Review of Reviews, 1UIJ3. 



THE NEXT WAR. 



143 



from that quarter. France has recog- 

 nised that aerial war will be a naval war 

 in the air, and is lending full encourage- 

 ment to the air-ship. By the end of the 

 year 1913, fourteen semi-rigid dirigibles 

 as large as the earlier Zeppelins will be 

 in the service in connection with the 

 French army. There is now in construc- 

 tion, in a factory near Paris, a war air- 

 ship of the Zeppelin type. The French 

 aerial war budget for 191 1 was 

 ^^250,000; for IQI2 it was ;t 800.000 ; 

 and for 191 3 it is estimated at 

 £"1,700,000. 



On the German side of the frontier the 

 work of preparing for the threatened 

 conflict is even more ominous. Four 

 Zeppelin-built giant air dreadnoughts, 

 armed and munitioned as if war were a 

 thing of to-day, keep almost constantly 



in the air, training their crews 



m 



the 



science of navigation, and also in niarks- 

 vianship. The naval Z is stationed at 

 Wilhelmshaven, on the North Sea. The 

 Z / is at Koenigsberg, on the Russian 

 frontier ; the Z 1 1 1 is at Metz, and the 

 Z II is at Cologne — each ready to raid 

 across the French border at a moment's 

 notice. 



GERMANY EASILY FIRST. 



Germany is adding nine units to its 

 fleet of air-flghters : four Zei3pelins 

 (rigid type), one Siemens-Schuckert 

 (non-rigid), two Parsevals (non-rigid), 

 one Schuet<:e-Lanz (rigid), and one Gross 

 (semi-rigid). It is probable that this 

 number will be doubled within another 

 twelve months, during which time Ger- 

 manv expects to add several hundred 

 war 'aeroplanes to the three hundred it 

 now has m service. The ranks of Ger- 

 man officers now count more than four 

 hundred diploma pilots, the most skilled 

 in Europe. Thus not only in numbers 

 of war aeroplanes, but in pilots, Ger- 

 many outclasses France. Germany's 

 budget for the year for its air navy is 

 ;£ 1, 500,000. By popular subscription, 

 too, Germany is increasing its fleet of 

 military air-ships. 



For several decades Euro}^ has ex- 

 isted as a series of armed camps. It has 

 a tremendous population closely 

 gathered together. It has manv points 

 of manufacture and industry where im- 

 mense wealth lies unprotected. Its dis- 



tances are comparatively short. All of 

 these conditions are ideal for the suc- 

 cessful prosecution of offensive aerial 

 warfare. Only a \er}' few hours would 

 be required for the flight of an air 

 dreadnought from Germany to the cen- 

 tre of France or to England ; Paris or 

 London — or both cities — could be at- 

 tacked immediately after a declaration 

 of war ; French or English points of 

 mobilisation, bases of supply, railway 

 lines of communication, and naval sta- 

 tions could be menaced and perhaps 

 destroyed. 



Some morning England, perhaps, or 

 France, or Germany, or some other 

 European power will open its eyes to 

 find its capital and the rear of its armies 

 menaced by hostile air fleets. It will 

 then be called upon to decide whether 

 to accept peace on ignominious terms, 

 or destructive war with humiliating de- 

 feat almost certain. Its only hope of 

 success will rest in its abilit}' to sum- 

 mon, without loss of time, an air navy 

 of its own sufhcienth- strong to destroy 

 the enemy's or drive it across the border. 



ACTUAL ACHIEVEMENT. 



Those who consider this a fanciful 

 picture are deceiving themselves. They 

 have not kept themselves informed. 

 Progress has been made while they slept. 

 They have yet to realise that the 50-mile 

 ship is already in the air. 



The naval Zeppelin and the Z ///, 

 both built by Count Zeppelin for the 

 German Government, have each made 50 

 miles an hour. An air dreadnought is 

 now in process of construction that will 

 have a speed of 55 miles if it meets its 

 contract requirements. The latest-built 

 Schuette-Lanz, the largest air-ship ever 

 constructed, a veritable armour-clad of 

 the air, has just been turned out from 

 the shops in Mannheim. This ship 

 makes fifty miles an hour. The 60-mile 

 ship will be here within a year. These 

 giant air-ships will carry within them- 

 selves sufficient power to enable them to 

 make headway against a storm of tem- 

 pest-like strength. They will be almost 

 independent of weather conditions. 



THE BATTLESHIP OF THE AIR. 

 These shiiis nuuuit guns of great de- 

 struction. A modern light cannon, of 



