The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-02-24
The Fighting strength Of France In 1878.

public have direct interest.
The Fighting strength Of France in 1873.
In the Conference proposed bv Austria,
France is expected To take part, and will
thus formally rcappear on the stage of Euro
pean affairs or course the weight Of her
diplomacy will be determined by the cur
rent impression regarding the efficiency Of
her new military system That is still, IN
some respects, an unknown factor but Of
late strenuous efforts have been making by
English and German. as well M by French. Of
hcrrs to appraise its value. These estimates
differ widely, but by comparison and with
allowance for motive We may approximate
to the truth.
The change in English opinion on this
subject during the past twelvemonth IL
certainly remarkable. Not long ago an
article appeared in the Saturday Rcri1r
which attracted much attention on the Con-
tinent, and which. after "A careful analysis of
the data then accessible, pronounced the re-
constructed French army "a formidable en-
CINE of war, entirely adequate To the defence
of the national territory. Still more recently.
SirGARNET WoLsELRY has undertaken. in the
NGotfoah Century, an elaborate comparison
Of the French military power in 1870 and
ISIS. The question which the writer of that
essay proposed to solve was whether
France is already in II position to withstand
new German invasion, and he does not hest
tate to answer the question in the atiirma-
tive. On the other hand, n writer in the
L,.psic periodical. Insere Zcit, and who
evinccs considerable acquaintance with the
present military institutions Of France. ar
rives at very different conclusions. While
he does not gainsay marked Improvement.
be anirms that the French organization il
not yet prepared for defence, much less for
aggressive operations.
The deductions drawn by these writer's
from the facts within their knowledge
are mutually contradictory and need not
therefore. be scanned in detail. A more
exhaustive and authoritative statement
comes 10 us from another quarter We re-
fer to memoir lately inserted in the Md-
ddr Woch1Ltun, an official military jour
nal published under the auspices of the war
ministry of the German Empire. This arti-
Gle sets forth data at once 50 complete and
so accurate that it Is generally attributed
to the military attachc Of the German En-
bassy at Paris, since We find the anthem
tl'lAN ~ llS lhNAH anu tll' VI lAS
Judgments acknowledged by French peri
odical of high standing the Rorue Bfddn-
nigue. They may, doubtless, be received
with confidence.
1t appears that the effective force Of the
so-called active army ON Jan. /, 1873, was
four hundred and seventy thousand four
hundred men, exclusive Of non-combatants.
These figures, Of course. represent the
strength OF the establishment on a peace
footing, but il Is pointed out that the cav
airy and artillery are credited with very
nearly their war complement as regards en-
listed men, And here we may notice that
the Germans consider the French cavalry
too weak as compared with the infantry
arm. So much for the active army on
peace footing. But in case OF mobilization
the infantry would be augmented to six
hundred and fOrty-one thousand, Add TO
this the existing cavalry and artillery
about seventy thousand for each arm
and wo have an effective total of
seven hundred and eighty thousand men
prepared to take the field. Could the whole
OF this force be made available II would I'M
| QuestiOnably suffice for the first require
ments of defence. A Il matter of fact,
| however large masses would have to be de-
| tailed for garrison duty in Il number of
| fOrtrosscS and In the cities of Paris and
| Lyons. The Germans are at liberty to
| leave their strong holds undcfcndcd, because
| on the one hand they have no invasion to
| fear, and on the other, no refractory indus
| trial populations to control. The reverse
unluckily is true OF France. Neither may
| the latter country leave the defence Of Al
| geria to native troops and the foreign legion
which aggregate less than fifteen thousand
men, and for that reason the maintenance of
| that colony must be counted source of
weakness in the event of a European war.
| In view of these circumstances IL is argued
| BY the German critic and not denied 10y his
| French reviewer, that the so-Called active
army Of France, even when raised to its war
complement Is signnlly insufficient In order
! leave it wholly disposabo for duty in the
field, second is Indispensable. The eo-
mcnts of this supplemental force can only
he drawn from the surplus of tho reserve
which remains litter the active army has
been placed on war footing. and from the
Now, oven the cadrcs or skeleton frames OF
the reserve are as yet incomplete. On dan,
/, 1877, the general staff Of the reserve showed
for the infantry only one hundred and fifty
six captains, although the artillery seems
! 60 laNc had it, full quota of officers. No
OtAel meaus are at hand for computing