Norwich bulletin., 1916-09-23
THE WAR PRIMER By National Geographic Society

Greece-The resources of Greece with respect to that country's possi- ble influence On the outcome of the European war are set forth in the following war geography bulletin is sued by the National Geographic So- ciety:
 Unlike Rumania, Greece will not prove to be a food resource of the Entente Allies. On the contrary, this the most southerly of the Balkan na- tions does not produce enough cereals to feed her own people. It's chief az ricultural products-currants, the vine and the olive-are to be chased among the luuxuries rather than the necessities.
 Including the territory acquired through the treaties of the First and Second Balkan wars, Greece has an area about equal to the combined areas of Belgium, Holland and Dem mark. With the Albanian territory of North Epirus, which the Entente AL lies permitted her to occupy in No vember, 1914, her total area now ex- ceeds 46,00o square miles, being about as large as the State oflMississippi but with a population (5,00o,00o) two and three-fourths as great, nearly approx imating that Of Illinois.
 Although Greece is in 'straitened financial circumstances her experd- itures in 1914 exceeding her revenue by $31, ,600,000, she maintains an army of 66,0o0 officers and men in peace times and it is estimated that by she can put 450,000 men in the field, with her total available unorganized strength adds a half million to that number.
 Military service in Greence, as among practically all her neighbor l nations, is compulsory, and parlia- ment has fixed upon 25,000 recruits as the annual contingent. The period 1 of active service required in the army 1 is three years for cavalry and artil- 1 lery and two years for infantry. For 21 years after his active traininf, l which begins in his 20th year. the l Greek citizen belongs to the first re- l serves, and for eight years thereafter 1 he is listed among the second reserves "a total of 31 years liability to mie l tary service. The equipment of the i infantry is the Mann1icher- Schonauer 1 rife, similar to the Rumanian small i arms. The field artillery is the French | schneider Canet quick f1rer.
 America has an especial senti- l mental interest in Greece's small navy I as two of her strongest fighting units l are the killzis and the Lemnos 130O0
 after having been purchased from our own government in 1914 for SIP, 100000 1 Launched as sister ships in 1904 they
 were known in the American navy as l the Mississippi and the Idaho. An other Greek warship with an interest | ing history is the 10000 ton Averoff which bears the name of a Greek mil | lionaire who, by a provision of his
 will, left the bulk of his fortune to his
 country for the improvement of its 1 navy. The two modern warships are
 the George I, (19,5o0 tons) and the
 Admiral Coundourietis (5,50o tons)
 both launched in 1914. A powerful
 battleship of 23,500 tons displace-
 ment is now under construction.
 "On the north and northwest Greece
 abuts on Bulgaria, Serbia and Al
 bania;' the frontier touching each oi 1 these countries being about the same length. In all other directions the peninsula is waterbound. So indent-
 ed are it's shores that few places ir the country, save in Thessaly alt Macedonia. are as much as 50 Sei1e<
 from the sea, and although it has o13S
 about one-fifth the area of the Spain | Portugal peninsula it has a longer coast line. With the long-range 15. inch rifles of the modern battleshiI
 almost every part of the historic na
 ton would be vulnerable to the bonn
 bardment of a French, English O
 Italian fleet"