THE WORLD'S ARMIES 39 



Empire, are under no definite obligation to furnish troops to assist the mother country 

 beyond their borders in the event of war in any part of the world, but the trend of 

 Imperial policy inclines towards combined action by the naval and military forces of 

 the whole British Empire in a supreme emergency. 



Practically the whole military power of the world is thus confined, for international 

 purposes, between the shores of Britain and Japan, within the contiguous continents 

 of Europe and Asia. Its strongest and most numerous armies are massed in the smallest 

 of its continents. Europe is the pivot of world power and the great danger zone of 

 political cyclones. The armies of Europe are the huge counterweights which turn or 

 balance the scales of international power. To-day these armies control the destiny 

 of Europe; to-morrow they may control the destiny of the world. For the rapid develop- 

 ment of sea-power by the great military nations which is the most important develop- 

 ment in armaments since the substitution of nations-in-arms for standing armies of 

 limited size may extend their power of offence to territories surrounded by ocean 

 frontiers. The significance of this possibility can be realised by remembering that 

 the limits of military power at present are racial as well as geographical. The Slavs, 

 Teutons and Latins of Europe possess it. With a single exception the independent 

 Asiatic races, the Latins of America and the Anglo-Saxons throughout the world, in a 

 comparative sense lack military power. 



Factors of Change. It is clear from this general survey that the effect of recent 

 military developments upon the balance of power must be considered separately in 

 relation firstly to Europe, secondly to Asia, and lastly to the international situation as 

 a whole. With regard to Europe the question is no longer limited to changes in the 

 relative strength and advantages of the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance respec- 

 tively. With the probable continuance of the Balkan League as constituted in 1912, 

 apart from the possible ultimate inclusion of Rumania and Turkey, a new military 

 power may have come into existence, destined to exercise a profound influence upon the 

 balance of power not only in Europe but also in Asia and perhaps beyond the confines 

 of these continents. Even in the somewhat improbable event of the disruption of the 

 League, the principal results of the Balkan war the practical disappearance of Turkey 

 from Europe, a Mediterranean seaboard for Bulgaria, the economic independence of 

 Servia with an outlet to the Adriatic, and the political independence of Albania 

 must in time affect the balance of power in Europe through economic considerations 

 and changes in policy and sea power as well as through military developments. 



Apart from the Balkan War perhaps the most important recent military changes in 

 Europe are those which affect the balance of power through the completion of railways, 

 redistribution of troops and mobilisation. These changes aim at gaining the initiative 

 and strategic advantage on the outbreak of war by a rapid mobilisation and concentra- 

 tion of troops at the desired points. The German strategic railways running both to 

 the Eastern frontier and the Belgian frontier have been completed and the German rail- 

 way system is now linked up with that of Belgium. The conversion of the Russian 

 railways running to the Western frontier from a single to a double track is practically 

 complete. While rearrangements in the German army ensure more rapid mobilisation 

 and an increase of numbers in the first line on the outbreak of war, the redistribution of 

 the Russian army makes mobilisation more secure as well as more rapid. 



In the event of war these changes affect the relative position of France and Germany 

 on the one hand and Germany and Russia on the other. Through an alliance or under- 

 standing with the Belgians or by violating their neutrality and overwhelming their 

 resistance, the Germans may attempt the rapid concentration of a large force in Belgian 

 territory with the object of turning the line of the French northern frontier defences by 

 advancing into France through Belgium. Although Russia formerly possessed on her 

 Western frontier a force superior to that with which the Germans could oppose it, the 

 latter could be mobilised more quickly. Under the present scheme of reorganisation 

 Russia should be secure from the danger of German attack before her mobilisation is 

 complete, but on the other hand, notwithstanding the improvement of her western 



