Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/157

Rh Adding the liabilities of the annexed provinces, the total debt of Prussia in 1870 amounted to 442,639,371 thaler, or 66,395,905 ₤. Out of this total, the sum of 184,471,491 thaler, or 27,670,723 ₤, was devoted exclusively to the construction of railways, and interest thereon is paid out of the profits of the state lines, the yearly-increasing dividends of which likewise create a sinking fund for the gradual extinction of the debt. Exclusive of the railway loans, the total debt of Prussia, both old and new provinces, amounted in 1870 to 258,167,883 thaler, or 38,725,182 ₤, equal to 10 7/10 thaler, or 1 ₤ 12 s. per head of population of the kingdom.—(Report of the Royal government to the Statesman's Year-book.)

Army.

The military organisation of the kingdom, dating from the year 1814, is based on the principle that every man, capable of bearing arms, shall receive military instruction and enter the army for a certain number of years. There are, practically, some exceptions from military service, though no substitution whatever is allowed. Every Prussian subject is enrolled as a soldier as soon as he has completed his twentieth year. He has to be in service during seven years, of which three years—from 20 to 23—must be spent in the regular army, and the remaining four years—from 23 to 27—in the army of reserve. At the end of this term, the soldier enters the 'Landwehr,' or militia, for nine years, with liability to be called upon for annual practice, and to be incorporated in the regular army in time of war. Leaving the 'Landwehr,' the soldier is finally enrolled, till the age of fifty, in the 'Landsturm,' which body is only called upon for service, within the frontiers of the country, in case of invasion. There are various exemptions from this law of military service, in favour of the nobility, clergy, and some other classes of the population. A certain amount of education and fortune constitutes also a partial exemption, inasmuch as young men of twenty, who pay for their own equipment and can pass a light examination, have to serve only one year in the regular army, instead of three. But in this case, the liability to service in the army of reserve—the 'Landwehr' and the 'Landsturm'—remains the same. Altogether, setting aside a few exceptions, the whole male population of Prussia may be said to be trained for arms—ready for offensive warfare, either in the army or the 'Landwehr,' from the age of 20 to that of 36; and for defensive warfare, within the country, till the age of 50 years completed.

The mass of soldiers thus raised is divided into companies, battalions, regiments, and corps d'armée. The strength of a Prussian battalion in peace is 518 men, raised in war to 1,002 by calling in