Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/907

 DEFENCE 855

and the two latter in Lorraine. West of these lies the former first line of French permanent defences, namely the first class fortresses of Verdon, Toul, Epinal and Belfort. The experiences of the Great War, which brought to light the power of mobile heavy artillery, the fire of which could he observed and directed from aeroplanes against permanent defences, will affect profonndly the principles of permanent fortification, and it is doubtful if many even of the first-class fortresses will in future be maintained, while those of the second and third classes will almost certainly disappear in so far as they have been designed to meet land attack. On the other hand coast defences will probably be maintained. On the coast Toulon, Rochefort, Lorient, Brest, and Cherbourg are naval harbours surrounded by forts.

II. Army.

France mobilised during the Great War 7,935,000 white troops, and 475,000 native troops, of these about 2,300,000 were serving at the begin- ning of 1919. During 1919 the 1907-16 classes (men of 23 to 32 years of age) were demobilised, leaving the 1917, 1918 and 1919 classes with the colours (men of 20 to 22 years of age). In December, 1920, the total strength of the active army, white and native, was about 660,000, of these 200,000 formed the army of occupation on the Rhine. There were also French forces in occupation of Syria, and Constantinople. During the war the French Colonies furnished 216 battalions, of which the greater part served on the Western front, of these battalions 92 were Senegalese, 83 Algerian and Tunisian, 17 Indo-Chinese, 12 Moroccan, 10 Malagese, 1 Somali, and 1 from the French Pacific Islands. In addition large contin- gents of native labour were found from the French Colonies, Indo-China supplied 48,981, Madagascar 5,535, Algeria 75,864, Tunisia 19,588, Morocco 35,010, China 36,740, a total of 221,668 native workmen.

At the end of 1918 the French Aviation Service had a strength in pilots of 13,000, and the production of aeroplanes for 1918 amounted to 35,000.

The total French casualties during the war were, white troops 1,358,872 killed and 2,560,000 wounded.

Native troops 67,000 killed, 140,000 wounded, total 207,000.

The future size and organisation of the French Army had not been determined at the end of 1920, but it is certain that France will retain universal compulsory military service. On September 18, 1919, the Com- mittee on Armaments and Troops of the French Chamber recommended that the annual contingent of men conscripted should be 200,000, and that an additional 150,000 men should be obtained by voluntary enlistment or by re-enlistment, for which special premiums were proposed. This it was calcu- lated would give, on a peace footing, an army of 350,000 men, which could be raised to a war footing of 1,300,000 men. In addition it was recommended that the Territorial and Reserve forces, which would yield a total of about 2,000,000 men should be retained on a basis corresponding approximately to that which existed before the war. In November, 1920, the French Government decided in principle that service in the active army should be for eighteen months as compared with 3 years in 1914. The reduction in the period of service is to be effected gradually, and will probably take two years. It may be assumed then that the general organisation of the French Army will be on the following lines : — The army as before is divided into the Metropolitan and the Colonial Army, both are under the War Minister, but the estimates for Colonial troops other than