GERMANY. 



315 



120.000. ooo marks in gold set aside from the French 

 war indemnity and locked up in the fortress of Span- 

 dan. The total Humilities of the empire on March 

 :!1. IS!)."). jnn..nnted to 2.091. 250.1 100 marks. During 

 the financial 'year IMl") they were increased liy I'Ju.- 

 3(in.OiiO marks. Of the total amount received from 

 loans, which was 129.23:1.550 marks less than the 

 nominal figure. 1.254.5(10.000 marks were spent on 



rmy, 278,750,000 marks on the navy. 2t>2.noo.- 

 000 marks on railroads and military defenses con- 

 nected with them, and 62.7oO.000 mark- mi t lie postal 

 service. The Baltic Canal cost 105. 250.000 marks, 

 and 52,000.000 marks were expended in brin. 

 the free ports of Bremen and Hamburg into the 



ms union. To offset the debts the Imperial 



rnment possesses valuable assets, such as land 

 and buildings acquired with the loans contracted 

 for the army, which are valued at 900.000.000 marks, 

 railroads and property relating thereto valued at 

 7tiO.dOO.000 marks, and postal and telegraph offices 

 of the value of 300.000,000 marks, besides the war 

 treasure and unspent balances and credits amount- 

 ing together to 360,000.000 marks. 



The Army. p]very German capable of bearing 

 arms is liable for military service between the ages 

 of twenty and forty. The period of service in the 

 active army is two years for the infantry and three 

 years in the cavalry and horse artillery. Out of 

 360.000 young men who are physically fit and legally 

 liable to serve each year on the completion of their 

 twentieth year some 60,000 are drafted into the 

 army. In addition, about 8.000 who have passed 

 their examinations in the gymnasia are admitted as 

 volunteers, who have to serve one year only and 

 find themselves. All able-bodied men between the 

 ages of seventeen and forty-five who are not in the 

 standing army, the Landwehr, or the Ersatz reserve 

 are enrolled in the Landsturm. The peace strength 

 of the army was fixed by the army law of Aug. 3, 



at 479,229 men. exclusive of "officers, for the 

 five years ending March 31, 1899. The actual 

 strength in 1S96" was 22.618 officers and 562,116 

 men. with 97.280 horses. There were 11.774 officers 

 and 363.432 men in the 173 regiments of infantry, 

 410 officers and 12.027 men in 19 battalions of rifles, 

 7:'.4 officers and 5.413 men distributed in 290 dis- 

 trict commands, and 2.714 surgeons, instructors, 

 etc., making the total strength of the infantry 

 12.918 officers and .3S3.5S6 rank and file. The cav- 

 alry consisted of 93 regiments, containing 2.352 

 officers and 65.499 men. be>ides *28 on special serv- 

 ice. The field artillery of 43 regiments, containing 

 2.671 officers and 58,424 men. besides 809 on special 

 service. Of foot artillery there are 17 regiments 

 and an extra battalion, having 869 officers and 

 22.*57 men, besides 132 on special service. The 

 pioneers, consistingof 23 battalions. 3 railroad regi- 

 ments, 1 balloon detachment. 1 railroad battalion, 

 and 3 railroad companies, numbered 729 officers 

 and 19,018 men. besides 124 on special service. 

 There are 21 battalions of train, containing 307 

 officers and 7.631 men. besides (19 on special service. 

 The special formations number 486 officers and 

 2.*96 men. The army is organized in 20 corps 

 d'annte. of which Bavaria forms 2. Saxony 1. "Wi'ir- 

 tembergl.and Prussia in common with the other 

 states 15. besides the corps of the guards. From 3 

 to 5 corps constitute an army inspection, of which 

 there are 5. Each rdr/ix d'annff consists ordinarily 

 of 2 division?, composed of infantry and cavalry, 

 with 1 brigade of field artillery, to which is at- 

 tached a battalion of train. 1 regiment or 1 bat- 

 talion of foot artillery, and 1 battalion of pioneers. 

 Each division is composed of 2 brigades of infan- 

 try and 1 of cavalry, each brigade comprising 2 regi- 

 ments of 3 battalions. The strength of a battalion 

 in time of peace is 544 men. which is raised in war 



to 1,002 men by calling in a part of the res. 

 The guards and the regiments garrisoning Ai- 

 Lorraine have a peace Mivngil u. There 



are 494 field batteries, of which 47 are mounted. 

 The war strength of the Germany army is estimated 

 at 3.000.000 men, who have been trained in military 

 duties. Those who escape conscription and are in- 

 scribed in the Ersatztruppen are expected to under- 

 go twenty weeks of drill, divided into three periods. 

 By the army bill of 1S93. increasing the | 

 strength of the army by about 70.000 men. in return 

 for which the Government granted the country the 

 reduction of the period of service to two years for 

 the infantry, there were created incomplete rat! rex 

 of fourth battalions, which were attached to each 

 regiment. These half battalions were expected to 

 relieve the three full battalions of extra work, to 

 train one-year volunteers, and to lighten the task of 

 mobilization. The difficulty of training these half 

 battalions in war manu-uvres and other disadvan- 

 tages outweighed their positive value, and conse- 

 quently this system of organization was changed in 

 the army bill" of 189G. whereby the 173 existing 

 fourth battalions were combined to form 86 battal- 

 ions proper, each 500 strong, and these were formed 

 into regiments of 2 battalions, every 2 regiments 

 making a new brigade. For the reorganization 

 10.500.000 marks were voted, and the annual in- 

 crease in expenses was reckoned at 500.000 marks. 



The >'avy. The vessels of the German navy are 

 divided between the Baltic and the North Sea 

 squadrons. The Kaiser AVilhelm Canal across 

 Sehleswig-IIolstein. connecting the naval ports of 

 Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. which was opened in 

 June, 1895. was built to enable the forces to be 

 safely and instantly concentrated in either sea. 

 The navy consists of 4 first-class battle ships, 5 of 

 the second class, and 4 of the third class. 12 ships 

 for port defense. 9 first-class cruisers, 11 of the sec- 

 ond class, and 23 of the third class, and 23 other 

 effective fighting ships, besides 128 first-class and 4 

 second-class torpedo boats. The Government sub- 

 sidizes 7 ocean steamers as auxiliary merchant 

 cruisers. The navy is manned by conscription of 

 the seafaring population, which is estimated at 

 80.000. of whom 48.000 are serving in the merchant 

 navy of Germany and 6.000 on foreign vessels. 



The programme of naval construction which was 

 to have been executed before the end of 1895. pro- 

 vided for 4 first-class battle ships, 9 coast-defense 

 armor clads, 11 cruisers. 7 of them deck-protected, 

 2 dispatch vessels, and 2 torpedo division boats. 

 On April 1. 1888, the fleet numbered 79 vessels, 

 while on April 1. 1895, it numbered 91 vessels, 

 not including torpedo boats. The aggregate ton- 

 nage of the navy was 1S2.470 tons in isss. and in 

 I 1 -!).") it was 26(5.237 tons, while the aggregate horse 

 power was increased from 189.605 to 305.220. The 

 annual current expenditure for the navy has grown 

 from 37.000.000 to 55.000.000 marks. The total ex- 

 penditure for extraordinary purposes during the 

 eight years was 233.000.000 marks, and the value of 

 the fleet is estimated at 307.000.000 marks. The 

 programme still lacks much of being carried out in 

 its entirety. The 4 first-class ironclad battle ships 

 recommended in the programme have been built, 

 also the 9 armored vessels, but of 11 cruisers only 1 

 has been completed : 2 more first-class cruisers have 

 been begun, and plans have been approved : 



>isei-s. In the estimates for 1*96 

 more than 7.000.000 marks were set down for new 

 vessels. The Reichstag authorized the building of 

 a first-class battle ship to replace the antiquated 

 " Friedrich der Gro--e." and 1 third-class and 2 

 second-class cruisers, a torpedo division boat, and 

 additional torpedo boats. The gunboat ' Iltis " was 

 driven upon the rocks by a typhoon on July 23, 



