Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/677

] Prussian officers as instructors, and a large camp of in struction is formed annually. The officers are mainly supplied from the military academy at Breda, and are of the upper classes; promotions from the ranks are very rare.

By a law passed in 1868 the strength of the Belgian army was fixed at 100,000 men on war footing, and 40,000 in time of peace. It is formed by conscription, to which every able-bodied male is liable on completing his 19th year. Substitution, however, is permitted, and substitutes or volunteers actually form a large part of the army. The annual contingent is 12,000 men. The period of service is eight years, of which two-thirds are passed on furlough ; the actual time in the ranks has recently been increased from twenty-six to thirty months for the infantry ; in the other services, it is three years. The infantry consists of 1 regiment of carabineers, 3 of chasseurs, 1 of grenadiers, and 14 of the line. Each regiment has 3 field and 1 reserve battalion of four companies each, the latter in cadre only in peace time. The cavalry consists of 4 regiments of chasseurs and 4 of lancers, each of four field and one depot squadron. The chasseurs form on mobilisation the divi sional cavalry, the lancers the reserve cavalry. The artillery is formed in 4 regiments, and numbers 34 field and 6 reserve batteries of 6 guns each. The engineers are organised in 1 regiment of 3 battalions (four companies each), and 5 special companies, viz., two telegraph, one railway and. one pontoon, and one of artificers. On mobili sation the army forms two army corps, each of two infantry divisions and a reserve of cavalry and artillery, and number ing 26 battalions, 16 squadrons, and 96 guns. Besides the standing army there is a civic militia (garde nationale), available for the defence of the country in time of war. This force, which numbers 125,000 men without, and 400,000 men with the reserve, is formed of all citizens between 21 and 40 able to bear arms, but is only organised in the large towns and fortresses. In time of peace it is under the Ministry of the Interior, but in time of war under the Ministry of War. The organisation of the Belgian army was subjected to a practical test in 1870, when it was suddenly mobil ised and placed in observation on the frontier. The re sults were not satisfactory. The actual numbers fell considerably short of the estimated ones, and of the men present a large number were quite unfit for service. The number of officers was altogether insufficient, and the army was in many respects incompletely equipped. A bill for the reorganisation of the army, based on com pulsory personal service, was introduced in 1871, and adopted in principle by an overwhelming majority of the commission appointed to examine it. But public opinion pronounced so decidedly against the abolition of substitu tion that Government gave way, and the bill was with drawn. Ultimately, General Thiebault accepted the Ministry of War, and introduced a modified measure, which yielded the disputed point of substitution, and contented itself with additional guarantees for the character and quality of the substitutes, and reform in varioxis branches of army administration. In a rich and enterprising commercial country like Belgium personal service would naturally fall peculiarly heavily; but, further than that, a not inconsider able portion of the inhabitants are opposed to the main tenance of any standing army. The Belgians are not a military nation; the martial spirit which once made them a match for the trained soldiers of the most powerful and warlike kingdom of Europe, seems to have given place to mercantile instincts and industrial pursuits. The troops that fought at Waterloo alongside the British did little to raise Belgium s military reputation, some having deserted the battle-field in the midst of the conflict. The modern Belgian soldier is active, fairly intelligent, and a good marcher, but undersized, of inferior physique, and in most respects a bad copy of the French soldier.

The Danish army, though small in numbers, has always been of excellent material, and the gallant stand made in 18G4 against the overpowering forces of Austria and Prussia deservedly won the admiration of Europe. Since then she has reorganised her army on the principle of universal ser vice; but has applied that principle in a manner peculiar to herself, and intermediate between the militia system of Switzerland and the three-years system of Germany. By the law of 1867 every Danish citizen is liable to serve in the army or navy. Those who have been brought up as sailors, and have served at least eighteen months as such, are inscribed on the reserve lists of the navy; the rest serve in the army. Service commences at 22, except in the case of volunteers, who are allowed to join at 18. The period of service is fixed at eight years in the army, and eight years in the reserve or &quot; reinforcement&quot; (for- ttaerkning). The actual service with the colours is very short, and is divided into two periods. The first or recruit s course of instruction, which all must go through, lasts for six months in the infantry, five in the guard, field artillery, and engineers, and nine and a half in the cavalry. The second course lasts for nine months in the infantry, eleven in the cavalry, and one year in the artillery and engineers, and is confined to those who are considered insufficiently trained, to non-commissioned officers selected for promotion, and to a certain number, selected by lot, who are retained to complete the cadres and carry on garrison duties. In the infantry the bulk of the recruits are sent home after the first six months, about one-third to one-fourth remaining for the second term. On the other hand, the great majority of the cavalry, and almost the whole of the field artillery, are retained for the second period, and thus receive respectively twenty and seventeen months training. For every three months of service in excess of the six months course, one year is deducted from the period of service in the reserve. Those who were sent home after six months are called out again for a supplementary course of six weeks during their second year, which is passed at the camp of instruction at Hald, near Viborg, where from 8000 to 10,000 men are annually assembled for large manoeuvres. The Danish army is organised territorially, the kingdom being divided into five brigade districts, each of which is again subdivided into two regimental districts. A brigade consists of two infantry regiments, each of two line and one reserve battalion, and a cavalry regiment. The infantry regiments draw their contingent of recruits from the corresponding regimental districts, the two line bat talions taking it by turns annually to receive and train the whole of the recruits for the regiment. The cavalry are recruited from the brigade districts, and the guard, artil lery, and engineers from the kingdom generally. After remaining for four years on the lists of the line regiments, the conscripts are transferred for the remaining four years to the reserve battalions, in which they have to perform one course of training, the reserve battalions being mobi lised during four weeks annually for the purpose. The Danish army thus consists of 1 regiment of infantry of the guard and 10 of the line, each of three battalions two active and one reserve ; 5 regiments of cavalry, each of three active and two reserve squadrons ; 1 regiment of field artillery of twelve batteries, and 1 regiment of garrison artillery of two battalions ; 1 regiment of engineers, of six active and three reserve companies, and 2 companies

