Officer of Mountain Artillery.
The laws of 1872 and 1873 were passed with a view to this object, and by them Universal Conscription was introduced, as in Germany. On economical grounds, all able-bodied conscripts were divided into two classes, the first of which serves five years with the Colours, and the second only one year.
Terms of Service.
After his five years’ active service (or one year, as the case may be) the soldier goes for four (or eight) years to the Active Reserve. Thereafter he enters the Territorial Army for five years, and the Territorial Army Reserve for a subsequent six years, making twenty years in all. The Active Army and its Reserve form the Army of the 1st Line, and the Territorial Army and its Reserve the Army of the 2nd Line.
The institution of one-year Volunteers covers a much larger area than in the German Army. The main point looked to in a would-be one-year Volunteer is whether he can pay his 1,500 francs; the scientific and educational certificates required from such candidates in Germany are quite a secondary consideration in France.
New Law.
France was not content with following the German model when she re-constituted her Army, but endeavoured to organise a system whereby an enormous number of trained soldiers should be turned out in the shortest possible time—something like the “levée en masse” which took place at the time of the French Revolution in 1793. This has been the aim of successive war ministers since 1871. It seems to have been brought to a conclusive issue by the law of the 15th July, 1889, which for severity and harshness appears to surpass any military sacrifices and duties ever demanded of any people.
France. I. [LHS]
