THE ARMY AND NAVY
Everybody in Norway, that is every
man, has to serve five years in the army, so that
every citizen is a soldier the first year
after the twenty-third birthday seventy days, and
thirty days or so each year thereafter for four years
more. The organization has a nominal strength
of 80,000 men of three divisions known as the landstrom,
or reserves (25,000); the landvern, or militia (55,000),
and the opbud, or regulars, who numbered about 5,000,
garrison the different fortresses along the coast.
Every able-bodied Norwegian, except pilots and clergymen,
is obliged to serve in any position to which he is
assigned by the king, who is commander-in-chief.
The sailors and fishermen are enrolled in the navy
and must serve aboard a man-of-war at least twelve
months. The land forces require five months’
service for infantry, seven months for cavalry and
artillery, and six months for engineers, which is
distributed over a period of five years. Training
camps are established every summer in convenient localities
from two to three months. Every man capable of
bearing arms is in time of war liable to do service
in the reserves, from the eighteenth to the fiftieth
year of age.
The organization is complete throughout
the nation, so that an army of 80,000 men can be mobilized
in a few days. Every cavalryman and artilleryman
is required to bring a horse with him when he is called
to camp, and the arsenals contain a complete equipment
of arms and accoutrements. The non-commissioned
officers are former members of the regular army, in
which they must have served three years in the infantry
and cavalry or four years in artillery and engineers.
During this period they are given a practical education
in books and in the mechanical duties of the soldier.
They are taught to repair guns, manufacture powder,
make harness, shoe horses, and do everything else
that is likely to come within their experience in the
field. This training is highly valued by the
young men of the country, particularly by boys from
the farms, because it gives them a certain social
standing, the right to wear a uniform, and a corresponding
amount of influence in the community. This regular
army school takes in about 1,700 young men every year.
The officers are educated in a military
college. The complete course covers five years
for the staff, artillery, and engineer corps.
Candidates must first have graduated from one of the
government technical schools. The infantry and
cavalry course is three years. Graduates are
appointed second lieutenants in the regular army, and
are promoted through the regular grades.
The army of Norway costs the government
about 14,000,000 kroner, or $3,800,000 a year, which
is an average of $1.70 per capita of the population,
or half the tax paid by the English and Germans.
The last budget was about $1,000,000 larger than usual,
for the purpose of erecting new fortresses upon the
southern coast. All the principal seaports are
already fortified, and there is an excellent system
of torpedo defense in the different fjords, but there
is a remarkable public apprehension concerning the
intentions of Russia; and, mindful of the fate of
Finland, the Norwegians are preparing to resist any
aggressiveness on the part of the czar. It is
not disputed that Russia desires a winter port on
her northern coast for St. Petersburg and Kronstadt
are always closed by the ice for five and sometimes
six months in the year. The Norwegian fjords
never freeze. They are protected by the monstrous
mountains, and the water is tempered by warm currents
that flow in from the gulf stream. The national
apprehension of both Norway and Sweden that Russia
covets one of their seaports has existed a good many
years. The bugbear has appeared at intervals
for half a century, and a great deal of money has been
expended in preparations to meet it. The people
are, therefore, cordially patriotic in their support
of the army, although many of them emigrate to the
United States to avoid military service.
Norway has a small but efficient navy,
composed of third and fourth class cruisers, monitors,
small gunboats and torpedo boats, forty-six in all,
aggregating 29,000 tons, 53,000 horse-power, carry
174 guns, and manned by 140 officers and 1,000 men.
The officers are educated in naval schools, with a
five-year course for regulars and three years for
the reserves, which include all the merchant sailors
and fishermen.
Norway has taken an active part in
the promotion of international arbitration, and has
sent delegates to every conference on that subject.
The storthing, in a decided manner, has repeatedly
expressed its belief in that method of settling disputes,
and in correspondence with the Russian government
has laid a foundation that may be useful in case the
czar, under any pretext, should use aggressive measures
in this direction. So much interest has been
shown in the question that Alfred Nobel, the Swedish
philanthropist, and the inventor of dynamite, who
made his money manufacturing that most powerful explosive,
by his will authorized the members of the Norwegian
storthing to award a prize of $40,000 annually to the
person who, in their judgment, during the preceding
year, shall have done the most to promote peace among
nations and the adoption of the plan of arbitration
in the settlement of international differences.
For many years the chief political
issue in Sweden has been the increase of the army
and the military service required of each citizen.
The king finally won, and in 1901 a law was passed
increasing the term of service from ninety days to
eight and twelve months. The nation claims that
period in the life of every able-bodied man, and it
is given more or less reluctantly.
Every male citizen is enrolled in
the army, and at the time when he becomes twenty-one
years of age, he is required to report himself at
the military headquarters nearest home, where he submits
to a physical examination, and if accepted, is assigned
to the proper company and regiment of militia, and
directed to report for duty to his immediate commander.
The small number of persons rejected for disability
is good testimony to the health and vigor of the race.
Severe penalties are placed upon those who attempt
to escape military service by feigning illness or
maiming themselves, but it is said there are still
men who would cut off one or two of their fingers
and run risk of spending four years in the penetentiary
in preference to spending a couple of months every
year under military instruction. The military
spirit in Sweden is not strong, although history shows
that there are no better fighters in the human family,
and it is remarkable to watch the high degree of efficiency
to which green boys from the farms can be brought
after a few weeks of drill and discipline.
The regular army of Sweden oh a peace
footing is composed of 34,329 enlisted men, 3,729
officers, 1,655 musicians, 840 engineers, and 623
members of the staff, making a total effective fighting
force of 39,114. Of these 6,891 are cavalry and
3,432 artillery.
These forces compose the garrisons
at Stockholm and other principal cities of the country,
and are at all times under arms. The militia,
divided into regiments and companies according to location,
numbers 181,000 men, and is subject to call by the
king at all hours and under all circumstances.
Each member of the militia, as I have said, must serve
a certain time in the army, eight months for infantry
and twelve months for cavalry and artillery, the service
being extended over the period of five years.
During this five years a man spends from two to four
months each year in a garrison or camp, according to
the judgment of his commanding officers, when he receives
the nominal pay of the private in the regular army.
He has no option as to the time of the annual period
or service. He may be asked to remain in the army
for eight or twelve months continuously; it all depends
upon the plans of the war office.
When a man has served his time in
the militia, he is given a certificate to that effect,
which exempts him from further active military service,
and makes him a member of the reserves, which number
203,000 men, all of whom have served in the militia,
and are subject to the summons of the king whenever
the country is invaded by foreign foe. With local
troubles they have nothing to do. The militia
is considered sufficient for any such emergency, but
under the Swedish system the effective force at the
command of the king in case of foreign invasion is
something like 420,000 men.
There are a lot of picturesque old
castles and fortresses on the coast of Sweden in which
garrisons are still maintained, but they would not
last an hour if attacked by modern guns and projectiles.
They are reinforced, however, by earthworks, with
the very best artillery. Swedish guns rank among
the highest, and several Swedish patents in ordnance
have been already adopted by the fortification board
of the United States. All the harbors are protected
by torpedoes, and Stockholm is absolutely impregnable
from the sea, being situated upon a fjord or bay that
can not be entered except through passages that are
easily defended.
The navy of Sweden is comparatively
small, but for its numerical strength it is probably
the most effective in the world. At least that
is the opinion of competent critics. The total
force numbers 4,500 officers and men on a peace footing,
which may be increased to 8,500 from the reserve on
a few hours’ notice. The fleet consists
of fourteen first-class cruisers and battle ships,
four second- and nine third-class, five torpedo catchers,
twenty-six torpedo boats, and twenty gunboats of small
tonnage, the armament of the fleet being 290 guns
and ninety-seven rapid-firing guns. All the vessels
were built in Sweden.
Every Swede is a sailor. He is
brought up on the water, and taught in childhood to
swim and to sail a boat, and, although the shipping
industry is not so extensive as in Norway, the national
interest in aquatic sports is probably greater and
more general than in any other nation. The long
line of seacoast and the 1,100 lakes within Swedish
territory gives abundant opportunity for the exercise
of this inclination. Hence in the case of war,
the navy could be recruited indefinitely with competent
men.
King Oscar took a deep personal interest
in naval affairs, because his early life was spent
in the navy, his commission as lieutenant bearing
the date of June 19, 1845. When he was called
to the throne, he at once commenced to plan for improvement
of that branch of the service, and for many years
was virtually his own minister of marine. He did
much to encourage the maritime spirit among the people,
being honorary president of the Royal Yacht Club,
and presided over its meetings, which were sometimes
held in the palace to suit his convenience. He
took an active part in the organization and promotion
of the naval reserve, and never lost an opportunity
to show his zeal in the development of the shipping
industry and the aquatic pastimes.
Nor was the king a paper sailor.
On special occasions he showed great bravery and presence
of mind at sea, and of his sixty decorations and medals
he valued none higher than that which was awarded him
by the Humane Society of France in 1862, when he saved
the lives of three people at the risk of his own.
The Swedish militia is commanded by
officers of the regular army. No man can receive
a commission in the militia unless he has spent at
least sixteen months in the military academy and passed
the required examinations. About a thousand young
men are graduated each year from the several schools
situated in different parts of the country, which
are a part of the regular educational system of the
nation. Thus the government has at its command
abundant material for the military organization.
The officers are promoted as vacancies occur, are
retired on half pay when they are aged or disabled generals
at 65 years, colonels at 60, lieutenant colonels and
majors at 55, and captains at 50. Militia officers
are eligible to appointments in the civil service;
they may be elected to the riksdag, and they have the
same social standing at the palace as the officers
of the regular army. The palace is the center
of the social system in Sweden, and only certain persons
are eligible to invitations to the king’s balls
and dinners. All officers of the militia are included
in the list, and all peasants in the riksdag, although
their wives are never invited.