There is in addition the war indemnity to Russia of 32,000,0007., which by negotiation it has been agreed to pay at the rate of 320,000l. per annum with out interest. The revenues of the Province of Konia have been assigned as guarantee for this annual payment. The internal debt now consists of £T1,140,000 owing to savings banks, £T500,000 advanced by the Pension Fund Department, £T130,000 by the agricultural banks, £T838,000 in bonds, £T500,000 through old forced loans. Interest on these advances is very irregularly paid. Defence. I. FRONTIERS. Turkey occupies the South-Eastern corner of Europe and the Western portion of Asia. The boundaries of Turkey have been considerably modified of late years. European Turkey has for frontier States in the north, Montenegro, Bosnia, Servia, Bulgaria, and Eastern Roumelia. The frontiers are mountainous towards the east, but at many points passage is easy. The western frontier of European Turkey is formed by the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas. Its southern limits are formed by Thessaly, the Ægean Sea, the Dardanelles, the Sea of Marmora, and the Bosphorus, the shores of which are strongly fortified. Asiatic Turkey has for its northern boundary the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles. The boundaries to the west are the Archipelago, the Mediterranean, Arabia Petrea, and the Red Sea. Its limits to the south are Central Arabia and the Persian Gulf, those to the east Persia and Trans-Caucasia (Russia), the chief stronghold near the Russian frontier being Erzeroum. II. ARMY. In Turkey all Mussulmans over 20 years of age are liable to military ser vice, and this liability continues for 20 years. Non-Mahometans are not liable, but pay an exemption tax of about six shillings per head, levied on males of all ages. Nomad Arabs, though liable, furnish no recruits, and many nomad Kurds evade service. The army consists of (1) the Nizam, or Regular Army, and its reserves; (2) the Redif or Landwehr; and (3) the Mustahfuz or Landsturm. Conscripts are divided into the first and second levies. The former serve 6 years in the Nizam--4 with the colours and 2 in the reserve; 8 years in the Redif-4 in the first ban and 4 in the second; and 6 years in the Mustahfuz; 20 years in all. The latter consist of those not drawn for the contingent. They form what is called the Tertib Sani and the Mainsiz; they constitute part of the reserve, undergoing from 6 to 9 months' drill in the first year of service, and 30 days' drill at their homes in subsequent years. The whole empire is divided into 7 army districts, with which are associated 7 corps d'armée called Ordus, with their headquarters respectively at:-1, Constantinople; 2, Adrianople; 3, Monastir; 4, Erzinjan; 5, Damascus ; 6, Baghdad; 7, Sanaa (the Yemen). The troops of the 7th district are recruited chiefly from the 4th and 5th districts, while the garrisons of Crete and Tripoli are recruited from the 1st, 2nd, and 5th districts. The Nizam infantry is organised in companies, battalions, regiments, brigades, and divisions. It contains 66 regiments of the line, each with 4 battalions, except three which have 3 battalions; 2 regiments of Zouaves of 2 battalions each; 1 regiment of firemen of 4 battalions; and 15 battalions of rifles. There are also 12 battalions of Tripolitan militia for local service. Each battalion of the line, Zouaves and rifles, consists of 4 companies. Two line regiments form a brigade, 2 brigades and a rifle battalion form an infantry division, and 2 divisions form an ordu. Each line and rifle battalion, on a war footing, has 24 officers, 62 non-commissioned officers, and 836 men, the total being 922 men of all ranks, with 51 horses. The peace strength varies from 250 to 550, according to the locality. The total war establishment of a regiment of 4 battalions is 3,764 men of all ranks, with 207 horses. The infantry are armed with the Martini-Peabody rifle. There are 220,000 Mauser magazine rifles (37) in store, but none have been issued. A small-bore Mauser (3) is being supplied. The Redif is organised in two bans. (An enactment for their fusion into one has as yet been only partially applied.) The first ban consists of 48 regiments; 8 of 4 battalions from each of the first 6 ordu districts. The second ban consists of 40 regiments, 8 of 4 battalions from each of the first 5 ordu districts. On a war footing the establishments of the Redif are intended to be the same as those of the Nizam, but battalions are often 1,200 strong. The Nizam cavalry consists of 38 regiments of the line, 2 regiments of the guard, and 2 squadrons of mounted infantry (at Yemen). There is no Redif cavalry organised. The line and guard regiments each consist of 5 squadrons, the fifth being a depôt. The guard regiments are quartered at Constantinople, and belong to the first ordu. Of the line regiments, 36 are formed into 6 cavalry divisions, one to each ordu, and 2 other regiments belong to the garrison at Tripoli. There are thus 202 squadrons of cavalry, of which 40 are depôt squadrons. The war establishment of a regiment consists of 39 officers and 647 men, 686 in all, or, adding the depôt squadrons, 854 of all ranks. Each regiment has 880 horses, inclusive of train. It is proposed to form in the fourth, fifth, and sixth ordu districts 48 regiments of militia or Hamadich cavalry, commanded by tribal leaders, and associated with the regular army. The tribes will find the men, horses, and equipment, and the Government the armament. Each regiment will have from 512 to 1,152 men in from 4 to 6 squadrons. The field artillery is being reorganised in accordance with a scheme sanctioned in 1891, whereby the force will be considerably strengthened. It is intended that each of the first 5 ordus shall have one battalion with 3 batteries of horse artillery, and six regiments of field and mountain artillery, comprising 30 batteries of field and 6 batteries of mountain artillery, each battery having, on war footing, 6 guns. Each of these groups of 6 regiments will form 3 brigades of which one will be attached to the Nizam, another to the first ban, and the third to the second ban of their respective ordus. The sixth ordu will have two regiments of artillery with, altogether, 12 field and 2 mountain batteries. The seventh ordu will have 3 field and 4 mountain batteries. Crete will have 4 mountain batteries, and Tripoli 4 field and 2 mountain batteries. Turkey will thus have, in all, 15 batteries of horse artillery, 169 field and 42 mountain batteries with a total of 1,356 guns. To the first ordu there are two ammunition trains, to the other five only one. The transport consists generally of pack animals. On a war footing, the establishment of a field battery consists of about 137 officers and men with 100 horses. Of fortress artillery there are 38 battalions, of which 18 belong to the ordus, located chiefly at Constantinople and Erzeroum, and 20 to the Ordnance Department. Of these, 12 companies are in the Bosphorus batteries, 8 in the Bulair lines, and the remainder in Mediterranean fortresses. There are 19 engineer companies (pioneers), and 4 telegraph companies distributed among the 7 ordus, the second ordu having, besides, a pontoon train. There are also 12 engineer companies and 4 torpedo companies belong ing to the Ordnance Department. The train service, so far as it exists, consists of 13 companies. The supply service is almost entirely staff; extraneous transport would be required for commissariat supplies. The medical service consists only of medical officers and apothecaries; there are no bearers nor cadres for field hospitals. There are 117 battalions of gendarmerie, a military organisation under civil control in time of peace. The following is a summary of the effective combatant services of the Turkish Army : A survey of the Turkish navy reveals it as mainly an obsolescent, and in great part already an obsolete fighting force, giving small evidence of renewed vitality. It was weakened at one time by the sale of some of its best ships to other powers, and, until recently, all activity was relaxed. With four exceptions all the armourclad vessels at present on the list were acquired abroad, mostly in England. Three ships only can now be counted as seagoing armourclads of fighting value, for the rest are all of such small displacement (the latest of these dating from 1875), or were built so long ago (1864-65) as to belong now to the classes of convoying cruisers and local defence vessels. On Information concerning the state of advancement of ships in hand, as generally of the cor.dition of the Turkish navy, is not readily accessible, but the following table of its strength is based upon such information as is available. It excludes transports, training ships, and non-effective vessels. the whole it errs by giving a picture too favourable. Many of the smaller vessels are probably useless. The table is framed upon the plan uniformly adopted in this book, which is explained in the Introductory Table. Description} The table which follows of the Turkish armourclad fleet is arranged in chronological order (the cruisers following the battleships and port defence vessels), like other similar tables in this book. In the first list the ships named in italics are port defence vessels; the numbers following the names of two other ships indicate the battleship classes to which they have been assigned in the above estimate of strength. In the list of first-class cruisers all are named in italics because armoured, and those in the b category are admitted mainly for convoy. g purposes. Turkey possesses but one vessel having the qualities here take to be necessary in a first-class cruiser, a (i.c. displacement of 5,000 tons o more, and presumed speed of at least 17 knots) viz., the unfinished armourclad Abdul Kader. Abbreviations:-a.g.b. armoured gunboat; bar., barbette; c.b., central battery; t., turret ; Q. F., quickfiring. In the column of armaments, light and machine guns are not given. Name 1864 6,400 1864 6,400 54 1874 8,990 12 2 7in. (Armstrong) Ditto 211in.; 85-9in.; 6 3·9in (Krupp) Ditto. Ditto Ditto. 12 10in. (18-ton, Arm., 2222 10 10 2in.; 26 6in. (Krupp) 2 290 8.0 290 8.0 3,740 12:0 3,740 12:0 3,740 12:0 bar. Abdul Kader 89-4in.; 28-2in. (Krupp) 1868 2,500 54 2 9in.; 27in. (Arm.); 15in 1869 2,310 96 1872 2,680 9 (Krupp). 4 9in. (Armstrong) 2 9in.; 2 7in. (Arm.); 1 4 9in. (Armstrong) 4 9in. (Arm.); 1 47in. : 1 The old sister battleships, named above as port-defence vessels, Aziziyeh, Mahmoudiyeh, Orkaniych, and Osmaniyeh (6,400 tons), are being, or have been, transformed by having barbette turrets placed at each end of their batteries for the heavy Krupp guns (the hope being to fit them for something more than local defence). An armourclad of 6,700 tons, the Hamidiyeh, was launched at Constantinople in 1885, and is said, after long delays, to have made her trials, but it is believed that not all her guns are even now mounted. This vessel, the Mesoudiyeh, and the unfinished armoured barbette cruiser Abdul Kader, are the largest ships in the Turkish navy. The Mesoudiyeh is 332 feet long, with extreme beam of 59 feet. She is constructed on the central battery principle, resembling our own Hercules, and has on the main deck a 12-gun battery of 18-ton muzzle-loading Armstrongs, and side plating 12 inches thick at the water-line. The Abdul Kader displaces 8,000 tons, is 340 feet in length, and is to be provided with engines of 11,500 horse-power, which should give a high speed. The chief armament will be 4 11 inch guns. The Hundevendighiar, and a sister ship in course of construction, are deck-protected cruisers of 4,050 tons, intended to steam 12 knots. and it is said that two others of the same type are contemplated.' Three smaller vessels of like character (1,600 tons) are also in hand, and a composite third class cruiser, the Loutfi-Humayoun (1,300 tons), and a 22 knot torpedo-catcher, the Shahin-iDeryah, were launched in 1892. Torpedo craft are being built at Elbing, but the whole torpedo flotilla is of very doubtful value, and the station on the Golden Horn is still uncompleted. The flagship Assar-i-Tevfik has been for two years without boilers. For the navy of Turkey the crews are raised in the same manner as the land forces, partly by conscription, and partly by voluntary enlistment. The time of service in the navy is twelve years, five in active service, three in the reserve, and four in the Redif. The nominal strength of the navy is 6 viceadmirals, 11 rear-admirals, 208 captains, 289 commanders, 228 lieutenants, 187 ensigns, and 30,000 sailors, besides about 9,000 marines. Production and Industry. Land in Turkey is held under four different forms of tenurenamely, 1st, as Miri,' or Crown lands; 2nd, as Vacouf,' or pious foundations; 3rd, as Mulikaneh,' or Crown grants; and 4th, as 'Mülk,' or freehold property. The first description, the 'mìri,' or Crown lands, which form the largest portion of the territory of the Sultan, are held direct from the Crown. The Government grants the right to cultivate an unoccupied tract on the payment of certain fees, but continues to exercise the rights of seigniory over the land in question, as is implied in the condition that if the owner neglects to cultivate it for a period of three years it is forfeited to the Crown. The second form of tenure, the 'vacouf,' was instituted originally to provide for the religion of the State and the education of the people, by the erection of mosques and schools; but this object has been set aside, or neglected, for several generations, and the 'vacouf' lands have mostly been seized by Government officials. The third class of landed property, the 'mulikaneh,' was granted to the spahis, the old feudal troops, in recompense for the military service required of them, and is hereditary, and exempt from tithes. The fourth form of tenure, the 'mülk,' or freehold property, does not exist to a great extent. |