Armies

"Armies are of three kinds," said Major General Sir Frederick Barton Maurice,* military historian and former Director of Operations on the British Imperial General Staff.

He based this assertion on the method by which armies are raised and maintained : the voluntary system, the militia system, the compulsory service system.

In 1913, he said, 17 European powers maintained armies. Of these, 15 used the compulsory system, Britain the voluntary, Switzerland the militia. In 1925, there are 25 powers which maintain armies. Of these, 14 have the compulsory system, five the voluntary, six the militia. If figures be adduced, "there has been no material diminution in the number of armed men maintained in Europe today as compared to 1913."

Voluntary System: Of the five European Powers using the voluntary system,f Great Britain alone uses it of its own initiative; the others--Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria--use it by virtue (so far as is known) of the peace treaties imposed upon them. Brittain's choice is maintained partly because of 'the impossibility of forcing men to serve overseas,, partly because a system of voluntary long-term enlistments (seven years active, five years reserve) is less expensive.

Britain has, including the Air Force, 250,000 men in the regular Army, of whom one half are always absent in India and the Colonies. The Army Reserve, which has a normal strength of 120,000 men, is only 99,000 .strong. The Territorial Army, recruited for home defence and trained as their civil employment will permit, numbers less than 148,750, the number for which provision has been made. The maximum strength of the British Army cannot be more than:

Active service 250,000

First line reserve 120,000

Second line reserve 148,750) 518,750

Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria are allowed standing armies respectively of 100,000, 30,000, 35,000 and 20,000 men. No reserves are permitted.

Militia System: The militia system, which originated in Switzerland, trains a nation's whole man power fit to bear arms for fixed periods in each year, diminishing as time goes on. Under this system, all hale male nationals are liable to do military service between certain ages, usually between 19 and 48. The six countries which have adopted this system: Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Holland, Denmark and Finland (only a semi-militia system). The respective terms of military service for the first years are: 65 days, 48 days, 150 days, 160 days, 150 days, one year (owing to Finland's fear of Russia).

Compulsory system: Figures for the compulsory-system--training of annual contingents of man power for a fixed period**are given in only 10 of the 14/- countries using it:

Peace Strength Mobilization Stregth Man Power***

Strength Strength Attainable

France 657,000 1,200,000 8,000,000

Russia 800,000 1,600,000 /-/-

Italy 308,000 650,000 7,500,000

Poland 276,000 550,000 5,500,000

Rumania 140,000 300,000 2,250,000

JugoSlavia 116,000 50,000 2,000,000

Czecho-Slovakia.. 150,000 300,000 2,200,000

Belgium 90,000 80,000 1,500,000

Spain 180,000 350,000 3,800,000

Greece 86,000 190,000 1,000,000

Totals 2,803,000 5,570,000 33,750,000

* In an article in the July number of Foreign Affairs, U. S. quarterly review, on sale ($1.25) at leading newsstands. /-The voluntary long-term system is purely defensive in aim. Under it, large reserves cannot be trained, and per se it never constitutes a menace to peace.

**Contingents are called to the colors in Russia, Poland, Rumania, Yugd-Slavia, Spain and Greece for two years; in France and Italy for 18 months; in Czecho-Slovakia for 14 months; in Belgium for one year.

/-The other four countries are Esthonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal. Latvia has a regular army of 20,000, a mobilization strength of 90,000; service is for 18 months. Latvia has an army of 19,000. Lithuania's army is 20,990; service is for two years. Portugal has an active army of 41,086 plus reserves; service is for 10 years in the active army. 10 years on the reserve, 8 years in the Territorial Army.

***The figures are based upon present populations. Sir Frederick finds that the belligerent nations in the War recruited one fifth of their population for the armies.

/-/-ln the case of Russia, which has a population of about 131,000,000, the author admits that she could not possibly use 26,000,000 men. His main reasons: poor railway communication, scarcity of equipment. He doubts if Russia could put more than one third of the 1,600,000 mobilizable men quickly into the field.