Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/51

ARMIES. peace strength in 1901 was given an 824 officers and 8945 men; and the war strength as 1448 officers and 60,138 men.

Regular amiy, 3341 officers and men; National Guard, about 30,000.

The present Egyptian army was organized in December, 1882, by a British general officer under the title of Sirdar. The army consists of a little over 18,000 men, with whom there were serving in 1901 about 134 English officers. About 4500 British troops are permanently garrisoned in Egypt, to meet the cost of which the Egyptian Government is required to pay £87,000 annually.

Since her disastrous war with Germany, 1870-71, France, with excellent effect, has put her military house in thorough order, greater heed having been paid to organization and efficiency and less to numbers. (See .) Every Frenchman is liable to carry arms, substitution and enlistment for money are forbidden, and every man not absolutely unfit for military service and between 20 and 45 years of age may be called upon to enter the standing army or reserves. The yearly drafts serve three years in the active army, ten in active army reserve, six in the territorial army, and six in the territorial reserve. Any soldier who qualifies in his duties and passes the educational test may apply for indefinite furlough at the end of one year's actual service. The number of men actually liable for service is estimated at 4,350,000, of whom fully 2,500,000 would be available. The army of France was more formidable at the beginning of the Twentieth Century in numbers, efficiency, and morale than at any time in the history of the country. In times of peace, manœuvres on a magnificent scale are periodically undertaken, and every advantage of improved military science and inventions speedily appropriated. The artillery arm is receiving special attention and cultivation (see ), the general supposition being that France has improved types of guns and carriages not generally known. In many respects the French army is France itself, and formidable for that reason alone; and in point of military efficiency it is little, if at all, inferior to that of Germany.

The interior organization of the French army is as follows: Infantry.—The peace strength of the battalion is 14 officers and 506 rank and file; in war, 18 officers and 1050 rank and file. Most infantry regiments consist of three battalions. Cavalry.—Regiments are made up of 5 squadrons, each one of which has 5 officers and 140 rank and file, which in war is increased to 155 rank and file. There are 89 regiments of regular cavalry. Artillery.—Artillery regiments are divided into divisional and corps, the former having 12 field batteries and the latter 9 field and 3 horse batteries. Batteries have from 4 to 6 guns, with an average of 150 rank and file and 4 officers. Engineers.—There are 5 regiments of 3 battalions and 1 regiment of 4 battalions besides 1 company of engineer train. The average company has 4 officers and 160 rank and file. The infantry brigade consists of 2 regiments of 6 battalions or 24 companies, the cavalry brigade of 2 regiments or 8 squadrons with 6 guns. A division consists of 2 brigades of infantry, 1 squadron of cavalry, 6 batteries of artillery, 1

company of engineers, and other corps. Cavalry would be assigned to it according to its needs.

According to returns published in 1902, the strength of the French army was as follows:

. The King of Prussia is the head of the German army by right of his position as Emperor of the German confederated nations. In war time his authority is supreme and absolute; but in times of peace Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg still retain considerable local control. The Imperial War Office under the Prussian war minister discharges all the real military functions of the Federation, except in the three kingdoms mentioned, which still have war ministers of their own. As a matter of fact, the military budgets of Saxony and Württemberg are prepared in Berlin; even Bavaria receives instructions from there as to the quota of men, supplies, etc., which will be demanded of it. Under the constitution, all German troops (with the exception of the Bavarians, who do so only in time of war) are obliged to take the oath of fidelity to the Emperor, swearing obedience to him unconditionally in peace and war.

Liability to military service commences with the end of the seventeenth year of age and continues to the end of the forty-fifth year; the period being divided between active service and service in the Landsturm. Active service may be in the standing army or its reserve, the Landwehr, or the Ersatz reserve. In the cavalry and horse artillery the service is three years with the colors and four with the reserve. In infantry and kindred branches, two years are spent with the colors and five with the reserve. On the expiration of this period most of the men serve five years in the first levy; the remainder of the time of active service being passed by all arms in the second levy. All men excused from active service for physical or special reasons, as well as men temporarily unable to serve, spend twelve years in the Ersatz reserve. According to the army organization of 1902, the members of the Ersatz reserve are largely employed in the administrative and medical branches of the army. The Landsturm can only be used in case of invasion or for purposes of home defense, and has not been employed on active service since the Napoleonic wars. At a crisis, or after long exhausting wars, it would be employed to fill up vacancies in the regular army, as in the instance of the closing days of the Franco-Prussian War. The Landsturm is divided into two levies, to the first of which are assigned men until March 31 of their thirty-ninth year; the remainder constituting the second levy. Besides these divisions there are two other classes known as the one-year volunteers; and the two-, three-, and four-year volunteers. (See .) The first-named are well-educated young men, serving at their own charge and supplying their