100 companies of Foot Artillery of the Landsturm, for garrison purpose.
In peace-time depôts for the Landwehr and Landsturm are not organised:
preparations are however being made for instituting them.
[Sidenote: +Conclusions.+]
In this manner is organised the Army which has now for about ten years
proudly taken its place alongside the proved and war-tried armies of
the senior Powers. Anyone accustomed to English or German troops, such
as the Brigade of Guards in Hyde Park, or the German Foot-Guards at
Potsdam, will find much that is strange on seeing the Italian Army,
resulting from the peculiarity of race. He will miss the upright
bearing, the regular movements and the steady drill of the Infantry,
and the well-groomed and glossy horses of the Cavalry; but he will be
pleased with the picturesque uniforms of the Army, the extremely smart
appearance and active movements of the Bersaglieri, with their waving
green plumes, and with the martial and powerful bearing of the Alpini,
with their upright plumes in their head-dress; and he will find that
the cry of “Evviva il Re Umberto” sounds just as loud and strong here
as our own English “God save the Queen.” The impression that he will
take away with him will be that the like spirit of the ancient Romans
has not been lost in their descendants, and that the young kingdom of
Italy is well prepared to throw her Army as a decisive weight on to the
side of victory in some future European war.
ADDENDUM TO ITALY
P. 43. Additional troops have lately been raised for service in Africa.
They consist of—
1 Regiment African Rifles (4 battalions),
1 Regiment Native African Infantry (4 battalions),
1 Battalion African Bersaglieri,
1 Squadron Native Cavalry,
3 Batteries African Mountain Artillery.
These are all for service at Massowah.
[Illustration: Italy.
_Printed by G. Löwensohn, Fuerth Bavaria_
_Published by William Clowes & Sons, L^{d}, London._]
FRANCE.
[Illustration: Officer of Mountain Artillery.]
The next on the list is France, our nearest continental neighbour, who
for a long time was the foremost of European Military Powers. In the
disastrous war of 1870 she lost this position entirely, and has ever
since then been making the most strenuous exertions to regain something
of her old strength by thorough revision and reorganisation of her
Army.
The laws of 1872 and 1873 were passed with a view to this object,
and by them Universal Conscription was introduced, as in Germany. On
economical grounds, all able-bodied conscripts were divided into two
classes, the first of which serves five years with the Colours, and the
second only one year.
[Sidenote: +Terms of Service.+]
After his five years’ active service (or one year, as the case may
be) the soldier goes for four (or eight) years to the Active Reserve.
Thereafter he enters the Territorial Army for five years, and the
Territorial Army Reserve for a subsequent six years, making twenty
years in all. The Active Army and its Reserve form the Army of the 1st
Line, and the Territorial Army and its Reserve the Army of the 2nd Line.
The institution of one-year Volunteers covers a much larger area than
in the German Army. The main point looked to in a would-be one-year
Volunteer is whether he can pay his 1,500 francs; the scientific and
educational certificates required from such candidates in Germany are
quite a secondary consideration in France.
[Illustration: France. I.
_Printed by G. Löwensohn, Fuerth Bavaria_
_Published by William Clowes & Sons, L^{d}, London._]
France was not content with following the German model when she
re-constituted her Army, but endeavoured to organise a system
whereby an enormous number of trained soldiers should be turned out in
the shortest possible time—something like the “levée en masse” which
took place at the time of the French Revolution in 1793. This has been
the aim of successive war ministers since 1871. It seems to have been
brought to a conclusive issue by the law of the 15th July, 1889, which
for severity and harshness appears to surpass any military sacrifices
and duties ever demanded of any people.
[Sidenote: +New Law.+]
[Illustration:
Hospital Orderly. Surgeon.]
The main points of this law are as follows:—
1. Extension of liability to service from twenty to twenty-five years.
2. Change from five years’ to three years’ service with the Colours.
3. Abolition of all exemptions from service; even the only sons of
widows, the eldest sons of orphans, and those whose brothers are
already serving, must serve one year, and may be sent away at its
conclusion; if, however, they have not given satisfaction in the ranks,
they may be kept on for another two years. Candidates for the higher
professions and theological students will have to serve for one year,
the latter to serve as bearers during active service.
4. One-year Volunteers to be drawn exclusively from students of
science, and from a few moderately high schools.
5. Payment of a military tax by all, and an extra one by those who are
unfit for service, and by any who are conscribed for less than three
years.
[Illustration: Officer of Mountain Rifles.]
A final point is given to this law by stating that no one is to accept
a governmental or departmental office without having previously served
for five years in either Army or Navy, and during two of these years
to have served in the capacity of either officer or non-commissioned
officer.
[Sidenote: +War-Strength.+]
The war-strength of France was, before the passing of this law, and
according to French sources:—
Army of the 1st Line 2,051,458 men.
Army of the 2nd Line 2,057,196 ”
---------
Total 4,108,654 ”
It is almost impossible to calculate, from the new law, what her
strength will be exactly, but it appears to be nearly equal to that of
the three Powers together who form the Triple Alliance!
Whether this law has been promulgated in view of an approaching war, or
whether it will be carried out in all its Spartan severity throughout
the present peace—and long may it last!—is a question only to be
determined by the future. In either case the spirit of self-sacrifice
which has prompted the French to lay the heavy burden on themselves is
much to be admired. The mainspring of this spirit appears, however, to
be more the frantic effort to get back the country’s former military
prestige than pure patriotism.
The peace-strength of France is no criterion by which to measure the
forces that she could put in the field in case of war.
[Sidenote: +Infantry.+]
The Infantry consists of—
162 Line Regiments, each of 3 battalions—486 battalions.
4 Zouave Regiments, each of 4 battalions—16 battalions.
4 Algerian Rifle Regiments (Turcos) 4 battalions—16 battalions.
2 Regiments of the Foreign Legion, 4 battalions—8 battalions.
30 Battalions of Rifles (Chasseurs)—30 battalions.
5 Battalions of African Light Infantry (Zéphyrs)—5 battalions.
Grand total, 561 battalions.
The magazine rifle of the French Infantry, introduced in 1887, and
called after its inventor, Colonel Lebel, director of the Normal
School of Musketry at Chalons, is certainly equal to both the German
and Austrian magazine rifles in shooting and general value. As regards
the powder for its cartridges, the composition of which[19] remains
a secret up till now, the inventor has claimed that its use will
revolutionise Infantry tactics. According to French accounts, the
powder is both noiseless and smokeless. If this were the case, no doubt
it would produce changes in the mode of fighting, and surprises would
be greatly facilitated thereby. Last year, however, experiments were
made at the German Artillery School and at the Manœuvres with an almost
identical powder, the results of which proved that the advantages of
the French powder were greatly exaggerated. The report of the rifle
is distinctly heard, and is little, if at all, less loud than that of
the old powder. The smoke, it is true, is very much less, but is still
quite visible on a still day, its colour being a transparent dull blue.
The new powder, therefore, certainly possesses advantages, but these
will be of little account when all armies—as seems very probable in the
near future—come to use the same powder.
The Lebel rifle is apparently being superseded by a new rifle, that
invented by Captain Pralon, and it is said that the Rifle battalions
will shortly be armed with it. The uniform of the French Infantry is
the same as it has been for the last forty years, the main features in
field-order being the long blue-grey great-coat, red képi and loose red
trousers. The full dress is shako and double-breasted dark-blue
tunic. The Rifle battalions wear blue-grey trousers.
[Illustration: France. II.
_Printed by G. Löwensohn, Fuerth Bavaria_
_Published by William Clowes & Sons, L^{d}, London._]
[Sidenote: +African Troops.+]
The foreign troops, chiefly African, form a remarkable feature in the
French Army; they consist of Zouaves, Turcos, Foreign Legion, and
Spahis, and take the field with the French troops against any Power,
civilised or otherwise.
The Zouaves were originally an Arab tribe, whom the French conquered
and forced to pay tribute. Their dress is picturesque, consisting of
an open blue jacket, red sash, loose red knickerbockers, and white
gaiters, their head-gear being a red fez with or without a white
turban. At the present time, there are but few Africans amongst them,
the greater portion being Frenchmen, pure and simple.
The Turcos are natives of Algeria and Tunis, induced to enlist by a
bounty of £16. Their dress is similar to that of the Zouaves, excepting
that their knickerbockers are blue, or white, instead of red.
Both Zouaves and Turcos have many attributes of good Light Infantry.
The former are renowned for their energy and activity in the attack,
and the latter for their stalking and crawling powers. As long as there
is a prospect of victory, these troops are full of _élan_ and courage,
but a defeat takes much of their spirit out of them.
Another peculiar body of troops are the five battalions of Zéphyrs
Light African Infantry. They consist of very bad characters who are
sent to the Corps as a punishment for their crimes. They garrison
different districts in Algeria, as a rule the most unpleasant ones, and
though formerly never employed in Europe, will now be allowed to do so
in future wars.
The Foreign Legion, numbering 5,000 men, consists of foreigners
voluntarily enlisted for five years. They do not have a happy time of
it.
[Sidenote: +Cavalry.+]
The Cavalry, with the latest additions to it, is composed of 79
regiments of 5 squadrons each (including a depôt-squadron), and 4
regiments of Spahis of 6 squadrons each—total, 419 squadrons. They
consist of—
12 Regiments of Cuirassiers,
28 ” ” Dragoons,
21 ” ” Chasseurs à Cheval,
12 ” ” Hussars,
6 ” ” Chasseurs d’Afrique,
4 ” ” Spahis.
Total, 83 regiments.
The whole of the Cavalry is armed with the cut-and-thrust sword. Lances
there are none. The Cuirassiers carry a revolver, the other regiments a
carbine. The cuirass is still worn in Cuirassier regiments.
The French horse is not by a long way as lasting or as fit for service
as the German (_i.e._, Lithuanian and Hanoverian) horse. Nor is the
French Cavalry soldier a good groom. The Chasseurs d’Afrique and the
Spahis, mounted on Arabian stallions, form exceptions to this rule. The
Spahis are for the most part natives of Africa, officered by Frenchmen.
Their whole appearance produces a novel impression, dressed as they
are in their Oriental attire of blue jacket and baggy breeches, long
red-leather riding-boots, with the white burnous slung over their
shoulders, and mounted on their sinewy little horses, which they guide
at will with a mere turn of the wrist. It is a strange sight to see
these children of the desert at their games, tearing along with wild
war-shrieks and waving their long guns frantically over their heads,
each man and horse straining every muscle to be first in the race.
[Illustration: Railway Troop.]
[Sidenote: +Artillery.+]
The Field Artillery consists of 19 brigades (one to each Army Corps),
each of 2 regiments. One of these regiments has 12, the other 11
batteries, including between them 3 batteries of Horse Artillery,
so that each Army Corps has 23 batteries. Each battery has 6 guns,
fully-horsed even in peace-time. Besides these, some mountain batteries
are going to be formed, but only in case of need.
The Artillery is armed with an excellent (3·53-in.) gun, on the De
Bange system. It was entirely re-armed with these after the 1870–71
campaign, and at an enormous cost.
The Garrison Artillery, 16 battalions of 6 batteries each, is also
armed with first-rate new guns.
[Sidenote: +Engineers.+]
Of Engineers there are 4 regiments, each of 5 battalions. An
independent Railway Regiment has lately been formed.
The Corps of Gendarmerie, numbering as many as 25,000 men, is more or
less connected with the Army, for though in peace-time it is employed
on police-duty, in war-time it would be formed into as many Field
Divisions of military police as would be required for keeping order
in rear of the Army. The Garde-Républicaine of Paris (Cavalry and
Infantry), is a branch of the Gendarmerie, and not of the Army, and
the Regiment of Sapeurs-Pompiers, though militarily organised, is in
reality only the Fire Brigade.
[Illustration: Trumpeter of the Paris Mounted Garde Républicaine.]
The Train consists of 19 squadrons of 5 companies each.
Besides the above troops, there are military corps organised for
Postal and Telegraph service in the field; also a Balloon Corps, a
Carrier-pigeon Corps, a Cyclist Corps, and a Dog-training Corps.
[Sidenote: +Military Schools.+]
There are numerous schools in France intended either for military
education or further military instruction. Chief amongst them is the
Military School of St. Cyr, into which 400 candidates are admitted
every year as cadets, after a competitive examination. The course lasts
for two years, and the cadets are then sent as 2nd lieutenants to the
Infantry and Cavalry. The Polytechnic School in Paris sends 250 cadets
annually under like conditions to the Artillery and Engineers. In the
time of Napoleon I., a great many of the officers, including some of
his most famous marshals, rose from the ranks; and even now a very
large proportion of them come from the same source.
[Sidenote: +Total Forces.+]
The whole of France is divided for administrative and organising
purposes into 18 Regions, in each of which an Army Corps is quartered.
The 19th Corps is in Algeria.
Each Army Corps comprises 2 Infantry Divisions, each of 2 brigades of 2
regiments each, besides a battalion of Rifles, a brigade of Cavalry (2
regiments), and a brigade of Artillery.
On reviewing the size and organisation of the French Army, we cannot
help being struck by the fact that, besides being exceedingly
numerous, it is well organised, well armed, and endowed with a proper
warlike spirit. Although not “the best in the world,” as every
Frenchman will tell you, the French soldier is possessed of many
excellent and soldier-like qualities. One cannot form one’s judgment
by the extremely slack and unsmart appearance of the men, both as
regards physique and uniform. The “Piou-piou,” as the Infantry
soldier is called by his fellow-countrymen, who lounges about with
his képi well on the back of his head and his hands deep in his baggy
trouser-pockets, does certainly not present a soldier-like appearance,
but all the same he is an active and handy man on service, and on the
field of battle advances pluckily through a murderous fire, with little
thought of danger or alarm.
[Illustration: Chasseur d’Afrique.]
If we now come to the question why, with an Army which has given such
numerous proofs in many campaigns of its valour and excellence, France
has not kept up her prestige, the answer is to be found, not in the
morale of the Army, but in that of France herself, a country in which
the spirit of order and subjection, and that stern devotion to duty
which is the foundation of all discipline, have never taken root.
Ambition and desire of conquest form the motive-power of many great and
glorious deeds, and are certainly not wanting in the French character.
Higher than these, however, stands the feeling of duty which keeps a
man at his post through all hardships and perils, without a thought for
his own gain or loss, simply because he has learned to subject his will
to a higher one. On this foundation can be raised a discipline which
permits of no loosening of the bonds of training and order even in
times of disaster, and which keeps up the spirit of the Army and faith
in its final success even under the heaviest blows of misfortune. This
feeling cannot be learnt in a three years’, nor five years’, nor even
twenty-five years’ service, if it is not ingrained and actually born
in the national character and national system of education. Without
these main features even universal conscription itself will not be
successful, and the recent Draconian law in France, although it may
bring forth vast masses of armed men, will not produce that feeling of
combined action and willingness to follow their leaders to the death
which is so characteristic of nations in whom the military spirit is
thoroughly implanted.
France is well-armed for attack as well as defence; for attack, by
means of the great armed masses which she can throw into the enemy
country at the first declaration of war, in conjunction with the
troops she has had stationed on her frontier during peace-time; and
for defence by means of a defensive system on a vast scale, the outer
line of which consists of frontier-fortresses and stop-gap forts from
the Swiss to the Belgian frontier, from Belfort, over the Vosges ridge
to Epinal, now a strong fortress, Toul and Verdun, on the right bank
of the Meuse. Behind this first line of defence a second one has been
built, consisting of entrenched camps between forty and fifty miles
apart, and reaching from Langres to Rheims. There are, in fact, but few
roads into France which are not covered by the fire of some fortress or
other. The central point of the whole of this vast defensive system is
the huge fortress of Paris, which, with her circle of protecting forts
surrounding her on a fifteen-mile radius, is more like a fortified
province than a fortress.
The secret of victory, however, does not lie in vast armaments like
these. “It is the spirit which forms the body” and brings into
subjection the material powers for its own objects. War is not only a
combat of material forces; it is in a higher sense a combat of cultured
forces. Let us, therefore, remember that the best preparation for trial
by combat does not lie in continual striving to over-reach another in
material and brute force, but in the striving after a more complete
development of warlike skill.
ADDENDUM TO FRANCE.
Pp. 46, 47. Now that the new law has come into force, July 1890, the
terms of service have been entirely changed. As the law now stands,
seven-tenths of the annual contingent of recruits have to serve for 3
years, and three-tenths for 1 year. After his colour-service, a man
joins the Active Reserve for 7 (or 9) years, then the Territorial
Army for 6 years, and after that the Territorial Reserve for 9 years
more—total 25 years.
312,000 youths reach the military age (20) every year. Of these only
174,000 are required for colour-service. The effect of the new law will
be that by 1915 A.D. there will be no fewer than 3,500,000 of Frenchmen
properly trained as soldiers and ready to take the field, and 60,000
trained men per annum will have been added to the army!
N.B.—The war-strength of over 4,000,000 given on page 47 includes all
men, old and young, who have ever received any military training, and
is therefore hardly a just estimate of the French fighting-strength.
The latest trustworthy estimates put it at 2,790,000 men.
P. 49. The Cavalry is now, or will be very shortly, composed of 92
regiments of 5 squadrons, and 4 regiments of Spahis of 6 squadrons
each—total, 484 squadrons.
They consist of
14 Regiments of Cuirassiers,
34 ” ” Dragoons,
22 ” ” Chasseurs à Cheval,
14 ” ” Hussars,
8 ” ” Chasseurs d’Afrique,
4 ” ” Spahis.
Total, 96 regiments.
P. 49. 12 Mountain Batteries are being formed. There are, in addition
to the numbers given, 12 batteries in Corsica, Algeria, and Tunis.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 19: Invented by Colonel Bruyère.]
RUSSIA.
Russia is situated, from a military point of view, quite differently
to any other European country, for of the whole Russian Empire only
about a quarter lies in Europe. This quarter, it is true, is larger
than the rest of all Europe put together, but it contains only a third
of the population. Although by far the greater part of her dominions
lies in another continent, Russia has had a pretty large finger in the
European pie, and will in the future, no doubt, often mix herself up
in European politics. Her policy, if it can be called so, is to try to
influence Western questions in such a manner as eventually to bring all
Slav races under her rule.
[Sidenote: +Terms of Service.+]
Russia has therefore organised her Army on an European footing,
and chiefly on the German model. In 1874 she brought in Universal
Conscription, from which, however, the upper classes, _i.e._, the
nobility, the clergy, and officials, are exempt. The actual Colour
service lasts six years; after that the soldier is sent for nine years
more to the Reserve, which can be called out to reinforce the Standing
Army. During the rest of his time, _i.e._, up to his twentieth year of
service he belongs to the Opoltschenie—a body of men similar to the
German Landsturm.
The number of able-bodied young men who annually attain the requisite
age, 21 years, comes to about 800,000. Of these only 225,000 are
conscribed, and the requisite number for the Army are selected from
these by lot; the remainder are sent to the Opoltschenie. The latter
body, therefore, consists of a huge mass of men, but mostly untrained.
There is no middle body of men, like the German Landwehr, in the
Russian Army.
The Regular Army is divided into four bodies, according to the
respective duties required from them. They are the Field Forces,
Reserve Forces, Ersatz Forces, and Local Forces.
The Field Forces are intended to be the first to take the field in case
of war.
[Sidenote: +Infantry.+]
Their Infantry consists of 192 regiments of 4 battalions each, and
58½ Rifle battalions, as follows:—
12 Regiments of the Guard.
16 ” Grenadiers.
164 ” Infantry of the Line.
4 Rifle Battalions of the Guard.
54½ ” ” ” Line.
The Guard Regiments enjoy many privileges denied to the rest, and their
officers rank one step higher in the Army.
Many alterations in the uniform have been made by the present Czar.
The dark green colour has been preserved, but the cut of the tunic has
been altered from that of the Prussian tunic to a loose double-breasted
jacket fastened with hook and eye, and with no buttons. The head-gear
is a round fur-cap, white in the case of Generals and Staff-officers,
and black in all others. The soldier has little to do in the way of
metal-polishing, it is true, but still the eye misses the accustomed
glint which one usually associates with a military uniform. The
Regiments of the Guard and Grenadiers have special distinguishing marks
on their uniform.
[Illustration: Infantry (heavy marching order).]
The Infantry rifle is a useful breech-loader with bayonet, on the
system of the American General Berdan. Regarding the question of
magazine-rifles, the Government has not yet made up its mind; so
that, for the present at all events, Russia is rather behindhand in the
matter.
[Illustration: Cossack of the Guard.]
[Illustration: Cossack of the Caucasus.]
[Sidenote: +Cavalry.+]
The Cavalry of the Field Forces consists of:—
Guard Cavalry:—
4 Regiments of Cuirassiers,
2 ” ” Dragoons,
2 ” ” Hussars,
2 ” ” Lancers,
and 46 regiments of Dragoons of the Line.