Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/678

616 of military train. The total strength of the army, exclu sive of reserves, is about 38,000 men; the number serving with the colours varies according to the time of year. The Danish soldiers are, generally speaking, a fine body of men, of considerable physical power, and inured to hardship and rough living. They combine a good deal of northern stubbornness with the romance and martial feel ing of the old Scandinavian. Nursed in old traditions and chivalrous legends, the quiet, hard-working Danish peasant has within him a vein of poetry and a sympathy for heroic deeds strongly contrasting with his outward demeanour. He still retains much of the character of the feudal ages instinctive respect and attachment to his leaders, and implicit confidence in them ; and in the army this feel ing has been strengthened by the local character which the regiments have always had, officers and soldiers serving together for generations. The officers are all drawn from the upper class, and are as a rule highly-educated gentle men ; they are trained from an early age at the Academy at Copenhagen, where the languages and literature of all countries are taught, as well as purely scientific subjects, and undergo strict examinations before they pass as cadets.

Although the crowns of Sweden and Norway are now permanently united, each country retains its own govern ment, constitution, and laws; and the military forces of the two countries are separate and differently organised. The Swedish army is composed of three distinct classes, the &quot; viirf rade,&quot; or enlisted troops, to which belong the royal guards, one regiment of hussars, the artillery, and the engineers; the &quot;indelta,&quot; or national army, paid and kept by the landowners, each of whom furnishes a certain number of men, to whom, besides a small annual pay, a cottage and a piece of land are allotted during the period of service ; and thirdly, the &quot; beraring,&quot; or conscription troops, drawn by annual levy from the male population between the ages of 20 and 25 years. The &quot; indelta&quot; are called out for a month s training annually in time of peace. Besides the above, there is a Gothland militia force of 30 com panies of infantry and 3 batteries of artillery, numbering about 8000 men ; these, however, are not compelled to serve beyond the confines of the isle of Gothland, and have a separate command. The royal guards number 2240, the line (under which is included the &quot;indelta ) about 25,000 infantry, 5000 cavalry, 5000 artillery with 234 guns, and 1000 engineers. The &quot; beraring&quot; amount to about 95,000 of all arms. The Swedish troops are physically the finest in Europe, powerful, hardy, and brave, and retaining much of the old Scandinavian heroic spirit; and, though strictly a militia only, their peculiar aptitude for all warlike exercises would make them formidable antagon ists, even to the best trained armies. Few nations have so brilliant a military history. Under Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years War, and later under the heroic but in satiate Charles XII., they achieved a reputation almost unrivalled in Europe; and their armies and tactics served for many years as models to the great military powers. The military forces of Norway are differently organised, and though divided into line and militia, are in fact purely a militia force. By the law of 18G7 all young men past the age of 21 are liable to the conscription, with exception of the inhabitants of the three northern pro vinces, who are free from all military service. Actually the troops are raised partly by voluntary enlistment and partly by conscription. The term of service is for ten years, divided into three in the line, four in the reserve, and three in the militia or &quot; landvaern.&quot; The cadres of the army are formed entirely of volunteers. The young men raised by conscription are required to go through a recruit s course of forty-two days, and subsequently an annual training of twenty-four days. On the 1st January 1872 the troops of the line numbered 13,000 men, the reserves 19,000, and the landvaern 11,000. The land vaern are only liable to service within the frontiers of the kingdom.

. The inhabitants of Switzerland were always a hardy and independent race, but their high military reputation dates from the middle of the 15th century, when the com paratively ill-armed and untrained mountaineers signally defeated Charles the Bold of Burgundy and the flower of the chivalry of Europe in the battles of Granson, Morat, and Nancy. The Suabian war, towards the end of that century, and the Milanese war, at the beginning of the following one, added to the fame of the Swiss infantry, and made it the model on which that arm was formed all over Europe. The wealthier countries vied with each other in hiring them as mercenaries, and the poor but warlike Swiss found the profession of arms a lucrative one. Whatever discredit may attach to the soldier who sells his services to any country or cause, and fights for money alone, the Swiss at least have done much to redeem the position by their unswerving loyalty to their employers. The devoted faithfulness of Louis XVI. s Swiss guard is proverbial, and has been commemorated with just pride by their country men. The French Revolutionary armies overran Switzer land, as they did all the small neighbouring states, and during Napoleon s career she had to submit to his rule, and furnish her contingent to his armies. On the fall of Napoleon she regained her independence, and returned to her old trade of furnishing soldiers to the sovereigns and powers of Europe. Charles X. of France had at one time as many as 17,000 Swiss in his pay; Naples andEome had each four regiments. The recruiting for these foreign services was openly acknowledged and encouraged by the Govern ment. The young Swiss engaged usually for a period of four or six years ; they were formed in separate regiments, officered by countrymen of their own, and received a higher rate of pay than the national regiments ; and at the close of their engagement returned with their earnings to settle down on their paternal holdings. A series of revolutions, however, expelled them from France and Italy, and recently the advance of liberal ideas, and the creation of great national armies based on the principle of personal service, has destroyed their occupation. Switzerland is now remark able in a military sense as being the only country that main tains no standing army ; and the fact that, with an annual expenditure of only 200,000, she shows a force of 200,000 men, has made her military institutions the study of econo mists and the model for many would-be military reformers. The 13th article of the constitution of 1848 forbids the maintenance of a standing army within the limits of the confederation ; but every citizen is required to bear arms for the defence of the country, and for this purpose a certain military training is given at all schools. The actual forces of the republic consist of a militia divided into three classes, the &quot; auszug&quot; or elite, the reserve, and the landwehr. The strength of the elite is fixed at 3 per cent, of the population, and that of the reserve at li per cent. ; the landwehr includes all who have passed the elite and reserve up to the age of 44. The total service is limited to twenty-five years. Within these conditions the cantons are allowed to raise their contingents and distri bute the service as they please ; and it thus happens that service in the elite lasts for five years in some cantons, and for fourteen years in others. Exemption from service is granted to certain Government and public officials, to the 