Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/49

ARMIES. Hungary. The yearly contingent of recruits for the common army from Austria is 59,211; Hungary, 43,899; total, 103,100. There is also a yearly contingent for the Landwehr — from Austria, 10,000; from Hungary, 12,500—total, 22,500. The approximate total of the armed strength of the Empire on war footing is 45,238 officers, 1,826,940 men, and 281,886 horses. If the levy-in-mass is taken into service, the number would be over 4,000,000. The infantry is armed with the Manchester magazine rifle. The following table gives the statistics of the actual strength of the imperial army on peace footing for 1901:

This former battle-ground of Europe is better protected by the mutual suspicion and distrust of the great powers than it ever could be by its army, which in 1902 consisted of 29,709 infantry, 6140 cavalry, 9315 artillery; gendarmerie and other corps, 6388; total, 51,552 peace strength. In time of war these numbers would be augmented to about 143,000 men. In addition to this force, there is a “Garde Civique,” which, however, is active only in fortified places and communes of over 10,000 inhabitants. It consists of about 41,000 men.

has a total of 82,560 officers and men, divided between standing army, depot corps, ordinary and extraordinary reserves, and territorial guard. The standing army is placed at 2560 men.

Military service is compulsory, but up to 1902 the conscription law had not been enforced. The army consists of about 15,000 men, which is less than half of its strength on paper. The gendarmerie strength is placed at 20,000 men.

Through all the history of the struggle of the English people for political freedom, few greater epoch-making events have occurred than the passing by Parliament of the Bill of Rights in 1689, which forbade the existence of a standing army in time of peace without the consent of Parliament. This gave to the people the permanent control of a factor which might easily have been used for their oppression or to the national disadvantage. Parliament maintains another important check, in the shape of the Annual Army Bill, an act passed at the commencement of every session, investing the crown with powers to make regulations for the government and discipline of the army under what are known as the Articles of War. Administrative control is vested in a secretary of state for war, to whom the heads of all departments are responsible in the discharge of their duties. The commander-in-chief, adjutant-general, quartermaster-general, inspector-general of fortifications, inspector-general of ordnance, are the heads of the principal departments, and constitute a board, which, under the presidency of the commander-in-chief, reports on proposals for any estimates which the secretary of state may desire to lay before Parliament, on promotions, appointments, or other matters connected with the service. The War Office Consultative Council is composed of these officers and such other additional military officers as may be required by the measures under discussion, with the secretary of state as president. The army estimates for 1901-1902 described the regular army of the United Kingdom, exclusive of India, up to the year ending March 31, 1902, as consisting of 9745 commissioned officers, 1485 warrant officers, 19,604, sergeants, 4533 drummers, trumpeters, etc., and 184,433 rank and file, a total of 219,800 men of all ranks. In addition to these numbers, the war in South Africa and the expedition to China raised the number serving under arms in 1901 to a grand total of 450,000 men. Enlistment is voluntary, and extends over periods ranging from three to seven years with the colors and five to nine years in the first-class army reserve, with the great possibility, according to the Army Reorganization Bill of 1902, of the length of service in the active army being considerably reduced, and correspondingly lengthened in the reserve. The auxiliary forces are represented by the militia, the yeomanry and volunteers. The estimates already quoted give the numbers of all ranks in the regimental establishments of the various forces as 971,970 officers and men.

In the regular active army there were 14,270 cavalry, 39,642 artillery, 10,131 royal engineers, and 118,943 infantry; 14,435 colonial corps, 2820 departmental corps, 7074 army service corps, 3596 medical corps, 973 miscellaneous details, 1038 general departmental staff, making the total of 219,800 already quoted as serving in the regular army of the United Kingdom. The British army alone, of all the great armies of the world, has been tested in a war conducted on a large scale and under absolutely modern conditions, with the result that the rank and file proved themselves fully equal to all demands, as well as to their best traditions. The nation was not as fortunate in its commissioned ranks, but this was due to the system rather than to the material. No service in the world offers many opportunities for the accumulation of knowledge and practical experience of all that concerns the science of war; but unfortunately for England, this is largely nullified by a system which leaves too much to the choice of the individual officer. It is generally admitted that social demands and the pleasures the civilian enter too much into the life of the average army officer of ample means, who, in many instances, has never taken up the profession of arms as a serious occupation, and generally retires on marriage or on entry into the ranks of landed proprietors. The pay of a British officer is merely nominal, and not in any way commensurate with his position, or even with his actual living expenses, which fact of necessity limits the class from which officers are drawn. The experience gained in the Boer War of 1899-1902 brought to light much that had been detrimental to the service, and made necessary the Reorganization Bill of 1902 and the proposed changes in the military educational system, the granting of commissions, and