SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.

In most European States the Army is worked by the Sovereign or Government of the country for the defence of the Crown and the nation, and for the upholding of the Law. This, however, was for a long time not the case in the south-western portion of Europe, i.e. the Iberian Peninsula. It could not be the case, for during even this century revolution has succeeded revolution, and the different forms of government introduced at rapidly-recurring intervals have made it impossible for the Army to be always at the beck and call of the head of the State for the time being. The energetic young king, Alfonso XII., who ascended the Spanish throne in 1874 (and died in 1885), experienced the necessity of making himself chief of the Army, and instituted a military system by which he hoped to put an end to the earlier irregularities.

Organisa­tion.

The Army of Spain is therefore now divided into the Peninsular Army, which serves in Spain itself, and the Colonial Army, which serves in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippine Islands.

Terms of Service.

The Peninsular Army is founded on the system of universal conscription, to which every Spaniard becomes liable on attaining his twentieth year. Those who are exempted by law from the Army are only called out in time of war, and those who belong to certain named professions are allowed to buy exemptions from service for £60. Of the remaining able-bodied men it is the ballot which decides which are to enter the Active Army.