Kelly Miller's History of the World War for Human Rights Part 27

FRENCH MILITARY DIVISIONS.

There are two infantry regiments, composed of from six to eight battalions, to the brigade, in the French army, with two brigades to a division and two divisions to an army corps. A field artillery regiment, consisting of nine batteries of four guns each, is attached to each division. With nine field and three howitzer batteries and six reinforcing batteries added under mobilization, each corps on a war footing has 144 guns. There is also added to every army corps in the field one cavalry brigade of two regiments, one cavalry battalion, engineer companies and sanitary and service troops. The cavalry divisions are composed of three brigades of two regiments each--together with three batteries of horse artillery. There is in an army corps, when mobilized, approximately 33,000 combatants, and in a cavalry division 4,700 men. An aeronautical corps in the French army consists of 334 aeroplanes and 14 dirigibles.

In the Reserve army at the time of mobilization there were two divisions in each region, corresponding to those in the active army. When they were mobilized the 36 reserve divisions contained virtually the same organization and strength as the troops of the line. There were a large number of troops for garrisoning the various fortresses when the regional regiments, engineers and foot artillery were utilized for this work.

The Territorial army also consists of 36 divisions and garrison troops.

When the remaining men of the Reserve and Territorial armies were summoned to the depots they were available to maintain the field army at full strength.

In the French field army there were 20 army corps, a brigade consisting of 14 battalions, and 10 divisions of cavalry, when war was declared.

When this was raised to its full war strength the active army numbered 1,009,000 men, the reserves and depots 1,600,000, the Territorial army 818,000, and the Territorial Reserve 451,000, a grand total of 3,878,000 soldiers. At this critical time, therefore, France had at her command about 5,000,000 trained men.

Lebel magazine rifles of .315 inches caliber are used by the infantry, while the cavalry uses the Lebel carbine. The field piece is a rapid-fire gun of 7.5 centimeters, or 2.95 inches, of the model of 1907, and is provided with a s.h.i.+eld for the protection of the gunners. A howitzer of 12 or 15.5 centimeters is the type used by the French army.

The French artillery is generally admitted to be in a cla.s.s by itself, and the commissariat is excelled by none other. The infantry is most deceptive in appearance, but the ability of the French to march and attack has never been surpa.s.sed.

THE RUSSIAN ARMY.

There are 1,284,000 men in the Russian army in times of peace, while the war strength is 5,962,306. The young man of Russia is compelled to enter the army at the age of 20 years, the military service being compulsory and universal, terminating at the age of 43 years. The period of service in the active army is three years in the case of the infantry and artillery, and four years in other branches of the service. The soldier then pa.s.ses to the reserve, where he serves for 14 or 15 years, during which period he receives two trainings of six weeks each. After 18 years in the active and reserve armies he is transferred to the Territorial army for five years. There also exists a modified system of volunteers for one year who supply the bulk of officers required for the reserve upon mobilization.

The Russian army is divided into three forces, the army, of the European Russia, the army of the Caucasus and the Asiatic army. There are 1,000 men in a Russian battalion, 4 battalions const.i.tuting a regiment, 2 regiments a brigade and 2 brigades a division.

RUSSIAN FIELD BATTERIES.

The field batteries are composed of 8 guns, the horse batteries of 6.

The ordinary army corps is made up of 2 divisions, a howitzer division and one battalion of sappers, and has a fighting strength of approximately 32,000 men. The rifle brigades form separate organizations of 8 battalions with 3 batteries attached. The Cossacks, who hold their lands by military tenure, are liable to service for life, and provide their own equipment and horses. At 19 their training begins; at 21 they enter the active regiment of their district; at 25 they go into what is termed the "second category" regiment, and at 29 the "third category"

regiment, followed by 5 years in the reserve. After 25 years of age, their training is 3 weeks yearly. In European Russia the field army consists of the Imperial Guard and Grenadier Corps, 27 line army corps and 20 cavalry divisions; in the Caucasus of 3 army corps and 4 cavalry divisions. The Asiatic army is composed of Russians with a few Turkoman irregular horse, and is mainly stationed in East Siberia. Since the Russian-j.a.panese war these forces have been increased and reorganized into a strong army which, at the outbreak, was capable of mobilizing, together with auxiliary troops, more than 200,000 men.

The small-arm of the infantry is the "3-line" rifle of the 1901 model.

It has a magazine holding five cartridges, a caliber of .299 inches, a muzzle velocity of 2,035 foot seconds, and is sighted to 3,000 yards.

The arm of the cavalry and Cossacks has a barrel 2-3/4 inches shorter, but uses the same ammunition, and is provided with a bayonet which no other mounted troops use. The field piece is a Krupp rapid-fire, s.h.i.+elded gun, of the 1902 model, with a muzzle velocity of 1,950 foot seconds, the sh.e.l.l weighing 13-1/2 pounds.

AUSTRIA-HUNGARIAN ARMY.

There are 472,716 men in the army of Austria-Hungary during times of peace, with a war strength of 1,360,000 soldiers. Military service is universal and compulsory, beginning at the age of 19 years, and ending at the age of 43 years. The term of service in the common or active arm of the service is for two years in the case of the infantry and three years in the cavalry and horse artillery.

There is a Landwehr, or first reserve, in which the term of service is 10 years in the infantry, and seven for the cavalry or horse artillery, which service is followed by that in the Landsturm, or second reserve, in which the soldier serves until his forty-second birthday. Hungary possesses a separate and distinct Landwehr and Landsturm, which const.i.tute the Hungarian National army. There is also a supplementary reserve intended to maintain the units of the common army at full strength.

The Empire is divided into 16 army corps districts, each presumed to furnish a complete army corps of two divisions to the active army. Every infantry division is composed of two brigades of 8 battalions each, 1 artillery brigade and 10 batteries of six guns, a regiment of cavalry, and a rifle battalion. The army corps also contains a regiment of field artillery or howitzers, a pioneer battalion and a pontoon company, and numbers about 34,000 combatants.

There are 6 permanent cavalry divisions, each made up of 2 brigades--24 squadrons, 3 batteries of horse artillery and a machine-gun detachment numbering about 4,000 men. It is estimated that the war strength is, active army, 1,360,000; Austrian Landwehr, 240,000; Hungarian Landwehr, 220,000; Landsturm, 2,000,000 and reserve of 500,000, or a grand total of 4,300,000.

The infantry carries the Mannlicher magazine rifle, .315-caliber and a cavalry carbine of the same make. The field gun is a Krupp which uses a 14-1/2-pound shrapnel and the field howitzer is a 10.5 centimeter piece which fires a 30-pound sh.e.l.l. The Hungarian cavalry is accounted fine, but the main force is not regarded as efficient as the German or French.

THE ITALIAN ARMY.

The army of Italy on a peace footing is only about 250,860 men, exclusive of the troops in Africa, but the country is able to mobilize a large force, and some of its branches of service are the most efficient in the world. Service is compulsory and general, beginning at the age of 20 years. After two years in the standing army there are six years in the reserve, four years in what is known as the mobile militia and seven years in the territorial militia.

There is compulsory training in both the reserve and the territorial militia, ranging from two weeks to six weeks. In organization each division of the army consists of 2 brigades composed of 2 regiments, comprising 3 battalions, together with a regiment of field artillery, with 5 batteries. The division has a war strength of 14,156 officers and men and 30 guns. The cavalry division comprises 2 brigades of 4 regiments and 2 horse batteries. Each army corps has two divisions in which are included a regiment of field artillery, 3 heavy batteries, a regiment of cavalry and one of light infantry.

There is available for army service the military police, known as the Carabinieri, besides the aeronautical corps, with half a dozen or more companies, 30 aeroplanes and a dozen airs.h.i.+ps. There are also the frontier troops organized for defense of the mountains, and which troops waged heroic and picturesque warfare in the mountain pa.s.ses. There are in these troops 8 regiments of Alpine infantry, comprising 26 battalions, and 2 regiments of 36 mountain batteries.

The army strength approximates 2,600,000, made up of 700,000 active army, 400,000 mobile militia, which is the second line of defense, and the territorial militia, about 1,500,000. The infantry is armed with a magazine rifle of 6.5 millimeters caliber known as the Mannlicher Carcano, but up to the beginning of the war the territorials used a different type.

GREAT BRITAIN'S ARMY.

The military establishment of Great Britain consists of the Regular army and the Territorial army, aside from the Indian army and the local forces in the various colonies. These armies are recruited from youth between the ages of 18 and 25 years, who are recruited by voluntary enlistment. The enlistment period is for 12 years, although it can be prolonged under certain circ.u.mstances to 21 years.

Three to nine years is the period with the colors, and the remainder of the enlistment is with the Army Reserve. Many men elect to serve seven years with the colors and five with the reserve. Recruits are subjected to five months' training, and each year are called out for six weeks, supplemented by six days' musketry practice for the infantry.

The Home army consists of 9,740 officers and 172,610 men, the Army Reserve of 147,000 and the Special Reserve of 80,120, and the Territorial army of 313,485, a total of 724,955 men. Raised to war strength, these forces would number 29,330 officers, 772,000 men and 2,072 guns, the batteries being of six guns, except the heavy batteries and those of the Territorial army, which have four. During the Boer War England put more than 1,000,000 men in the field.

The United Kingdom is divided into seven "commands," and the London district, all of which include from two to three territorial divisions, and one to four territorial cavalry brigades, in addition to detachments of varying size from the Regular army. Two nearly full divisions are stationed at Aldershot and in Ireland, one complete division in the Southern and one in the Eastern "command." There are also six aeroplane squadrons, each with 18 aeroplanes.

The Lee-Enfield rifle, caliber .303, is the arm of the infantry and cavalry. In the Regular army the field artillery has an 18-pounder Armstrong gun, the horse artillery a 13-pounder, the field howitzers are 40-pounders, and the heavy batteries are armed with 60-pounders.

The Territorial army was organized along the lines of the American militia, and could scarcely be expected to distinguish itself when pitted against the German regulars.

BELGIAN ARMY PEACE FOOTING.

The Belgian army peace footing is 3,542 officers and 44,061 men, with a war strength estimated at from 300,000 to 350,000. The infantry is armed with the Mauser rifle, the artillery with a s.h.i.+elded Krupp quick-fire piece of 7.5-centimeter caliber.

In 1913 the Netherlands had in its standing army 1,543 officers and 21,412 men and 152 guns. On a war footing it could probably be raised to 270,000 men. The small arm is the Mannlicher rifle and carbine, the field gun is the same as that of Belgium.

Servia has 10 divisions, divided into 4 army corps. The peace footing is 160,000, and the war strength about 380,000. The rifle is the Mauser model of 1899, and the field piece a quick-firing gun of the French Schneider-Canet system.

Bulgaria has a peace army of about 3,900 officers and 56,000 men. It is armed with the Mannlicher magazine rifle, the Mannlicher carbine, the Schneider quick-fire gun and a light Krupp for the mountain batteries.

On a war footing the country musters 4 army corps and 550,000 men.

Roumania's army is about 5,460 officers and 98,000 men. On a war footing it has 5 army corps and 580,000 men. The infantry uses the Mannlicher magazine rifle and the cavalry the Mannlicher carbine. The field and horse batteries are armed with the Krupp quick-fire gun of the model of 1903.

In 1912 Greece had a peace establishment of 1,952 officers and 23,268 men, but the recent war has caused her to augment them to 3 army corps, and her war footing is not far from 250,000 men. The infantry is armed with the Mannlicher-Schonauer rifle of the 1903 model and the field artillery with Schneider-Canet quick-fire guns.

j.a.pan has a peace strength of 250,000 men, with a reserve of 1,250,000, and a total war strength of 1,500,000 men, out of a total available force capable of fighting of approximately 8,239,372 men.

SPAIN'S STANDING ARMY.

The standing army of Spain is 132,000 men. The reserves are estimated at 1,050,000, and the total war strength at 1,182,000. The total available unorganized force is 2,889,197 men.

The army of Denmark on a peace footing is 13,725 men, with a reserve of 71,609. The total war strength is a little more than 85,000 men, and the total fighting population is approximately 470,000.

Sweden has a peace strength in excess of 75,000 men, and a reserve of more than 500,000, giving an estimated war strength of 600,000 men. The total available unorganized force is about 500,000.