of ordering the erection of fortresses in any part of the Empire; and Art. 68 invests him with the power, in case of threatened disturbance of order to declare any country or district in a state of siege. The following table shows the strength and organisation of the Imperial army on the peace footing, 1883–4 : There are in addition 3,847 military and veterinary surgeons, gunsmiths, paymasters, &c., making the total force of the German army in peace, 449,239 officers and men. The war-strength of the army is more than treble this number, being raised to 35,400 officers, 1,500,000 men, 312,000 horses, and 2,500 guns. The railway and telegraph service alone, in war, numbers 1,238 officers, 7,000 men, and 5,400 horses. If to these numbers we add the Landsturm and the one-year volunteers, the total war-strength of trained soldiers would be about 2,650,000; while the addition of those not trained on account of not being up to the standard at the time of drilling, the total available force of all classes would be 5,670,000. The mass of soldiers thus raised is divided into companies, battalions, regiments, and corps d'armée. The strength of an ordinary battalion in peace is 544 men, raised in war to 1,002 by calling in part of the reserves: it is divided into four companies, each of which in war consists of 250 men. Excepted from this general rule are the battalions of the guards, and the regiments in garrison in the Reichsland of Alsace-Lorraine, the strength of which on the peace footing is 686 men. During peace each regiment of infantry consists of three battalions; each brigade of two regiments; each infantry division of two brigades, to which, under the command of the divisional general, four squadrons of cavalry, four batteries of artillery, each of six guns, and either a battalion of riflemen, or a battalion of pioneers are attached. The corps d'armée is considered a unit which is independent in itself, and includes not only troops of all three arms, but a portion of all the stores and appliances which are required by a whole army. Each corps d'armée consists of two divisions of infantry, a cavalry division of four regiments, with two horse-artillery batteries attached, besides the two cavalry regiments attached to the infantry divisions, and a reserve of artillery of six field batteries and one mounted battery. There is, moreover, attached to each corps d'armée one battalion of pioneers and one of train. The corps d'armée are locally distributed through the Empire monarchy, with the exception of the corps of the guards. There are (besides the Prussian corps of the guards) seventeen corps d'armée, the first eleven of which are named after Prussian provinces, and the remaining six after States of the Empire. They are :-1, Prussia; 2. Pomerania; 3, Brandenburg; 4, Saxony; 5, Posen; 6, Silesia; 7, Westphalia; 8, Rhineland; 9, SchleswigHolstein; 10, Hanover; 11, Hesse-Nassau; 12, Saxony; 13, Württemberg; 14, Baden; 15, Alsace-Lorraine; 16 and 17, Bavaria. The peace strength of the Prussian contingent of the Imperial army was given as follows in the budget estimates of 1883-4: Since the Franco-German war, the fortress system of Germany has been entirely remodelled, and a number of old fortified places, deemed useless, have been abolished, and many new ones erected, and others enlarged. The Empire is at present divided into nine 'fortress districts' (Festungs-Inspectionen), each including a certain area with fortified places. The following table gives a list of these districts, and the names of the fortresses in each, the fortified places of the first class, serving as camps, being distinguished by italics, while those specially designed for railway protection or obstruction are marked by asterisks (*), and coast fortresses by a dagger (†). The table is drawn up after official returns. It will be seen that the Empire has 17 fortified places of the first class, serving as fortified camps, and 26 other fortresses. 2. Navy. The formation of a German navy, due to the initiative of Prussia, dates from 1848, and rapid progress has been made in it for the last ten years. The fleet of war of the Empire consisted, in 1884, of Large warships :-7 ironclad frigates, 7 ironclad corvettes; Cruisers-11 spar-decked corvettes, 10 flush-decked corvettes, 10 gunboats; For Coast Defence:-11 ironclad gunboats, 15 torpedo boats, and 1 second-class gunboat; 8 avisos, 2 transports, 9 school ships, including 3 sailing vessels, with 13 vessels for harbour service; total vessels of all kinds, 95, with 350 guns of large calibre, besides guns of small calibre, Hotchkiss guns and mitrailleuses. There were constructing at same date 1 armoured corvette, of 5,200 tons displacement and 3,900 horse-power, 1 spar-decked corvette, 3 flush-decked corvettes, 2 armoured gunboats, of 15,350 total horsepower, with 62 guns, besides 19 torpedo boats. The following is a tabulated list of the 24 ironclads, divided into frigates, corvettes, and gunboats. The columns of the subjoined table exhibit, similar to that descriptive of the British ironclad navy, first, the thickness of armour at the water-line; secondly, the number and size of the large guns; thirdly, the indicated horse-power of the engines; and fourthly, the tonnage, that is, displacement in tons. The two most powerful ships of the navy are the ironclads Kaiser and Deutschland, launched at Poplar in 1874. They are sister-ships, 280 feet long, constructed after the designs of Sir Edward J. Reed. Each is protected with an armour belt extending all fore and aft, from 5 feet 6 inches below the water-line to the main 36-ton 700 1,100 36-ton 700 1,100 1 36-ton 700 1,100 36-ton 700 1,100 36-ton 700 1,100 36-ton 700 1,100 1 36-ton deck, and has an armour-plated battery, fitted with eight 22-ton steel breech-loading Krupp guns, arranged to fire broadside. In addition to these eight guns, there is another gun of 10 tons weight placed ast, capable of being trained to an angle of fifteen degrees. The thickness of armour-plates on the vital parts of the belt and battery is ten inches; elsewhere it is eight inches, reduced at the ends of the ship. The upper and main deck beams of each ironclad are completely covered with steel plating. were The The next most powerful ironclads of the German Imperial navy are the turret-ships, Friedrich der Grosse and Preussen. They built at German dockyards, after the same model, during the years 1873 and 1874. Each of them has two turrets, with armour of the thickness of eleven inches round them, and the centre, and of seven inches fore and aft, while the armament consists of four 22-ton guns in the turrets, and two 6-ton guns placed fore and aft. König Wilhelm, built at the Thames Ironworks, Blackwall, and launched on the 25th of April, 1868, was designed by the former Constructor of the British navy, and carries 23 guns made of Krupp's hammered steel. The armour is 8 inches thick amidships, tapering gradually downwards to a thickness of 7 inches at 7 feet below the water-line. Behind the bowsprit and just forward of the stern are two bulkheads, each of 6 inch armour and 18 inch of teak, which continue from the lower deck up through the main deck, and rise to the height of 7 feet above the spar deck, where they are curved into the form of semicircular shields, each pierced with portholes for cannon and loopholes for musketry. Within these shields are four 10-ton guns, which can be used to fire straight fore and aft, or as broadside guns. The Prinz Friedrich Karl was built at La Seyne, near Toulon, after the model of the French frigate the Couronne. The Kronprinz, built at Poplar, by Messrs. Samuda Brothers, and launched in 1867, is constructed with armour-plating 5 inches thick, so arranged as to protect the rudder and steering apparatus, as well as the whole of the lower deck. The armament consists of 16 steel breech-loading guns of 10 tons, besides two small pivot guns. Among the other vessels of the German navy, the most remarkable are the three steamers, the Zieten, the Hohenzollern, and the Blitz. They are sea-going ships for offensive warfare, constructed for great speed, calculated to be not less than 20 knots per hour. They are protected, in their most vulnerable parts, mainly under the bows, by steel armour. Under a scheme presented by the Government in 1873, and adopted by the Reichsrath, the German navy is in course of being largely augmented. When this scheme is complete Germany should possess a floating armament of 8 ironclad frigates, 6 ironclad corvettes, 1 monitor, 13 gunboats, also ironclad, 20 wooden corvettes, |