“Let him who is desirous of peace prepare himself for war.” Thus runs the proverb which sums up the experiences and history of the most powerful Empire of old. If this maxim held good in the old Roman days, how much more applicable is it to the present time, when war-clouds are darkening the horizon, and threaten to burst in ruin and devastation on all nations who have not heeded the warning! There are, however, few who have not heeded it, and the governments of all nations have been for some time, and are still, reorganising their Armies and bringing them to a high state of efficiency in accordance with the experience taught them by the great wars of the last thirty years. It is therefore necessary for all who take an interest in military matters, or in foreign politics, to become acquainted with the strength and organisation of the armed forces of the different European Powers, for it is only by a study of these Armies that we get to know the relative value of our own. TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. The matter contained in the following pages has been corrected up to date. The _Corrigenda_ at the end of Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, refer to the alterations that have taken place during the progress of this work through the press. A few words of the original text, such as “Landwehr” and “Ersatz,” have been retained in the translation, although applied to other than German countries. For their meaning, _v._ “The German Army,” p. 21, etc. There are no corresponding English words. G. _November_, 1890. [Illustration: England. II. _Printed by G. Löwensohn, Fuerth Bavaria_ _Published by William Clowes & Sons, L^{d}, London._] ARMY OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE.[1] The British Army is constructed on a purely original system. It is like no other army in the world, and for this very good reason, that there is no empire in the world like the British Empire. [Sidenote: +The British Empire.+] Great Britain and Ireland alone do not constitute the Empire. India, Australia, Canada, the Cape, and shoals of other colonies in every quarter of the globe, all help to build it up, and for its defence we must have an Imperial Army constructed to fit it. Let us see what we have got. The first thing that strikes us about the Army is that, although of a decent size, it is not by any means too large—in fact, some people say that it is nothing like large enough. That, however, is a question which chiefly concerns the British taxpayer and his pocket, and with which we have nothing to do at this moment, so we will confine ourselves to contemplating its actual size. [Sidenote: +Strength of Imperial Army.+] The Empire contains, roughly, over 9,000,000 of square miles, and over 326,000,000 of inhabitants. To defend these we have an Army which numbers roughly as follows:—