle brigades, and 2 Cavalry.—The nizam cavalry forms 38 regiments of the line independent cavalry brigades, together with a large body of active troops not included in the higher units. The empire is divided and 2 of the guard, each consisting of 4 squadrons and 1 depot into 12 military districts and 1 province, subdivided into 23 local squadron. Regiments 1 to 36 form 6 cavalry divisions, one for each of the 6 ordus. There is no redif cavalry, but a tribal brigades. The approximate total strength of the combatant forces on a militia force (Hamidieh), consisting of 48 regiments, is formed somewhat on the lines of Cossacks, the tribes supplying their own war footing is as follows :— horses and equipment, and arms being provided by the Government. The war establishments of nizam cavalry are Battalions N.C. O.’s Officers. N.C.O.’s and Men. or Guns. Officers. and Squadrons .... 6 153 Squadrons. Men. Regiments . . . .39 647 Peace establishments are generally low and vary considerably, I. Field Army— especially in Hamidieh regiments. 19,454 Infantry. 985 952,708 Artillery.—The Turkish artillery has been generally the most Cavalry. 730 3,728 109,916 efficient of the three arms. Each of the ordus 1 to 5 has 1 3782 Artillery. 4,484 164,096 battalion of horse artillery and 3 brigades of field and mountain Engineers 1,076 39,981 artillery. A brigade consists of 2 regiments of 2 battalions of 3 batteries. The battery on a war footing has 6 guns. Thus each 3782 28 742 1,266,701 Total * of these ordus should have— Batteries. Guns. II. Field Reserves— Horse artillery .... 3 18 Infantry. 10,572 631,152 Field „ . . . .30 180 Cavalry » 2,236 85,090 Mountain ,,. . . .6 36 Artillery. 1,403 51,196 1420 Engineers . 137 6,001 Total. . 39 234 To the 6th ordu 2 regiments of 2 battalions are allotted, each Total » 773,439 1420 ; 14,348 regiment having 12 field and 2 mountain batteries. For the Yemen and Hejaz divisions 2 field and 3 mountain batteries are proIII. Fortress Troops— vided. The total number of batteries is approximately :—Horse, All arms. 128 235,861 4,357 15 ; field, 169 ; mountain, 42. IY. Local Troops— (field) A field battery on a war establishment is supposed to contain 4 Cavalry and officers, 133 N.C.O.’s and men, and 100 horses. Peace establishInfantry 379 29,690 ments vaiy considerably in the different ordus. Horse artillery Y. Depot Troops— is armed with 7'5-cm. guns, field artillery with 8’7-cm. guns, and All arms. 330,826 462 | 5,814 mountain artillery with 6’9-cm. guns, all of Krupp manufacture. VI. Militia— Fortress artillery is partly raised in the several ordus, and partly All arms. 640 i 10,752 673,686 recruited specially for the ordnance department. The ordus are supposed to provide 64 companies, the ordnance department 20 Grand Total 1715 6432 | 64,392 3,310,203 battalions, comprising 74 companies. The fortress artillery is mainly concentrated at Constantinople, in the Bosphorus and The conditions of the Russian empire render a rigid Dardanelles defences, in the Bulair lines and at Erzeroum. territorial system such as that of Germany impossible. Infantry.—The nizam infantry consists of 69 regiments, 15 Large Asiatic garrisons have to be provided, which, until rifle battalions, and 1 battalion of mountain infantry. In all are about 284 nizam battalions. There are 12 local batthe completion of the Siberian railway, must be mainly trans- there talions of militia in Tripoli. A brigade consists of 2 regiments of ported and supplied by sea. Native troops in considerable 4 battalions ; a division consists of 2 brigades and 1 rifle battalion. numbers are maintained, and have to be brought into the Each ordu contains 8 line regiments and 2 rifle battalions. The general system. Thus the military problems of Russia nominal war establishments of line and rifles are :— Officers. N.C.O.’s and Men. approximate more closely to those of Great Britain than Company .... 4 223 to those of any other Power. (o. s. c.) Battalion .... 24 898 Regiment. . . .106 3658 Turkey. The redif infantry is organized in 88 regiments and 352 batThe Turkish military forces are organized on a territorial talions. Each of the ordus supplies 8 regiments of 4 battalions. system, the empire being divided into 6 districts (ordu), Redif troops nominally belong to the 2nd line, but are frequently in peace time, and employed outside their territorial of which the headquarters are (1) Constantinople, (2) embodied districts. Small peace cadres are permanently maintained. The Adrianople, (3) Monastir, (4) Erzinjan, (5) Damascus, war establishment is intended to be the same as that of the nizams, (6) Baghdad. The Yemen and Hejaz form a separate but redif battalions may be 1200 strong. The nizam infantry is ordu, whose troops are recruited from (4) and (5). On armed with the Mauser magazine rifle, calibre 0‘302 inch, weighing bayonet 10 lb 7f oz. Other forces are not yet fully rearmed account of the defective state of the internal communica- with with recent weapons. tions and other circumstances, the territorial system is not Engineers, like artillery, are partly organized in the ordus and rigidly adhered to, and even in peace time there is a con- partly recruited from the ordnance department. The ordus 1 to 4 S. I. — 84