THE GERMAN ARMY

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLI, Issue 5, 29 July 1908, Page 46

THE GERMAN ARMY

Most Scientifically Organised Force in the World

IN a remarkable report made last week by General Blume, that Jamons officer said that in the ease of war Germany could put 4,750,000 soldiers in the field. This huge total, of course, includes the Landwehr and other reserves; but it is probably no exaggeration of Germany’s military resources. France, which is probably inferior in military strength to Germany, claims to be able to put four and a half million troops in the field, and Russia five million; while Austria can command the services of two and three-quarter million; Italy three and a quarter million; and even Turkey can place under arms a force that is as large numerically as the armies of Japan, one and a half million strong. But, while most of these Continental armies are ‘'paper’ forces, Germany has given many proofs that her real strength on land or sea is always equal to the estimate of her naval or military experts. General Blume says the annual cost to his country of maintaining uiqi enormous number of men in the field would be no less than £3,000,000, and he estimates that a European war of the same duration lit--, the Russo-Japanese would cause at least 900,000 casualties, and would become a veritable orgy of blood. These staggering figures draw one’s attention to the forces of which the General speaks, and it is generally admitted that the German Army of to-day is the most efficient fighting organisation that the "world has ever seen; and it has served as a model for the armies of most other countries. The Austrian army has been organised on methods copied exactly from the German system.

The Japanese army also took its methods in organisation as well as in strategy and tactics from Germany and German officers. The Chinese army has now adopted German methods. Nearly all the smaller countries of Europe with aspirations to military efficiency have borrowed officers from the German army to instruct their troops. The Turkish array was so organised. The German Emperor. who in times of peace shares the authority over the army with his fellow’ German sovereigns, the kings of Bavaria, Saxony, and Wurtemberg, becomes in time of war supreme and Commander-in-f'hief or “War-Lord,” of the entire military forces of the Empire. The German military system is based on thi' principle of compulsory service for every male inhabitant of the country (writes W'ji). Fitzgerald). Compulsory service calls for some method whereby every male subject of tlie Empire can b:> traced and compelled to perform his military duties. This supervision is exercised by a system of universal registration which is stringently enforced. The police of every German city have a register containing the name, the age, and other particulars of every man, woman, and child within their sphere of activity. As soon as a person rents a lodging, he is compelled to fill an official form giving these particulars, which must be handed to the

police within forty-eight hours of his arrival. As often as he changes his lodgings, he must go through the same process, in order that the police may trace every movement that he makes. This system of police registration enables the authorities to enforce universal military service. On January Ist of the year in which he attains his twentieth birthday, every male German must report himself in his own district to the military authorities. The whole German Empire is divided into comparatively small districts, in which recruiting for the army is conducted by special military, commissions, composed of officers drawn from the local garrisons. At appointed times, which are made known by publie proclamation, as well as by printed circulars to those immediately concerned, the recruiting commission holds a sitting for the selection of military recruits. All these young men who have reached the proper age must present themselves lor examination. Those who are sound are selected for immediate military service. Others who have minor defects are temporarily rejected, and required to come up for another examination after a stated period. Others, again, who do not come up to the required standard, escape, active service in the standing army, and are immediately passed into the reserves, w’hero their military training is less arduous and involves smaller sacrifice of time. Men who are physically incapable of bearing arms are rejected altogether, and receive a certificate of exemption. A young German enjoys little liberty until he has presented himself to the recruiting commission. Previous to this he is not per-

mitted to leave the country, unless he have a special passport, which is given on condition that be will return to perform his military duties at the appointed time. If he succeeds in obtaining such a passport and goes abroad, he must report himself to the nearest German Consulate once every three months in order that his whereabouts may be traced. Any male German who leaves the country, without permission, before the performance of his military duties, or who fails to report himself regularly to the nearest German consul incurs serious penalties, which he suffers as soon as he again set his.foot on German territory. Many young Germans find this rigid militarism so vexatious and so injurious to tlieir prospects of professional or commercial success, that they evade it entirely by voluntary pxile. But the evasion of military service is an offence which’ has no statute of'limitation. A man who evades his military service by going abroad at the age of nineteen, and returns to his mother country at the age of eighty may still be arrested and sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude. Indeed, young foreigners, who happen to-*be residing in Germany and who by reason of their nationality are exempt from military service, are sometimes expelled from the country in order that they may hot form a bad example for German youths.

The young German who is selected for service in the standing army has to become a soldier for a period of two years. Those who are apportioned to the artillery or the cavalry must serve for three years. In theory he is required to give his services to the country for nothing, but in practice he receives a very meagre allowance of pocket money. After performing his two years’ service in the standing army, he is transferred to the first reserves, where he remains for a period of five years. During these five years he is required to join his regiment and to go through military training once every year for a period of four, six, or eight weeks. After two years’ active service and five years in the first reserves, he is passed into the first class

of the “Landwehr,” where he remains for another five years. And even during this third period of military service he is liable to be called for drill at any time desired by the military authorities. From the first class of the “Landwehr” the German soldier is passed into the second class of the Landwehr, where he remains until he attains the age of thirty-nine and thus completes nineteen years of military service. At the ag<e of thirty-nine he passes into the “Landstrum,” or final line of reserves, which is called for service only in case of extreme national necessity. After six years in the Landstrum his military service comes to an end. •

Young men of good family- enjoy partial exemption from service, provided that they have attained a certain standard of intellectual acquirements and possess the pecuniary means to clothe and to keep themselves during their period of service. After passing a certain examination at the age of eighteen, these fortunate young men are permitted to become “one-year volunteers,” and their period of active service is limited to twelve months.

The organisation of the array is as simple as it is efficient. The unit, of organisation in the infantry is the “section,” consisting of twenty- men under the command of a corporal. Two sections form a “semi-detachment,” or forty men under the command of a sergeant. Two semi-detachments form a “detachment” of eighty men under the command of a lieutenant. Three detachments form a company of 240 men under a captain. Four companies make a battalion of AGO men under a major. Three battalions form a regiment under a colonel; and two regiments form a brigade under the command of a major-general. The “Array Corps,” which is the largest military unit, consists of two or three divisions.

The artillery and cavalry are organised on somewhat different lines. The artillery is divided into batteries, regiments and brigades. The cavalry is organised on the basis of a squadron consisting of 120 men. Five squadrons form a cavalry regiment of 600 men; two regiments

make a cavalry brigade, and three brf» gudes form a cavalry diviaion. - All the' details of the mobilisation oi the army have been worked out with such precision that four million soldiers can be mustered and prepared for active service without delay or confusion or misunderstanding. Not only are the men themselves carefully instructed regarding their duty in case of war, but all the military materials required for a modern campaign are stored and classified ready for use at any moment A upiform for every soldier is ready, to be put on at the word of command. • Four million pairs of boots, four million caps, four million tunics, four million belts, and so forth, are all stored in the vast military arsenals in such perfect order that they can be handed out to each individual with exactness and every man will be clothed according to his height and measurements. Four million modern rifles are ready, with immense quantities of ammunition. All the plans for concentration at any, given point have been worked out. Immcditely after a declaration of war, the Imperial Government could take possession of all the railways in the country and suspend all traffic which interfered with the transport of troops and military material. The military authorities know exactly what rolling stock would be required to concentrate any number of troops at any given spot. AU ths

railway cars in use in Germany for tha conveyance of freight have been numbered and measured. They are marked on the outside with details such as “to carry so and so many tons, so and so many horses, and so and so many men” —-With reference to military purposes. 'the intellectual power which guides and controls these forces is the General Staff. The General Staff is nominally a body of officers whose exceptional talents entitle them to be regarded as military experts. They are the men who are responsible for the smooth working of

all the complicated machinery. The Chief of the General Staff is really the Commander-in-Ghief of all the forces, although the Kaiser would nominally hold this position in the event of war. In the great wars of 1806 and 1870, which established the military power of Prussia and laid the foundation of the present German Empire, the nominal Comman-der-ih-Chief was Emperor William I.; but as all the world knows the striking victories of the Prussian and German armies were gained by the generalship of Count von Moltke, who held the position of Chief of the General Staff. The General Staff is responsible for the theoretical elaboration and practical realisation of all the perplexing intricacies of the plans for a European campaign. The General Staff is acquainted with every read, every line of railway, every suitable battlefield, every fortified position, and every feature of the landscape in all parts of Europe. It knows to a minute how many hours it would take for any given number of German troops to cross the River Rhine at a given point. It could tell with the same precision how long it would take for half a million German troops to cross any given point of the Danube. Its plans for the defence of Germany against any single enemy or combination of military powers are as complete as those for foreign invasion. The General Staff has the same intimate knowledge of the entire army sys-

terns of other countries that it has of its own military system. It possesses copies of the '“secret” plans hidden away in the archives of the Russian Government and of the French Government. It knows exactly how many men France or any other military, power could put in the field. It has the plans of every military fortification, probably of every fort of any-kind in all parts of Europe in which a German army could under any circumstances operate. When any other army introduces a new weapon the German General Staff acquires a knowledge of its details within a remarkably short time. Its service of information, in a ■word, is as complete as every other branch of its organisation. The knowledge of foreign military systems and plans is obtained by a scheme of espionage. The spies of the German General Staff are at work in all the countries of the world in which there are military

systems, but especially in France. Some of" these spies are men and gome are women; some belong to the highest classes of society wljile others are domestic servants or belong to other subordinate classes. Although all the great military powers practice espionage, frequent discoveries of particular acts of spying

are nevertheless likely to create bad feeling and cause friction between governments. German officers are almost invariably drawn from the best classes of society and form a privileged military caste. All the traditions of the country confer on them an exceptional position, and they regard themselves as a superior order of beings who have a right to look down on mere civilians. An officer always takes precedence over a civilian in the ball-room and in society generally. The uqiform of the Emperor confers a distinction which a civilian cannot, acquire. The exclusive character of the officers’ corps is maintained by all possible means. Jews' and others, who, according to Prussian traditions, are undesirable persons, are usually debarred from becoming Officers? The same care is exercised in relation to the marriage of officers, in order that their wives may be drawn from desirable classes of society, and may maintain the prestige of their Class. For example, no German officer may marry until he has submitted the name of his proposed

bride to his superiors and has obtained their consent. This consent is never given until it has been ascertained that the lady is personally desirable anil that she possesses sufficient financial means to supplement the scanty income of her military husband. . The pay of German officers is fixed on a low scale. Lieutenants receive from £6O to £BO a year. A captain receives £lOO or £120; a major £l4O or £l6O, and a colonel not more than £2OO per annum. Even if the officer has private means , he must generally depend largely on his wife’s dowry for the maintenance of his household in a style suitable to his social rank. German officers regulate their private conduct according to a mediaeval code of honour. If they quarrel among themselves they yet settle their dis-

putes by duels. If an officer is insulted by his inferior he has the right of chastising the offender. But the lot of the common soldier is far less attractive. He is engaged from sunrise to sunset in all sorts of exhausting drill and other military exercises. Discipline is of course extremely strict. Many noncommissioned officers consider it necessary to educate their recruits by thrash-

ing and kicking them. The German newspapers frequently have to record cases in which a non-commissioned officer is sentenced, by a court martial to a remarkably mild punishment for perpetrating many acts of cruelty on the common soldiers under his command. The ill-treatment of common soldiers is perhaps the worst feature of the German military system.