GERMANY. 



323 



officers and 31,810 men, with 5,369 horses; 

 the army of the King of Wurtemberg, 807 

 officers and 19,946 men, with 3,694 horses. 



The increase in the peace effective of the 

 German army under the septennate law of 

 1887 is 41,135 men. Of these, 33,298 go to 

 increase the infantry. Of the 31 new battal- 

 ions are created four new Prussian regiments 

 and one Saxon, while fourth battalions are 

 added to 15 Prussian regiments, and a new 

 battalion of Saxon Jagers is formed. The ef- 

 fective of each Prussian battalion is raised from 

 509, including 18 officers, to 592. Of the 335,- 

 328 troops in active service, 42,967 are sta- 

 tioned in Alsace-Lorraine. The system of re- 

 serve which has been adopted enables Ger- 

 many to fill the cadres of 166 fourth battalions 

 on the day following mobilization, and thus 

 have 700 battalions available for service. The 

 artillery batteries are increased from 340 to 364, 

 while arrangements are introduced for the for- 

 mation of 91 more in case of mobilization. 



The German army is divided into 18 army 

 corps, viz., 11 Prussian, besides the Guard, 

 which forms a distinct corps; the Saxon, 

 Baden, and Wurtemberg corps, which are 

 numbered 12, 13, and 14; the new Alsace- 

 Lorraine corps, which is called the 15th ; and 

 2 Bavarian corps, which have no numbers. A 

 Hessian division is attached to the llth corps. 

 During the past five years the peace effective 

 of the German army has been increased 65 bat- 

 talions and 385 guns. 



The fortifications on the French frontier, 

 with the railroads, have been designed with 

 reference to a rapid offensive movement. 

 Strong works and strategic railroads have also 

 been built on the Russian frontier, but more 

 of a defensive nature and without the same 

 facilities for rapid concentration. The Ger- 

 man troops on the Russian frontier have been 

 increased 21 battalions of infantry, 27 batteries 

 of artillery, and 15 squadrons of cavalry. 

 Since 1878 Germany has built in the eastern 

 provinces 4,850 kilometres of railroads. There 

 are 11 German railroads, by means of which 

 troops can be forwarded to the Russian fron- 

 tier, and ten junction stations where they can 

 be thrown out of trains and concentrated. 

 Germany has created first-class fortresses at 

 Thorn, Posen, Dantzic, and Konigsberg, and is 

 building a similar fortress at Grandenz. 



In the autumn session of the Reichstag, bills 

 were introduced for the reorganization of the 

 Landsturm, and the modification of the condi- 

 tions of service in the Landwehr. Both the 

 Landwehr and the Landsturm will henceforth 

 be divided into two classes. In the first class 

 of the Landwehr the term of service is, as now, 

 five years ; while in the second class, in which 

 there is no drill and no periodical roll-call, 

 with liberty to emigrate, the liability to service 

 continues until the men have completed their 

 thirty-ninth year. The first class of the Land- 

 Sturm consists of persons who have, for some 

 reason, not served in the army, but who remain 



liable to serve until they have completed their 

 thirty-ninth year. The second class of the 

 Landsturm will only be called out in the last 

 line of defense, and will be composed of mtn 

 who have already served, or are still liable to 

 service, and are between the ages of thirty-nine 

 and forty -five. 



The Navy. The war fleet on April 1, 1887, 

 consisted of 13 armorclad ships, carrying 143 

 guns ; 14 smaller iron-clads and protected ves- 

 sels, with 17 guns ; 9 frigate cruisers, with 122 

 guns, 8 corvettes, with 94, and 5 other cruis- 

 ers with 22; 5 gunboats, with 16 guns; 5 

 avisos, with 12 guns; 11 school-ships, with 84 

 guns ; and 31 vessels for various purposes, hav- 

 ing 9 guns. The aggregate tonnage is 182,- 

 102 ; the number of men in the crews, 16,581. 

 The military marines, according to the budget 

 ofl887-'88, number 15,256. The "Schwalbe," 

 a new cruiser of 1,300 tons, was launched at 

 Wilhelmshaven in 1887. She is intended for 

 service on the coasts of the African colonies, 

 and has a speed of 13^ knots. The armament 

 consists of 4 Krupp guns of 10^ centimetres' 

 caliber, firing fore and aft, and 4 revolving can- 

 non of the same description. 



Dissolution of the Reichstag. On January 11 

 the Chancellor made his final appeal to the 

 Reichstag in behalf of an increase of the army 

 by 41,000 men, and a new septennial army 

 budget. " The probability of a French attack 

 on us," he said, " which does not exist to-day, 

 will arise upon the accession to power of an- 

 other Government than the present, if France 

 has any reason to believe that she can overcome 

 us. Then, I believe, war will be quite certain." 

 If the French, he added, thought that their 

 army was more numerous than that of Ger- 

 many, their artillery more efficient, or their 

 armament more effective, the resolution to go 

 to war might be taken, for as soon as they be- 

 lieved themselves able to win, they would be- 

 gin war. That was his firm and irreversible 

 conviction, which he based upon long experi- 

 ence in politics. He had no fear of Germany 

 being worsted, but they must allow for the 

 possibility. Those who pretended that the 

 army needed no strengthening were civilians ; 

 but generals and officers who had been in con- 

 tact with French sabers were of a very differ- 

 ent opinion. It would not do to underesti- 

 mate the strength of France. "France," said 

 Prince Bismarck, " is a great and powerful 

 country, as powerful as we. France has a war- 

 like people, and a brave people, and at all times 

 has possessed skillful generals. It is an acci- 

 dent that the French have succumbed to us. 

 You underestimate the French in a most mis- 

 taken way, and it would be vanity to say that 

 France might at once be regarded as beaten if 

 she were opposed to us." Moltke expressed 

 his conviction that if the demands of the Gov- 

 ernment were refused war would be certain. 



Dr. von Stauffenberg, a deputy of the Op- 

 position, moved to fix the peace establishment 

 of the army at 468,409 men, the figure de- 



