328 



FRANCE. 



gineers; and 3 : 772 train. In Tunis there are 

 12,066 men of all arms, with 346 officers. The 

 gendarmerie, including the force in Algeria and 

 Tunis, consists of 22,737 men, with 651 officers, 

 and the Garde Republicaine of 3,048 men, with 

 82 officers. These figures include absent and 

 f urloughed men. Deducting these, the effective 

 strength of the active army is 485,818, and of 

 the gendarmerie and Garde Republicaine 25,526. 

 The war effective is estimated at 3,784,000 men, 

 of whom 2,000,000 belong to the ten-age classes 

 of the active army and its reserve, 1,022,000, to 

 the five classes of the territorial army, and 762,- 

 000 to the reserve of the territorial army. The 

 territorial army has 37,000 officers. The num- 

 ber of men in France who have received military 

 training is about 2,500,000. The French stand- 

 ing army is stronger than the German by 52,139 

 men, and the active troops of the territorial 

 army, numbering 156,000 men, exceed the Ger- 

 man reserves by 34,000 men. The annual recruit 

 for the various categories of troops is 220,000 

 men, or 29,550 more than in Germany. 



The land frontiers of France are guarded by a 

 ring of fortresses beginning at the Mediterranean 

 coast, where eleven Alpine forts block the roads 

 from Italy, and behind them the fortified camps 

 of Briancon, Grenoble, Lyons, and Besan9on pro- 

 tect all the southeast border districts. On the 

 German frontier are the four great fortresses of 

 Belfort, Epinal, Toul, and Verdun, connected by 

 a chain of blockade forts, continued in a row of 

 strong places on the northeastern boundary, 

 making an entry from the east exceedingly diffi- 

 cult. Behind them is a second line of first-class 

 fortresses at Dijon, Langres, Reims, Laon, and 

 Lille, which form the outlying defenses of the 

 extended and strongly fortified position of Paris, 

 the strongest fortress in the world. 



By a law passed in 1890 the organization and 

 duties of the general staff have been altered and 

 the number of officers raised from 300 to 640. 

 Henceforth it will not merely be the military de- 

 partment of the Ministry of War, charged solely 

 with the plans and preparations for a state of 

 war, but will have a less dependent character 

 and will be made large enough to furnish the 

 necessary elements for guiding in connection 

 with the commanders the operations that are 

 carried out in time of peace. The commanders 

 of the army corps to be formed in time of war 

 are already found in the members of the supe- 

 rior council of war, who as inspectors have 

 charge of the corps during peace. One object in 

 augmenting the general staff is to provide staff 

 officers for the new formations created by the 

 recent increase of the war effective. Officers 

 leaving the military academy with qualifications 

 for the general staff serve two years as staff offi- 

 cers with the troops, and when not serving on 

 the general staff they are assigned to duty with 

 their respective arms. The chief of the general 

 staff, instead of being changed with every new 

 Cabinet, is intended hereafter to be more perma- 

 nent. The administrative duties of the staff offi- 

 cers will be transferred to the civil department, 

 The officer who would control the movements of 

 the armies in time of war is to be selected as 

 chief of the general staff in time of peace and 

 the natural intermediary between Gen. Saussier, 

 the commander-in-chief, and the Minister of 



War, Gen. de Miribel, who had been chief of 

 the general staff under Gen. Cissey and Gen. 

 Carnpenon, and was a member of the ordnance 

 commission and of the council of war and com- 

 mander of the Sixth Corps, was chosen as chief 

 of the general staff in May, 1890. 



The Navy. The effective line-of-battle ships 

 in 1890 were 32 in number, of which 17 were 

 built of steel or iron and steel and the others 

 mostly of iron and wood. The 14 barbette ships 

 range in size from 7,100 to 11,200 tons and in 

 speed from 11 to 15 knots, with armor varying 

 in thickness from 8f to 22 inches. Of these the 

 " Amiral Baudin," carrying three 14f-inch and 

 twelve 5^-inch guns, the ' Formidable," carrying 

 three 14|-inch and twelve 5-^-inch guns, with 

 engines of 8,320 horse-power, the "' Amiral Du- 

 perre," armed with four 13|-inch and fourteen 

 5i-inch guns, the "Caiman," " Indomptable," 

 and " Terrible," each carrying two 16^-inch and 

 four small guns, the " Requin," which has in ad- 

 dition two lOf-inch guns, the "Bayard," the 

 " Turenne," the " Vauban," and the " Duguesc- 

 lin " were all launched since 1879. There are 7 

 central battery ships, of which only the " Cour- 

 bet " and the " Devastation," twin vessels, of 15|- 

 and 15-inch armor, 8,000 horse-power, a speed of 

 15 knots, a displacement of 9,500 and 9,930 tons, 

 and an armament of four 13|-inch, four lOf-inch, 

 and six 5|-inch guns, are of so recent a date. 

 The " Hoche," the " Marceau," and the " Nep- 

 tune " are turret ships, each having a displace- 

 ment of 10,580 tons and 18 inches of side armor. 

 The turrets are mounted with four 13^-inch 

 guns, except on the " Hoche," which carries two 

 of that caliber and two of 10f inches, with twen- 

 ty 5-J-inch or 2f-ton guns, of which each of the 

 others has seventeen. The " Hoche," with en- 

 gines of 5,560 horse-power, is designed to steam 

 17 knots, while the two others, with engines of 

 5,500 horse-power, can make 16^ knots. They 

 were launched in 1887, a year after the " Hoche," 

 and the " Magenta," of the same class, was still 

 on the stocks at Toulon in 1890. The 5 barbette 

 cruisers and 2 broadside ships are of older type, 

 having 6-inch armor and no guns over 15 tons. 

 The armor-clad coastguards comprise 3 barbette 

 ships, 8 turret ships, 2 turret gun vessels, and 3 

 barbette gun vessels. Two of the barbette ships, 

 launched in 1880 and 1883, are plated with 171- 

 inch armor and carry two 48-ton guns each. All 

 of the five gun vessels have been built since 1884. 

 The torpedo flotilla consists of 4 torpedo cruis- 

 ers, 8 dispatch boats, 17 sea-going torpedo boats, 

 51 first-class, 60 second-class, and 7 third-class 

 torpedo boats, and 1 submarine boat. Besides 

 the " Magenta " there are building the " Bren- 

 nus," of 10,480 tons, 2 armored cruisers, 2 first- 

 class cruisers of about 4,200 tons, 3 second-class 

 cruisers of 3,000 tons, and 3 third-class cruisers 

 of 1,900 tons, with a speed of 19 or 20 knots. 

 The navy already possesses 7 deck-protected 

 cruisers, armed with 2f-ton and 5-ton guns, 5 of 

 which, all launched since 1886, are built of steel 

 and are designed to steam 19 or 19^ knots. One 

 of iron and steel, launched in 1887 can make 20 

 knots an hour. The programme of construct ion 

 provides for 1 new battle ship, 5 armored cruis- 

 ers, and 5 coast-defense vessels, all to be com- 

 pleted by 1895. It is proposed to build 3 more 

 first-class ironclads, and 5 additional protected 





