PRECIS 
AND 
TRANSLATION. 
AROHIV FUR DIE ARTILLERIE-UND 
ING-ENIEUR OFFIZIERE. 
THE DEVELOPMENT OE THE AUSTRIAN 
MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY. 
BY 
2nd LIEUTENANT A. M. SETON, E. A. 
No continental army, if we consider its necessities of imperial defence, is more 
dependent on the possession of a powerful mountain artillery than is that 
of Austria. France, Spain and Italy must, it is true, be prepared for opera¬ 
tions in the Alps or in the Pyrenees, but in that case it would mostly be a 
matter of crossing those mountains and for this purpose a limited artillery force 
would suffice, since ordinary field artillery could operate in valleys and on table¬ 
lands. Germany would probably not require mountain artillery for any war that 
may be in store for her, although some really difficult defiles are to be found 
in the Vosges and on other parts of her frontiers. Eussia originally formed 
her mountain artillery for service in the Caucasus and it is not difficult to see 
why she has maintained it, recently strengthened it and stationed a part of it 
near her western boundaries. 
The case of Austria-Hungary is quite different. Many of her provinces belong 
essentially to Alpine regions; for example, the Tyrol, Carinthia, Carniola, Styria 
and Northern Austria; in the Carpathian system we have Transylvania and a 
part of Dalmatia. For the defence of her own territory proper Austria must be 
prepared for the possibility of mountain warfare. Even to the present day the 
hilly and wooded province of Bosnia and portions of Herzegovinia are very 
deficient in roads and other means of communication. 
And yet only for the last thirty years.has a real mountain artillery service existed 
in the Austrian army. Mountain guns, it is true, existed in the shape of one and 
three-pounders, which were superseded in 1843 by 12-pr. mountain howitzers. 
But those pieces were only to be found in depots and arsenals and, although 
the Austrian gunner was formerly trained to work, and was drilled at, all other 
6. VOL. VOL. xxiv. 
