324 



I'HE MILITARY AND flNAMCIAL 



THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



The armed forces of Russia, according to the laws of 1876 and 

 1888, are obtained by conscription, to which all men from their 

 2 1 St year, capable of bearing arms, are liable. Clergymen, doctors, 

 and teachers are exempt, in time of peace, and all Mahomedans, on 

 payment of a military tax, are also free. The period of service is 

 23 years — 5 years in the active army, 13 years in the reserve, and 5 

 in the territorial. 



The Russian Navy consists of the fleets of the Baltic and the 

 Black Seas ; the duration of service in the Navy is fixed at 10 years, 

 7 in the Active and 3 in the Reserve. 



The levies furnished by the Cossacks are regulated by Treaties, 

 and are divided into seven divisions, called Voiskos, each of which 

 furnish a certain number of regiments, fully armed and equipped, 

 ready to enter the field in ten days. The total Cossack force is 

 calculated in time of war to be 154,015 officers and men. 



The following figures include the Army of Russia, the Armies of 

 Finland, the country of the Don Cossacks, Orenburg, and Siberia, 

 which may be calculated at 211,441 men; so that the Czar can 

 bring into the field a grand total, on a war footing, of 2,392,327 

 warriors. 



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THE MILITARY AND NAVAL EXPENDITURE. 



The finances of Russia, since the beginning of the century, 

 exhibit large annual deficits, partly caused by an enormous 

 expenditure for war, and partly by the coristruction of railways for 

 strategic military purposes. The finances of Finland and Poland 

 are not included in the Russian Budgets. 



The National Debt, which dates from 1798, and has been chiefly 

 created by wars, particularly the Crimean War, the cost of which 



