The Van Buren press., 1870-07-26
Strength of the Belligerents
from New York Herald, sth. ]

from New York Herald. sth
France, the military Colossus of the
West, has, according to the latest and
most accurate advices, under the new laws
recently carried into effect. 4l4,632 sol
diers on the peace footing, 647,S7l Of a
field army, or 1850, 900 men in all for her
entire ordinary war strength. OF these
$40, 1000 men are ready to march at the
tap of the drum on the outbreak of hos
tilities, Austria, which, correctly or in
correctly, is regarded as the inevitable al
! " of France, has 27S.170 men on the
peace establishment, S3S, 700 Of war
strength, or 100000 fully prepared to
move. Could the South German con-
federation, or group of States, be secured
on the same side, they have go, $40 men
on the peace or lS4, ,406 on the war foot
ing, with l07, 900 of these prepared for
instant service. Such coalition would
give France the control of777, 900 fight
ing men at once, with reserve Of $780,
l06 trained soldiers.
On the other hand, Prussia has 1885,
900 men on the peace or 1855, 900 on the
war footing, with 100000 now ready for
operations on her Western frontier North
Germany going with Prussia, has 3l5,-
527 on the peace, 52l 1893 on the field or
944,32l on the war footing, Of which
SAG, 900 are instantly available, This
would place at Prussian disposal SAG, 600
men for the first moment, and 1854, ,32l
in reserve Thus she would have, in-
stantly, $4,000 men more, and, hereafter,
23l,7S5 less than the French alliance.
Should she be able to manage Southern
Germany for her cause, she would have
I,053,000 men, or 10000 more than
France, to move at once, or quite enough
to cope with her and Austria together,
tor the time being, with all the advantages
Of common language and position.
This would leave Prussia still reserve
Of |, ,44l, 1877 men, or only 154.3 less
than that Of France and Austria coalesced
difference swamped to the extent OF
nearly ly--90, 600 men by her superiority
of immediate force
The inquiry now arises rs to what
would be the course Of the adjacent Pow.
ers. France has seriously angered Italy,
and the latter is reported to have formed
defensive, if not an offensive, alliance
with Prussia In such case, the latter
being attacked by France, the Italians,
out of a force Of 3!6,72l on q war foot
ing, with 1877 900 Of a reserve, or 573, ,721
in all, could spare possibly 900, 900 men
to operate on the French frontier or hold
hostile corps in check The direct and
open participation of Russia is hardly to
be expected unless circumstances should
force her into the melee. In that case
she could dispose Of about $50, 900 men
from about 700, 900 composing her army
in Europe, including the Cossacks, She
could take no other course by family al
lance, position and tho recollection OF
Crimean wounds than to aid Prussia.
Sweden and Denmark would, ifthey dared
to move at all, have to go in the same di-
rection, with about $4,000 men. Thus
Italy, the Gar and Scandinavia would
bring King William 500, 600 men-a force
that, with South German aid, would place
him 100000 ahead Of France. allowing
England, Belgium, Holland and Switzer-
land to remain ncutral-a proviso dill.
cult to admit in such universal conflict
As for Spain, it is clear that, should she
accept the llohenzollsrn prince, she
would cast all the little strength she has
for Prussia. Should she reject Leopold
the war issue would cease, and these
speculatons become needless.
The naval forces of the respective
powers we do not here introduce, for the
reason that the contest would chiefly be
decided by land and quickly, as the
geographical position Of the beiiigerents
indicates. We reserve that branch OF
the subject for another day, but may. in
the meanwhile, remark that the French
navy is quite equal to oil the rest of Eu
rope excepting England) combined, in
q fighting point Of view.
The general deduction from this operca
of facts is, plainly, that should all Ger
many go with Prussia, and the Other
powers stand aloof, France, even IL aided
by Austria, would have to make up by
discipline, enthusiasm and gallantry foi
heavy discrepancy Of numbers. Should
she, however, rival in these days the wild
energy of the Revolutionary directory
which hurled fourteen armies against tho
invading strangers and hunted them back
to their own capitals, she might still rear
fresh trumphs. Her terrible Chassepots
and rihed revolving steel cannon are quite
equal. if not superior, to anything Prus
sa las, and she possesses shallow iron
clad gunboats for river service that might
scour the navigable Rhine and It's tributa
ries Again, on the other hand, Should
Russia, Italy, and Scandinavia. too, be
forced against her, then. indeed, the odds
| ,rnuld ha ala armipU