Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/879

 DEFENCE 523

The following are the strong places on the various frontiers : — On the German frontier : first class fortresses, Belfort, Verdun, Brian9on ; second class, Langres ; third class, Toul, Auxonne ; and 9 fourth- class places. Belgian frontier : first class, Lille, Dunkirk, Arras, Douai; second class, Cambrai, Valenciennes, Givet, St. Omer, Mezieres, Sedan, Longuy, Soissons ; third class, Gravelines, Conde, Landrecies, Bocroi, Montmedy, Peronne ; and 6 fourth-class places. Italian frontier : first class, Lyon, Grenoble, Besangon ; and 1 1 detached forts. Mediterranean coast, first class, Toulon (naval harbour); second class, Antibes ; and 21 fourth-class forts. Spanish frontier : first class, Perpignan, Bayonne ; third class, St. Jean Pied-de-Port ; and 10 fourth- class forts. Atlantic coast : first class, Rochefort, Lorient, Brest ; second class, Oleron, La Rochelle, Belle Isle ; third class. He de Re, Fort Louis ; and 17 fourth-class forts. The Channel coast : first class, Cherbourg; second class, St. Malo, le Havre ; and 16 fourth-class forts.

II. Army.

The military forces of France are organised on the basis of laws voted by the National Assembly in 1872, supplemented by further organisation laws, passed in 1873, 1875, 1882, 1887, 1889, 1890, and 1892. These laws enact universal liability to arms. Substitu- tion and enlistment for money are forbidden, and it is ordered that every Frenchman not declared unfit for military service may be called up, from the age of twenty to that of forty-five years, to enter the active army or the reserves. By the law of 1882, sup- plemented by those of 1889 and 1892, the yearly contingent must serve 3 years in the Active Army, 10 in the Reserve of the Active Army, 6 in the Territorial Army, and 6 in the Territorial Reserve. The Active Army is composed of all the young men, not otherwise exempted, who have reached the age of twenty, and the Reserves of those who have passed through the Active Army. Neither the Active Army nor its Reserves are in any way localised, but drawn from and distributed over the whole of France. On the other hand, the Territorial Army and its Reserves are confined to fixed regions, determined from time to time by administrative enactments.

Students and pupils of certain higher schools, and seminarists, are required to serve only one year, on condition of completing their studies and obtaining a certain rank before the age of twenty-six years. All soldiers in the Active Army who have learnt their duties, and who can read and write, may be sent on furlough, at the end of a year, for an indefinite time.

The present organisation of the active French army is as follows : —