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vast are the territorial possessions of some of these nobles-the Demidoffs for example-so large the tribes of serfs they own, that not unfrequently their contingents amount to 3000, and sometimes even to 5000 and 6000. The imperial reforms recently introduced into Russia, by which the relations betwen the peasant and his master have been considerably modified, will no doubt affect this system of recruiting; but at present the system is in full force, and to it the czar is indepted for by far the largest portion of his regular

army.

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ing that the principal of these institutions, the "Corps de Cadets," numbers upward of seven hundred pupils-this deficiency has been and is sorely felt. By a recent decree, various new rules have been laid down for the entrance of officers into the army, and in these inducements have been held out to young men leaving the high schools to accept a commission. They will be received as non-commissioned officers for three months without passing an examination; at the expiration of that time, if they are properly qualified, they grade. Youths from the middle schools will be promoted at once to the higher undergo a probation of six months; and other volunteers, of whatever origin, noble or plebeian, will receive a commission after one year's service, after having been thoroughly tested by the ordeal of a board of military examiners.

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force raised by conscription and maintained In addition, however, to the standing by the government, the czar has another and no ignoble auxiliary in the semi-savage feudal militia of the Cossacks. This wild tribe-a race free and independent to the no taxes, regarding the ground on which heart's core, and martial by instinct-pay they pitch their tents as their own fee and simple. To enjoy it peaceably and unmolestedly, however, they consent to perform military service to Russia; but even this service, as well as the extent of the levies, is regulated by treaty. Two in every five hundred is about the average; but in crit

There is, however, another mode of recruitment which is peculiarly characteristic of a paternal government. Marriage is warmly encouraged amongst the Russian soldiers, and every facility is afforded to those who desire to take unto themselves a wife. The state supplies the martial Benedict with lodgings, and undertakes to feed, clothe, and educate the young olive-branches that may chance to spring up around the happy trooper's table. All this is of course kindly meant, and seems benevolent; but often "things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour. A bounty that appears on the first blush generous in the extreme has its drawbacks. The male children of these Muscovite sons of Mars, called Cantonist, are claimed by the state; and from infancy are reared and trained with a view of being made soldiers, or of being otherwise employed in the public service. They remain at home until they are breeched and coat-ical times, when danger is impending, ed, when they are summarily sent off to every man between the ages of fifteen and the military dépôts to be instructed in sixty is bound to take the field and do their military duties. It is estimated that battle in behoof of the "father of his peothis Levitical class numbers no less than ple." A hundred and twenty thousand 300,000 souls; and from it the non-commis- Cossacks-Cossacks of the Euxine, Cossioned officers of regiments are obtained; sacks of the Don, Ural Cossacks, Cossacks the discipline they have undergone, and of the Caucasus, Orenburg Cossacks, and the education they have received, having Siberian Cossacks-it is estimated, stand contributed, it is supposed, to habits of prepared in their irregular way to fight steadiness and industry, as well as render- the enemies of the czar. They are, as a ed them proficient in the rudiments of the rule, semi-savage and undisciplined, knowRussian field-book. One thing the army ing nothing of the arts of civilized life; of Russia especially suffers from, and this their courage is that of barbarians; whilst we may allude to here-a dearth of offi- their warfare is conducted with ferocious cers. Superior education is confined to cruelty wherever they have the power to so few classes in that colossal empire, commit atrocities. that the sources it has to draw from for rance and blood-thirstiness of these "banits captains are very contracted indeed. dits of the desert," Mouravieff has been Notwithstanding that schools for pages, able to slaughter Poland in cold blood, engineers, officers of artillery, and sub- and terrify her surviving children into officers of the guard have been establish- submission by the gallows, the knout, imed at St. Petersburg-and notwithstand-prisonment, and the mines. Aptly may

Thanks to the igno

it be said of the czar, and the innumerable forces at his command,

"It is excellent

The Austrian army, as being the more numerous, deserves first notice. So jealous is the Viennese government of rendering

To have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous any account, financial or otherwise, to the
To use it like a giant."

Let us pass on.

In the heart of Europe flounders a ponderous, cumbrous monster with two heads. Its body, like that of Enceladus, covers a vast area; but so unwieldy is it, so disjointed are its limbs, so incohesive its parts, that, though leviathan in size, it has little real power. It is called the Germanic Confederation. Its actual strength lies in its two heads, which are as large in bulk as the rest of the body itself. However, the two heads have no unity of idea, no common purpose of action, no singleness of aim; and the consequence is that that which, in a state of moral cohesion might be omnipotent, is, from its infinite partitions and divisions, dilapidated and weak. It is the bundle of sticks tied up with a rope of sand. With more than half a million of men at its instant command, the Federal Diet is feebler than Switzerland, and takes alarm at every turn of European politics, every rustle of the wings of the French or Russian eagle. By the Act of Congress of 1815, the contribution of each of the thirty States and the four Free Towns composing Germany was fixed at one per cent. of the population, according to the census of that year, with ten pieces of cannon for every thousand men; one seventh of this complement being cavalry. In 1853, after the war with Denmark, out of which the Germans emerged with somewhat tarnished laurels, the force was increased one sixth, and at the present time stands at a total of 503,000 men, divided into ten corps d'armée. Austria is the largest contributor, her quota being 158,000 men; Prussia follows suit with 133,000; Bavaria takes the third place, and brings 59,000 troops into the field; then come Wurtemberg with 23,000, Hanover with 21,000, Saxony with 20,000, and so on, down to Hesse-Homburg, with its 333 men and 3 artillerists, and Lichtenstein with its contingent of 91, all told. With very little strain, however, the numbers of the Federal forces could be raised to 700,000 men. The real power and command of this tessellated force being, as we have observed, in its two heads, it will be worth while to inquire into their military strength separately.

nation, and so garbled are the statistics when they do appear, that it is extremely difficult to speak with confidence of the exact numbers. For many reasons Austria is interested in letting Europe, as well as her own people, imagine that her military strength is less than it actually is. Hence, officially, her army, according to the last report, was computed at 269,000 men rank and file, and 42,000 horses; but from trustworthy though private sources, it is set down at 476,000 men and 66,000 horses, which is probably nearer the mark. Like the other armies of the Continent, the Austrian force is raised by conscription, every youth of twenty being subject to the call. Substitutes, however, at £123 (!) a head, are furnished by the government; and from the sums thus gained a fund is raised for the purpose of giving bounties to soldiers whose time of service-which, by the by, is eight years-has expired, to induce them to reënlist. In so aristocratic a country as Austria, it is not surprising that the majority of officers should be noble, or belong to noble families; and this we find to be the case. Only the artillery and engineer corps afford any opening to the sons of the wealthy plebeian classes. So strong is the deluge of "blue blood" in this quarter, that the muster-roll of Francis Joseph's army includes no less than 103 princes, 590 counts, 898 barons, 570 knights, and 2826 untitled barons. It is, however, a striking confession of intellectual apathy that these princes, counts, barons, knights, and untitled barons resign the arduous posts of the force-the posts that require deep and vigorous mental training-to the class they despise. For this unpatriotic indifference, impolicy,and sinecure idleness, however, a day of retribution will inevitably come. It is a dangerous weakness to intrust the salient points of defense into the hands of those whom the Austrian noblesse do not attempt to disguise they look down upon and contemn as an inferior order of beings. In Prussia the organization of the army is on a different and far more liberal footing. According to the regulations of 1814, every man is bound to receive military instruction and join the army; and though no substitutes are permitted, exemptions are pretty freely dis

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tributed. The men are enrolled when | Albania, and Egypt; but these are not they attain their twentieth year, and serve very numerous. The irregulars constitute for five years-two years and a half in the a more formidable division; and some of army, and two years and a half in the re- these wild undisciplined hordes-Tartars serve. Could King William overcome the from the Dobrodja and Asia Minor-will prejudices of his parliament against his be probably remembered by many an Engnew scheme of military reform, the period lish officer who served in the Crimea. Comof five years would be extended to seven; ing from the East to the West, we find but his House of Commons is stubborn peaceful Portugal making an effort, amidst and resentful, and will have none of his the cultivation of its vines, to maintain innovations, either military or financial; 16,000 men; manufacturing Belgium to and it is to be hoped, for the sake of con- support 100,000; and commercial Holland stitutionalism every where, that his sub- to pay the cost of 60,000 men. And what jects will adhere to their champion, and of liberty-loving Italy that youngest stand firmly by their patriots of the Bock- amongst the kingdoms of Europe-the um-Dolff order. When the Prussian sol- land of sunshine, of the vine and the olive, dier quits the reserve at twenty-five, he those emblems of peace? Amongst her enters the Landwehr or militia, in which classic groves is it possible that the clash he remains for nine years; and closes his of steel, the sharp click of the rifle, the military career by becoming embodied in tramp of marching columns, the daily rapthe Landsturm, a force purely defensive pel, is heard? Ask her financiers, ask her and which is never called out on foreign tax-gatherers, ask the people voluntarily service. We have mentioned exemptions: and cheerfully burdened with fiscal exthe nobility and clergy enjoy this privi- actions. Italy is still on her guard—is lege, and young men of education who will still couchant as a tiger ready to spring pay for their equipment are allowed to upon its legitimate prey. So long as Ausserve only one year, if at the end of that tria threatens to recover Lombardy and time they pass a prescribed examination. holds Venetia; so long as a French garSo much for the organization of the rison fosters the phantom of a priestly gov. armies of the four great powers of the ernment at Rome; so long as the pope Continent. The armies of the other king- and the exiled Ferdinand, aided and abetdoms of Europe are soon disposed of. ted by Louis Napoleon, encourage briThey are formed very much on the same gandage in Naples-so long must Italy principle; and one and all, like the larger establish her army on a war-footing, and powers, maintain their forces on a footing rigidly enforce the conscription from the out of all due proportion to their popula- Alps to the Abruzzi. Three hundred tion. Spain boasts an army of 150,000 thousand men are maintained in self-demen, procured of course by conscription. fense alone, ready-armed and equipped, Turkey wields no less a number than because the policy of a "friend and ally" 450,000. This large force drains immeas- is equivocal and selfish. Three hundred urably her precarious revenues, and it thousand men feeding on the resources of a scarcely diminishes the evil that the troops new country is a heavy burden indeed; but are habitually kept two or three years in twice three hundred thousand would be arrear of their pay. The sultan's forces willingly and unmurmuringly borne to remay be divided into four branches: the alize that dream of the Italian patriot, Nizam, or active army; the Redif, or re- Italia una e indivisibile. serve; the auxiliaries; and the irregulars. The staff of the Redif, or reserve, have full pay, and live in the towns and villages amongst the soldiers, who, though on leave, are nevertheless not discharged from service. These men the officers collect and drill once a week: they must also re-kingdoms scarcely deemed it necessary to port themselves annually at the headquarters of their respective corps, where they undergo a month's exercise. The auxiliaries are simply the contingents furnished by the tributary provinces, Wallachia, Moldavia, Servia, Bosnia, the Herzegovina,

In the northern countries-Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, for example-military service is enforced on exceedingly light conditions. Brave, tough, and hardy, and lying out of the whirlwinds of the political hemisphere, the governments of these

carry out a very strict system of military training and exercise. Denmark had, it is true, a traditional foe in the German Confederation; but she laughed at, rather than feared, that huge double-headed megatherium. The forces she kept on foot, pre

vious to the present disastrous war, amounted to 23,000 men; but these were speedily raised to 50,000, as soon as the Austrians and Prussians commenced their march towards the Eider. What is the remnant now left, it is immaterial to inquire; the conditions are all changed, and it is but too probable the Denmark of the future will hardly resemble the Denmark of the past. In Norway every citizen passes through a military training, either in the regular army or the militia. In the regular army, which is raised partly by conscription, partly by enlistment, the service is for five years in the infantry, and for seven in the cavalry and artillery. On the other side of the Dovrefield, again, a different system prevails. In Sweden, the conscription, which has only been introduced since 1812, is exceedingly unpopular, and of the men drawn one tenth at least obtain substitutes at the easy price of from £10 to £25. The conscription class is called the Bevaering; the most popular service, however, is the Indelta, or national troops. These are paid and maintained partly by the landed proprietors of the country, and partly from revenues of certain state-domains. Each soldier, besides a small annual gratuity, has his torp or cottage, with a piece of ground attached, which continues his so long as he remains "attached," which not unfrequently extends over a period of forty years. Then there is the Värfvade, or enlisted troops, to which belong the royal life-guards, huzzars, and a great part of the artillery and engineers: the average term of service for these is six years; and, lastly, there is the militia of Gothland, which, like the Indelta, is all but independent.

It would not be fair to omit Switzerland from this comparative list, especially as the organization of her army, like that of Great Britain, possesses special and peculiar features of its own. Switzerland, in fact, disclaims the idea of having a standing army; her constitution prohibiting the existence of one within the limits of the Confederation. However, not to leave the commonwealth without a system of defense, every one is expected to be trained to arms, and nearly every one is so trained. Children from the age of eight are regularly instructed at the upper and middle schools in military exercises, undergo special examinations, and are frequently paraded and reviewed with all the pomp and éclat of veteran troops. When they

have gone through their infantry exercises, and have become expert in the use of the rifle-Wimbledon has witnessed some of the excellent shooting of these gallant and keen-eyed sons of the Oberland-the young Tells practice gunnery, two and four pounders being supplied by the government for that purpose. The service is divided into four classes: the Bundesausug, or Federal army, compris ing men between the ages of twenty and thirty-four capable of bearing arms-to this each canton contributes three per cent. of its population; the "army of reserve," composed to the extent of one half per cent. of the population of those who passed through the Bundesausug; the Landwehr, or militia, in which every man between forty-one and forty-five is bound to serve; and the Landsturm, or army of defense, in which every Swiss above the age of forty-five is enrolled, and in which he remains until age incapaci tates him from further exertion. total amount of this patriotic force-like the Spartans of old, every Swiss feels he fights, when he does fight, for his institutions, and therefore fights with the purest feelings of patriotism-is 339,926 men; a large number for so small a commonwealth. Only the Bundesausug, however, is on active duty, and the service of these is light and easy. Since their existence as a Federal body, the Swiss have earned as their own the motto of the English Volunteers, "Defense, not Defiance." The policy of the government has invariably been unaggressive, and rarely has the army of Switzerland been called into the field. The arrogant claims of the late King of Prussia on Neuchâtel was the last occasion on which the Swiss spirit was roused; but a show of popular indignation sufficed to puff out the ambition of a Pourtales and the pretensions of the crowned Hohenzollern.

The

Last upon the list, though by no means intending to make it occupy the least place, we introduce the British army. Constitutionally speaking, England has no permanent army. It exists simply on the permission or sufferance of Parliament. In the good old days, when our fathers loved and fought for freedom, Englishmen were jealous of the power which a standing military force gave the sovereign-commander; and they guarded themselves and their children against the possible tyranny of such a body of men

by every measure they could devise. The Bill of Rights surrendered the British army entirely into the hands of the parliament, and without the vote and sanction of the House of Commons not a single soldier could appear in our streets. Every year the government has to submit to this scrutinous body the number of men which, according to the estimates of the commander-in-chief, will be required during the ensuing year for the protection of the country and its foreign possessions. If parliament chooses to think the estimate too large, it draws its pen through the figures and reduces them at its pleasure. This is its power and privilege; and so conscious of it are the authorities of the war office, that when framing their demands they rarely indulge in exaggeration. Were they to do so, the lynxeyes of a dozen reformers would be down upon them, and their estimates be rudely overhauled. Again, so watchful are the men of our legislature over the birthright of every Englishman of whatever rank or position, that they steadily set their face against intrusting to any separate and arbitrary body the lives and liberties of their fellow-subjects. The common law knows no distinction between a citizen and a soldier. Formerly, if a private struck an officer, or committed any other offense in military eyes enormous and unpardonable, as subversive of all discipline, the common law persisted in seeing in the act a simple assault or a breach of contract, and punished the offender accordingly. The Horse-Guards endeavored to show how utterly impossible it was to maintain an effective army on such conditions. Long and fierce were the debates which took place in the House of Commons; loud and subtle were the harangues of a Wyndham, a Pelham, and a Pulteney. Rome and its Pretorian guards were cited as historical illustrations to prove how dangerous standing armies are to the "liberty of the subject," and how necessary it was for every Englishman to resist such encroachment. It was the thin end of the wedge, they declared, which if once inserted, every evil would ensue. After much discussion and the exhibition of much hot temper, a compromise was effected in the passing of the Mutiny Bill, which invested the crown with large powers" to make regulations for the good government of the army, and to frame the Articles of War;" and these now form

VOL. LXIII.-NO. 2

the military code. But the operation of this act is limited to one year; so jealous was the house of the law and the liberty of the subject. Hemmed in, then, by wise and necessary restrictions, dependent upon a vote of parliament, and indirectly controlled by it, the army has become a recognized part of the constitution. It is not our intention to enter into details of its organization. It is a purely voluntary body, raised by enlistment. There is no conscription, no compulsion, used to fill its ranks; and though the tricks and stratagems of over-zealous recruiting-sergeants may have occasionally to be condemned, the recruit enters the dépôt of his own free will and act, and has even time for repentance left him, if he regrets the step he has adopted. The total strength of the British army at the present day, is 148,242 men. These troops are scattered about in every part of the world-in Africa and Asia, America and Australasia, in India and China, at the Cape of Good Hope and along the Gold Coast, in Canada and the West Indies, in New-Zealand and British Columbia, so vast and widespread are the colonies and dependencies of Great Britain. In addition to this regular army-75,000 of whom are serving, it should be observed, in India-there is a militia force consisting of upward of 158,000 men, liable to so many days' training in the course of the year. Nor must we lose sight of that young army of citizen troops who have enrolled themselves for the defense of the country, and whose numbers are daily increasing. Already the Volunteers muster 163,000 strong; and all of them, with the excep. tion of some twenty or thirty thousand, have been pronounced by Colonel M'Murdo to be efficient and ready soldiers.

Before concluding this paper, it will be worth while to study a little what may be called the "arithmetic of war;" and by way of aiding us in this task let us consult the following table. In it the population and revenue of each country are given-in round numbers of courseas well as the strength and expense of its army.

As already remarked, standing armies are a material evil. By this table we see that, in Europe alone, no less than 4,690,000 able-bodied men are subtracted from the honest and civilizing industries of life, and devoted to a profession of idleness in times of peace, and of slaughter and rapine

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