Part 35
_Book Trade._--This branch of industry, from the important position it has gradually acquired since the time of the Reformation, is to be regarded as at once a cause and a result of the mental culture of Germany. Leipzig, Berlin and Stuttgart are the chief centres of the trade. The number of booksellers in Germany was not less than 10,000 in 1907, among whom were approximately 6000 publishers. The following figures will show the recent progress of German literary production, in so far as published works are concerned:
Year 1570 1600 1618 1650 1700 1750 1800 1840 1884 1902 Books 229 791 1293 725 951 1219 3335 6904 15,607 26,902
_Newspapers._--While in England a few important newspapers have an immense circulation, the newspapers of Germany are much more numerous, but on the whole command a more limited sale. Some large cities, notably Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, Dresden, Leipzig and Munich, have, however, newspapers with a daily circulation of over 100,000 copies, and in the case of some papers in Berlin a million copies is reached. Most readers receive their newspapers through the post office or at their clubs, which may help to explain the smaller number of copies sold.
_Fine Arts._--Perhaps the chief advantage which Germany has derived from the survival of separate territorial sovereignties within the empire has been the decentralization of culture. Patronage of art is among the cherished traditions of the German princes; and even where--as for instance at Cassel--there is no longer a court, the artistic impetus given by the former sovereigns has survived their fall. The result has been that there is in Germany no such concentration of the institutions for the encouragement and study of the fine arts as there is in France or England. Berlin has no practical monopoly, such as is possessed by London or Paris, of the celebrated museums and galleries of the country. The picture galleries of Dresden, Munich and Cassel still rival that at Berlin, though the latter is rapidly becoming one of the richest in the world in works of the great masters, largely at the cost of the private collections of England. For the same reason the country is very well provided with excellent schools of painting and music. Of the art schools the most famous are those of Munich, Dusseldorf, Dresden and Berlin, but there are others, e.g. at Karlsruhe, Weimar and Konigsberg. These schools are in close touch with the sovereigns and the governments, and the more promising pupils are thus from the first assured of a career, especially in connexion with the decoration of public buildings and monuments. To this fact is largely due the excellence of the Germans in grandiose decorative painting and sculpture, a talent for the exercise of which plenty of scope has been given them by the numerous public buildings and memorials raised since the war of 1870. Perhaps for this very reason, however, the German art schools have had no such cosmopolitan influence as that exercised by the schools of Paris, the number of foreign students attending them being comparatively small. It is otherwise with the schools of music, which exercise a profound influence far beyond the borders of Germany. Of these the most important are the conservatoires of Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Munich and Frankfort-on-Main. The fame of Weimar as a seat of musical education, though it possesses an excellent conservatoire, is based mainly on the tradition of the abbe Liszt, who gathered about him here a number of distinguished pupils, some of whom have continued to make it their centre. Music in Germany also receives a great stimulus from the existence, in almost every important town, of opera-houses partly supported by the sovereigns or by the civic authorities. Good music being thus brought within the reach of all, appreciation of it is very wide-spread in all classes of the population. The imperial government maintains institutes at Rome and Athens which have done much for the advancement of archaeology. (P. A. A.)
_Army._--The system of the "nation in arms" owes its existence to the reforms in the Prussian army that followed Jena. The "nation in arms" itself was the product of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, but it was in Prussia that was seen the systematization and the economical and effective application of the immense forces of which the revolutionary period had demonstrated the existence (see also ARMY; CONSCRIPTION; FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS, &c.). It was with an army and a military system that fully represented the idea of the "nation in arms" that Prussia created the powerful Germany of later days, and the same system was extended by degrees over all the other states of the new empire. But these very successes contained in themselves the germ of new troubles. Increased prosperity, a still greater increase in population and the social and economic disturbances incidental to the conversion of an agricultural into a manufacturing community, led to the practical abandonment of the principle of _universal_ service. More men came before the recruiting officer than there was money to train; and in 1895 the period of service with the colours was reduced from three to two years--a step since followed by other military powers, the idea being that with the same peace effective and financial grants half as many men again could be passed through the ranks as before.
In 1907 the recruiting statistics were as follows:
Number of young men attaining service age (including those who had voluntarily enlisted before their time) 556,772 Men belonging to previous years who had been put back for re-examination, &., still borne on the lists 657,753 --------- 1,214,525
_Deduct_--Physically unfit, &c. 35,802 Struck off 860
Voluntarily enlisted in the army and navy, on or before attaining service age 57,739 Assigned as recruits to the navy 10,374 Put back, &c. 684,193 ------- 788,968 ------- Available as army recruits, fit 425,557 ------- Of these, (a) Assigned to the active army for two or three years' service with the colours _ _ 212,661 (b) Assigned to the Ersatz-Reserve of the | | army and navy |_untrained_| 89,877 (c) Assigned to the 1st levy of Landsturm |_ _| 123,019 ------- 425,557
Thus only half the men on whom the government has an effective hold go to the colours in the end. Moreover few of the men "put back, &c.," who figure on both sides of the account for any one year, and seem to average 660,000, are really "put back." They are in the main those who have failed or fail to present themselves, and whose names are retained on the liability lists against the day of their return. Many of these have emigrated.
By the constitution of the 16th of April 1871 every German is liable to service and no substitution is allowed. Liability begins at the age of seventeen, and actual service, as a rule, from the age of twenty. The men serve in the active army and army reserve for seven years, of which two years (three in the case of cavalry and horse artillery recruits) are spent with the colours. During his four or five years in the reserve, the soldier is called out for training with his corps twice, for a maximum of eight weeks (in practice usually for six). After quitting the reserve the soldier is drafted into the first ban of the _Landwehr_ for five years more, in which (except in the cavalry, which is not called out in peace time) he undergoes two trainings of from eight to fourteen days. Thence he passes into the second ban and remains in it until he has completed his thirty-ninth year--i.e. from six to seven years more, the whole period of army and Landwehr service being thus nineteen years. Finally, all soldiers are passed into the _Landsturm_, in the first ban of which they remain until the completion of their forty-fifth year. The second ban consists of untrained men between the ages of thirty-nine and forty-five. Young men who reach a certain standard of education, however, are only obliged to serve for one year in the active army. They are called One-Year Volunteers (_Einjahrig-Freiwilligen_), defray their own expenses and are the chief source of supply of reserve and Landwehr officers. That proportion of the annual contingents which is dismissed untrained goes either to the Ersatz-Reserve or to the 1st ban of the Landsturm (the Landwehr, it will be observed, contains only men who have served with the colours). The Ersatz consists exclusively of young men, who would in war time be drafted to the regimental depots and thence sent, with what training circumstances had in the meantime allowed, to the front. Some men of the Ersatz receive a short preliminary training in peace time.
In 1907 the average height of the private soldiers was 5 ft. 6 in., that of the non-commissioned officers 5 ft. 6-1/2 in., and that of the one-year volunteers 5 ft. 9-1/2 in. A much greater proportion of the country recruits were accepted as "fit" than of those coming from the towns. Voluntary enlistments of men who desired to become non-commissioned officers were most frequent in the provinces of the old Prussian monarchy, but in Berlin itself and in Westphalia the enlistments fell far short of the number of non-commissioned officers required for the territorial regiments of the respective districts. Above all, in Alsace-Lorraine one-eighth only of the required numbers were obtained.
_Peace and War Strengths._--German military policy is revised every five years; thus a law of April 1905 fixes the strength and establishments to be attained on March 31, 1910, the necessary augmentations, &c., being carried out gradually in the intervening years. The peace strength for the latter date was fixed at 505,839 men (not including officers, non-commissioned officers and one-year volunteers), forming--
633 battalions infantry. 510 squadrons cavalry. 574 batteries field and horse artillery. 40 battalions foot artillery. 29 battalions pioneers. 12 battalions communication troops. 23 train battalions, &c.
The addition of about 25,000 officers and 85,000 non-commissioned officers, one-year men, &c., brings the peace footing of the German army in 1910 to a total of about 615,000 of all ranks.
As for war, the total fighting strength of the German nation (including the navy) has been placed at as high a figure as 11,000,000. Of these 7,000,000 have received little or no training, owing to medical unfitness, residence abroad, failure to appear, surplus of annual contingents, &c., as already explained, and not more than 3,000,000 of these would be available in war. The real military resources of Germany, untrained and trained, are thus about 7,000,000, of whom 4,000,000 have at one time or another done a continuous period of service with the colours.[6] This is of course for a war of defence _a outrance_. For an offensive war, only the active army, the reserve, the Ersatz and the 1st levy of the Landwehr would be really available.
A rough calculation of the number of these who go to form or to reinforce the field armies and the mobilized garrisons may be given:
Cadres of officers and non-commissioned officers 100,000 From 7 annual contingents of recruits (i.e.
## active army and reserve) 1,200,000
From 5 contingents of Landwehr (1st ban) 600,000 From 7 classes of Ersatz reserve called to the depots, able-bodied men 400,000 One-year volunteers recalled to the colours or serving as reserve and Landwehr officers 100,000 --------- 2,400,000
These again would divide into a first line army of 1,350,000 and a second of 1,050,000. It is calculated that the field army would consist, in the third week of a great war, of 633 battalions, 410 squadrons and 574 batteries, with technical, departmental and medical troops (say 630,000 bayonets, 60,000 sabres and 3444 guns, or 750,000 men), and that these could be reinforced in three or four weeks by 350 fresh battalions. Behind these forces there would shortly become available for secondary operations about 460 battalions of the 1st ban Landwehr, and 200 squadrons and about 220 batteries of the reserve and Landwehr. In addition, each would leave behind depot troops to form the nucleus on which the 2nd ban Landwehr and the Landsturm would eventually be built up. The total number of units of the three arms in all branches may be stated approximately at 2200 battalions, 780 squadrons and 950 batteries.
_Command and Organization._--By the articles of the constitution the whole of the land forces of the empire form a united army in war and peace under the orders of the emperor. The sovereigns of the chief states are entitled to nominate the lower grades of officers, and the king of Bavaria has reserved to himself the special privilege of superintending the general administration of the three Bavarian army corps; but all appointments are made subject to the emperor's approval. The emperor is empowered to erect fortresses in any part of the empire. It is the almost invariable practice of the kings of Prussia to command their forces in person, and the army commands, too, are generally held by leaders of royal or princely rank. The natural corollary to this is the assignment of special advisory duties to a responsible chief of staff. The officers are recruited either from the Cadet Corps at Berlin or from amongst those men, of sufficient social standing, who join the ranks as "avantageurs" with a view to obtaining commissions. Reserve and Landwehr officers are drawn from among officers and selected non-commissioned officers retired from the
## active army, and one-year volunteers who have passed a special
examination. All candidates, from whatever source they come, are subject to approval or rejection by their brother officers before being definitively commissioned. Promotion in the German army is excessively slow, the senior subalterns having eighteen to twenty years' commissioned service and the senior captains sometimes thirty. The number of officers on the active list is about 25,000. The under-officers number about 84,000.
The German army is organized in twenty-three army corps, stationed and recruited in the various provinces and states as follows: Guard, Berlin (general recruiting); I. Konigsberg (East Prussia); II. Stettin (Pomerania); III. Berlin (Brandenburg); IV. Magdeburg (Prussian Saxony); V. Posen (Poland and part of Silesia); VI. Breslau (Silesia); VII. Munster (Westphalia); VIII. Coblenz (Rhineland); IX. Altona (Hanse Towns and Schleswig-Holstein); X. Hanover (Hanover); XI. Cassel (Hesse-Cassel); XII. Dresden (Saxony); XIII. Stuttgart (Wurttemberg); XIV. Karlsruhe (Baden); XV. Strassburg (Alsace); XVI. Metz (Lorraine); XVII. Danzig (West Prussia); XVIII. Frankfurt-am-Main (Hesse Darmstadt, Main country); XIX. Leipzig (Saxony); I. Bavarian Corps, Munich; II. Bavarian Corps, Wurzburg; III. Bavarian Corps, Nuremberg. The formation of a XX. army corps out of the extra division of the XIV. corps at Colmar in Alsace, with the addition of two regiments from Westphalia and drafts of the XV. and XVI. corps, was announced in 1908 as the final step of the programme for the period 1906-1910. The normal composition of an army corps on war is (a) staff, (b) 2 infantry divisions, each of 2 brigades (4 regiments or 12 battalions), 2 regiments of field artillery (comprising 9 batteries of field-guns and 3 of field howitzers, 72 pieces in all), 3 squadrons of cavalry, 1 or 2 companies of pioneers, a bridge train and 1 or 2 bearer companies; (c) corps troops, 1 battalion rifles, telegraph troops, bridge train, ammunition columns, train (supply) battalion, field bakeries, bearer companies and field hospitals, &c., with, as a rule, one or two batteries of heavy field howitzers or mortars and a machine-gun group. The remainder of the cavalry and horse artillery attached to the army corps in peace goes in war to form the cavalry divisions. Certain corps have an increased effective; thus the Guard has a whole cavalry division, and the I. corps (Konigsberg) has three divisions. Several corps possess an extra infantry brigade of two 2-battalion regiments, but these, unless stationed on the frontiers, are gradually absorbed into new divisions and army corps. In war several army corps, cavalry divisions and reserve divisions are grouped in two or more "armies," and in peace the army corps are divided for purposes of superior control amongst several "army inspections."
The cavalry is organized in regiments of cuirassiers, dragoons, lancers, hussars and mounted rifles,[7] the regiments having four service and one depot squadrons. Troopers are armed with lance, sword and carbine (for which in 1908 the substitution of a short rifle with bayonet was suggested). In peace time the highest permanent organization is the brigade of two regiments or eight squadrons, but in war and at manoeuvres divisions of three brigades, with horse artillery attached, are formed.
The infantry consists of 216 regiments, mostly of three battalions each. These are numbered, apart from the eight Guard regiments and the Bavarians, serially throughout the army. Certain regiments are styled grenadiers and fusiliers. In addition there are eighteen chasseur or rifle battalions (_Jager_). The battalion has always four companies, each, at war strength, 250 strong. The armament of the infantry is the model 1898 magazine rifle and bayonet (see RIFLE).
The field (including horse) artillery consists in peace of 94 regiments subdivided into two or three groups (_Abteilungen_), each of two or three 6-gun batteries. The field gun in use is the quick-firing gun 96/N.A. (see ORDNANCE: _Field Equipments_).
The foot artillery is intended for siege and fortress warfare, and to furnish the heavy artillery of the field army. It consists of forty battalions. Machine gun detachments, resembling 4-gun batteries and horsed as artillery, were formed to the number of sixteen in 1904-1906. These are intended to work with the cavalry divisions. Afterwards it was decided to form additional small groups of two guns each, less fully horsed, to assist the infantry, and a certain number of these were created in 1906-1908.
The engineers are a technical body, not concerned with field warfare or with the command of troops. On the other hand, the pioneers (29 battalions) are assigned to the field army, with duties corresponding roughly to those of field companies R.E. in the British service. Other branches represented in Great Britain by the Royal Engineers are known in Germany by the title "communication troops," and comprise railway, telegraph and airship and balloon battalions. The Train is charged with the duties of supply and transport. There is one battalion to each army corps.
_Remounts._--The peace establishment in horses is approximately 100,000. Horses serve eight to nine years in the artillery and nine to ten in the cavalry, after which, in the autumn of each year, they are sold, and their places taken by remounts. The latter are bought at horse-fairs and private sales, unbroken, and sent to the 25 remount depots, whence, when fit for the service, they are sent to the various units, as a rule in the early summer. Most of the cavalry and artillery riding horses come from Prussia proper. The Polish districts produce swift Hussar horses of a semi-eastern type. Hanover is second only to East Prussia in output of horses. Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg do not produce enough horses for their own armies and have to draw on Prussia. Thirteen thousand four hundred and forty-five young horses were bought by the army authorities during 1907. The average price was about L51 for field artillery draught horses, L65 for heavy draught horses, and L46 for riding horses.
The military expenditure of Germany, according to a comparative table furnished to the House of Commons by the British war office in 1907, varied between L36,000,000 and L44,000,000 per annum in the period 1899-1902, and between L42,000,000 and L51,000,000 per annum in that of 1905-1909.
_Colonial Troops._--In 1906 these, irrespective of the brigade of occupation then maintained in north China and of special reinforcements sent to S.W. Africa during the Herrero war, consisted of the _German East Africa_ troops, 220 Europeans and 1470 natives; the _Cameroon_ troops, 145 European and 1170 natives; _S.W. African troops_, entirely European and normally consisting of 606 officers and men active and a reserve of ex-soldier settlers; the Kiao-Chau garrison (chiefly marines), numbering 2687 officers and men; and various small police forces in Togo, New Guinea, Samoa, &c.
_Fortresses._--The fixed defences maintained by the German empire (apart from naval ports and coast defences) belong to two distinct epochs in the military policy of the state. In the first period (roughly 1871-1899), which is characterized by the development of the offensive spirit, the fortresses, except on the French and Russian frontiers, were reduced to a minimum. In the interior only Spandau, Custrin, Magdeburg, Ingolstadt and Ulm were maintained as defensive supporting points, and similarly on the Rhine, which was formerly studded with fortresses from Basel to Emmerich, the defences were limited to New Breisach, Germersheim, Mainz, Coblenz, Cologne and Wesel, all of a "barrier" character and not organized specially as centres of activity for field armies. The French frontier, and to a less extent the Russian, were organized offensively. Metz, already surrounded by the French with a girdle of forts, was extended and completed (see FORTIFICATION AND SIEGECRAFT) as a great entrenched camp, and Strassburg, which in 1870 possessed no outlying works, was similarly expanded, though the latter was regarded an instrument of defence more than of attack. On the Russian frontier Konigsberg, Danzig, Thorn, Posen, Glogau (and on a smaller scale Boyen in East Prussia and Graudenz on the Vistula) were modernized and improved.
From 1899, however, Germany began to pay more attention to her fixed defences, and in the next years a long line of fortifications came into existence on the French frontier, the positions and strength of which were regulated with special regard to a new strategic disposition of the field armies and to the number and sites of the "strategic railway stations" which were constructed about the same time. Thus, the creation of a new series of forts extending from Thionville (Diedenhofen) to Metz and thence south-eastward was coupled with the construction of twelve strategic railway stations between Cologne and the Belgian frontier, and later--the so-called "fundamental plan" of operations against France having apparently undergone modification in consequence of changes in the foreign relations of the German government--an immense strategic railway station was undertaken at Saarburg, on the right rear of Thionville and well away from the French frontier, and many important new works both of fortification and of railway construction were begun in Upper Alsace, between Colmar and Basel.
The coast defences include, besides the great naval ports of Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea and Kiel on the Baltic, Danzig, Pillau, Memel, Friedrichsort, Cuxhaven, Geestemunde and Swinemunde. (C. F. A.)
_Navy._--The German navy is of recent origin. In 1848 the German people urged the construction of a fleet. Money was collected, and a few men-of-war were fitted out; but these were subsequently sold, the German _Bundestag_ (federal council) not being in sympathy with the aspirations of the nation. Prussia however, began laying the foundations of a small navy. To meet the difficulty arising from the want of good harbours in the Baltic, a small extent of territory near Jade Bay was bought from Oldenburg in 1854, for the purpose of establishing a war-port there. Its construction was completed at enormous expense, and it was opened for ships by the emperor in June 1869 under the name of Wilhelmshaven. In 1864 Prussia, in annexing Holstein, obtained possession of the excellent port of Kiel, which has since been strongly fortified. From the time of the formation of the North German Confederation the navy has belonged to the common federal interest. Since 1st October 1867 all its ships have carried the same flag, of the national colours--black, white, red, with the Prussian eagle and the iron cross.