Chapter VI: German Literature Since Goethe (1832-1906) (6)

Ten schools, technical high schools, or _Polytechnica_, rank with the
universities, and have the power of granting certain degrees. They
have departments of architecture, building, civil engineering,
chemistry, metallurgy and, in some cases, anatomy. These schools are
as follows: Berlin (Charlottenburg), Munich, Darmstadt, Karlsruhe,
Hanover, Dresden, Stuttgart, Aix-la-Chapelle, Brunswick and Danzig; in
1908 they were attended by 14,149 students (2531 foreigners), and had
a teaching staff of 753. Among the remaining higher technical schools
may be mentioned the three mining academies of Berlin, Clausthal, in
the Harz, and Freiberg in Saxony. For instruction in agriculture there
are agricultural schools attached to several universities--notably
Berlin, Halle, Gottingen, Konigsberg, Jena, Poppelsdorf near Bonn,
Munich and Leipzig. Noted academies of forestry are those of Tharandt
(in Saxony), Eberswalde, Munden on the Weser, Hohenheim near
Stuttgart, Brunswick, Eisenach, Giessen and Karlsruhe. Other technical
schools are again the five veterinary academies of Berlin, Hanover,
Munich, Dresden and Stuttgart, the commercial colleges
(_Handelshochschulen_) of Leipzig, Aix-la-Chapelle, Hanover,
Frankfort-on-Main and Cologne, in addition to 424 commercial schools
of a lesser degree, 100 schools for textile manufactures and numerous
schools for special metal industries, wood-working, ceramic
industries, naval architecture and engineering and navigation. For
military science there are the academies of war (_Kriegsakademien_) in
Berlin and Munich, a naval academy in Kiel, and various cadet and
non-commissioned officers' schools.

_Libraries._--Mental culture and a general diffusion of knowledge are
extensively promoted by means of numerous public libraries established
in the capital, the university towns and other places. The most
celebrated public libraries are those of Berlin (1,000,000 volumes and
30,000 MSS.); Munich (1,000,000 volumes, 40,000 MSS.); Heidelberg
(563,000 volumes, 8000 MSS.); Gottingen (503,000 volumes, 6000 MSS.);
Strassburg (760,000 volumes); Dresden (500,000 volumes, 6000 MSS.);
Hamburg (municipal library, 600,000 volumes, 5000 MSS.); Stuttgart
(400,000 volumes, 3500 MSS.); Leipzig (university library, 500,000
volumes, 5000 MSS.); Wurzburg (350,000 volumes); Tubingen (340,000
volumes); Rostock (318,000 volumes); Breslau (university library,
300,000 volumes, 7000 MSS.); Freiburg-im-Breisgau (250,000 volumes);
Bonn (265,000 volumes); and Konigsberg (230,000 volumes, 1100 MSS.).
There are also famous libraries at Gotha, Wolfenbuttel and Celle.

_Learned Societies._--There are numerous societies and unions, some of
an exclusively scientific character and others designed for the
popular diffusion of useful knowledge. Foremost among German academies
is the Academy of Sciences (_Akademie der Wissenschaften_) in Berlin,
founded in 1700 on Leibnitz's great plan and opened in 1711. After
undergoing various vicissitudes, it was reorganized by Frederick the
Great on the French model and received its present constitution in
1812. It has four sections: physical, mathematical, philosophical and
historical. The members are (1) ordinary (50 in number, each receiving
a yearly dotation of L30), and (2) extraordinary, consisting of
honorary and corresponding (foreign) members. It has published since
1811 a selection of treatises furnished by its most eminent men, among
whom must be reckoned Schleiermacher, the brothers Humboldt, Grimm,
Savigny, Bockh, Ritter and Lachmann, and has promoted philological and
historical research by helping the production of such works as _Corpus
inscriptionum Graecarum_; _Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum_; _Monumenta
Germaniae historica_, the works of Aristotle, Frederick the Great's
works and Kant's collected works. Next in order come (1) the Academy
of Sciences at Munich, founded in 1759, divided into three classes,
philosophical, historical and physical, and especially famous for its
historical research; (2) the Society of Sciences (_Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften_) in Gottingen, founded in 1742; (3) that of Erfurt,
founded 1758; (4) Gorlitz (1779) and (5) the "Royal Saxon Society of
Sciences" (_Konigliche sachsische Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften_),
founded in Leipzig in 1846. Ample provision is made for scientific
collections of all kinds in almost all places of any importance,
either at the public expense or through private munificence.

_Observatories._--These have in recent years been considerably
augmented. There are 19 leading observatories in the empire, viz. at
Bamberg, Berlin (2), Bonn, Bothkamp in Schleswig, Breslau, Dusseldorf,
Gotha, Gottingen, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Jena, Kiel, Konigsberg,
Leipzig, Munich, Potsdam, Strassburg and Wilhelmshaven.

_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.

From 1848 to 1868 the increase of the navy was slow. In 1851 it consisted of 51 vessels, including 36 small gunboats of 2 guns each. In 1868 it consisted of 45 steamers (including 2 ironclads) and 44 sailing vessels, but during the various wars of the period 1848-1871, only a few minor actions were fought at sea, and for many years after the French War the development of the navy did not keep pace with that of the empire's commercial interests beyond the seas, or compete seriously with the naval power of possible rivals. But towards the end of the 19th century Germany started on a new naval policy, by which her fleet was largely and rapidly increased. Details of this development will be found in the article NAVY (see also _History_ below, _ad fin._). It will be sufficient here to give the statistics relating to the beginning of the year 1909, reference being made only to ships effective at that date and to ships authorized in the construction programme of 1907:

Modern battleships 20 effective, 4 approaching completion.
Old battleships and coast
defence ships 11 effective (4 non-effective).
Armoured cruisers 9 effective, 1 approaching completion.
Protected cruisers 31 effective, 2 approaching completion.
Torpedo craft of modern
types 130 effective, 3 approaching completion.

_Administration._--In 1889 the administration was transferred from the
ministry of war to the imperial admiralty (_Reichsmarineamt_), at the
head of which is the naval secretary of state. The chief command was
at the same time separated from the administration and vested in a
naval officer, who controls the movements of the fleet, its personnel
and training, while the maintenance of the arsenals and dockyards,
victualling and clothing and all matters immediately affecting the
_materiel_, fall within the province of the secretary of state. The
navy is divided between the Baltic (Kiel) and North Sea
(Wilhelmshaven) stations, which are strategically linked by the Kaiser
Wilhelm Canal (opened in 1895), across the Schleswig-Holstein
peninsula. Danzig, Cuxhaven and Sonderburg have also been made naval
bases.

_Personnel._--The German navy is manned by the obligatory service of
the essentially maritime population--such as sailors, fishermen and
others, as well as by volunteers, who elect for naval service in
preference to that in the army. It is estimated that the total
seafaring population of Germany amounts to 80,000. The active naval
personnel was, in 1906, 2631 officers (including engineers, marines,
medical, &c.) and 51,138 under-officers and men, total 53,769. In
addition, there is a reserve of more than 100,000 officers and men.
(P. A. A.)

_Finance._--The imperial budget is voted every year by the Reichstag. The "extraordinary funds," from which considerable sums appear annually in the budget, were created after the Franco-German War. Part of the indemnity was invested for definite purposes. The largest of these investments served for paying the pensions of the invalided, and amounted originally to L28,000,000. Every year, not only the interest, but part of the capital is expended in paying these pensions, and the capital sum was thus reduced in 1903 to L15,100,000, and in 1904 to L13,200,000. Another fund, of about L5,200,000, serves for the construction and armament of fortresses; while L6,000,000, known as the _Reichskriegsschatz_--or "war treasure fund"--is not laid out at interest, but is stored in coined gold and bullion in the Juliusturm at Spandau. In addition to these, the railways in Alsace-Lorraine, which France bought of the Eastern Railway Company for L13,000,000, in order to transfer them to the control of Germany, are also the property of the empire.

During the years 1908 and 1909 considerable public discussion and political activity were devoted to the reorganization of German imperial finance, and it is only possible here to deal historically with the position up to that time, since further developments of an important nature were already foreshadowed.

In 1871 the system accepted was that the imperial budget should be financed substantially by its reliance on the revenue from what were the obvious imperial resources--customs and excise duties, stamp duties, post and telegraph receipts, and among minor sources the receipts from the Alsace-Lorraine railways. But it was also provided that, for the purpose of deficits, the states should, in addition, if required by the imperial minister of finance, contribute their quotas according to population--_Matrikular Beitrage_. It was not expected that these would become chronic, but in a few years, and emphatically by the early 'eighties, they were found to be an essential part of the financial system, owing to regular deficits. It had been intended that, in return for the _Matrikular Beitrage_, regular assignments (_Uberweisungen_) should be returned to the states, in relief of their own taxation, which would practically wipe out the contribution; but instead of these the _Uberweisungen_ were considerably less. Certain reorganizations were made in 1887 and 1902, but the excess of the _Matrikular Beitrage_ over the _Uberweisungen_ continued; the figures in 1905 and 1908 being as follows (in millions of marks):--

+------+-------------+---------------+---------+
| | Matrikular- | Uberweisungen.| Excess. |
| | Beitrage. | | |
+------+-------------+---------------+---------+
| 1905 | 213 | 189 | 24 |
| 1908 | 346 | 195 | 150 |
+------+-------------+---------------+---------+

These figures show how natural it was to desire to relieve the states by increasing the direct imperial revenue.

Meanwhile, in spite of the "matricular contributions," the calls on imperial finance had steadily increased, and up to 1908 were continually met to a large extent by loans, involving a continual growth of the imperial debt, which in 1907 amounted to 3643 millions of marks. The imperial budget, like that of most European nations, is divided into two portions, the ordinary and the extraordinary; and the increase under both heads (especially for army and navy) became a recurrent factor. A typical situation is represented by the main figures for 1905 and 1906 (in millions of marks):

+------+-----------------------+----------+-----------+
| | Expenditure. | | |
| +-----------+-----------+ Revenue. | Raised by |
| | Ordinary. | Extra- | | Loan. |
| | | ordinary. | | |
+------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------+
| 1905 | 2002 | 193 | 2053 | 341 |
| 1906 | 2157 | 235 | 2118 | 258 |
+------+-----------+-----------+----------+-----------+

The same process went on in 1907 and 1908, and it was necessarily recognized that the method of balancing the imperial budget by a regular increase of debt could not be satisfactory in a country where the general increase of wealth and taxable capacity had meanwhile been conspicuous. And though the main proposals made by the government for new taxation, including new direct taxes, resulted in a parliamentary deadlock in 1909, and led to Prince von Bulow's resignation as chancellor, it was already evident that some important reorganization of the imperial financial system was inevitable.

_Currency._--The German empire adopted a gold currency by the law of
the 4th of December 1871. Subsequently the old local coinages
(_Landesmunzen_) began to be called in and replaced by new gold and
silver coins. The old gold coins, amounting to L4,550,000, had been
called in as early as 1873; and the old silver coins have since been
successively put out of circulation, so that none actually remains as
legal tender but the thaler (3s.). The currency reform was at first
facilitated by the French indemnity, a great part of which was paid in
gold. But later on that metal became scarcer; the London gold prices
ran higher and higher, while silver prices declined. The average rate
per ounce of standard silver in 1866-1870 was 60-5/8d., in January
1875 only 57-1/2d., in July 1876 as low as 49d. It rose in January
1877 to 57-1/2d., but again declined, and in September 1878 it was
50-5/8d. While the proportion of like weights of fine gold and fine
silver in 1866-1870 averaged 1 to 15.55, it was 1 to 17.79 in 1876, 1
to 17.18 in 1877, and, in 1902, in consequence of the heavy fall in
silver, the ratio became as much as 1 to 39. By the currency law of
the 9th of July 1873, the present coinage system was established and
remains, with certain minor modifications, now in force as then
introduced. The unit is the mark (1 shilling)--the tenth part of the
imperial _gold coin_ (Krone = crown), of which last 139-1/2 are struck
from a pound of pure gold. Besides these ten-mark pieces, there are
Doppelkronen (double crowns), about equivalent in value to an English
sovereign (the average rate of exchange being 20 marks 40 pfennige per
L1 sterling), and, formerly, half-crowns (halbe Kronen = 5 marks) in
gold were also issued, but they have been withdrawn from circulation.
Silver coins are 5, 2 and 1 mark pieces, equivalent to 5, 2 and 1
shillings respectively, and 50 pfennige pieces = 6d. Nickel coins are
10 and 5 pfennige pieces, and there are bronze coins of 2 and 1
pfennige. The system is decimal; thus 100 pfennige = 1 mark, 1000
pfennige = the gold krone (or crown), and 1d. English amounts roughly
to 8 pfennige.

_Banking._--A new banking law was promulgated for the whole empire on
the 14th of March 1875. Before that date there existed thirty-two
banks with the privilege of issuing notes, and on the 31st of December
1872, L67,100,000 in all was in circulation, L25,100,000 of that sum
being uncovered. The banking law was designed to reduce this
circulation of notes; L19,250,000 was fixed as an aggregate maximum of
uncovered notes of the banks. The private banks were at the same time
obliged to erect branch offices in Berlin or Frankfort-on-Main for the
payment of their notes. In consequence of this regulation numerous
banks resigned the privilege of issuing notes, and at present there
are in Germany but the following private note banks, issuing private
notes, viz. the Bavarian, the Saxon, the Wurttemberg, the Baden and
the Brunswick, in addition to the Imperial Bank. The Imperial Bank
(Reichsbank) ranks far above the others in importance. It took the
place of the Prussian Bank in 1876, and is under the superintendence
and management of the empire, which shares in the profits. Its head
office is in Berlin, and it is entitled to erect branch offices in any
part of the empire. It has a capital of L9,000,000 divided into 40,000
shares of L150 each, and 60,000 shares of L50 each. The Imperial Bank
is privileged to issue bank-notes, which must be covered to the extent
of 1s. 3d. in coined money, bullion or bank-notes, the remainder in
bills at short sight. Of the net profits, a dividend of 3-1/2% is
first payable to the shareholders, 20% of the remainder is transferred
to the reserve until this has reached a total of L3,000,000, and of
the remainder again a quarter is apportioned to the shareholders and
three-quarters falls to the imperial exchequer. If the net profits do
not reach 3-1/2%, the balance must be made good from the reserve.
Private note banks are not empowered to do business outside the state
which has conceded them the privilege to issue notes, except under
certain limitations. One of these is that they agree that their
privilege to issue private notes may be withdrawn at one year's notice
without compensation. But this condition has not been enforced in the
case of such banks as have agreed to accept as binding the official
rate of discount of the Reichsbank after this has reached or when it
exceeds 4%. At other times they are not to discount at more than 1/4%
below the official rate of the Reichsbank, or in case the Reichsbank
itself discounts at a lower rate than the official rate, at more than
1/8% below that rate.

The following table shows the financial condition of the note-issuing
banks, in thousands of marks, over a term of years:

_Liabilities._

+------+-------+----------+---------------+------------+------------------+
| Year.| Banks.| Capital. | Reserve. | Notes in | Total, including |
| | | | |Circulation.|other Liabilities.|
+------+-------+----------+---------------+------------+------------------+
| 1900 | 8 | 219,672 | 48,329 | 1,313,855 | 2,237,017 |
| 1901 | 7 | 231,672 | 54,901 | 1,345,436 | 2,360,453 |
| 1902 | 6 | 216,000 | 56,684 | 1,373,482 | 2,353,951 |
| 1903 | 6 | 216,000 | 60,131 | 1,394,336 | 2,365,256 |
| 1904 | 6 | 216,000 | 64,385 | 1,433,421 | 2,378,845 |
+------+-------+----------+---------------+------------+------------------+

_Assets._

+------+-------+----------+----------------+-----------+------------------+
| Year.| Banks.| Coin and | Notes of State | Bills. | Total. |
| | | Bullion. |and other Banks.| | |
+------+-------+----------+----------------+-----------+------------------+
| 1900 | 8 | 899,630 | 51,931 | 1,036,961 | 2,239,564 |
| 1901 | 7 | 990,262 | 60,770 | 990,950 | 2,360,355 |
| 1902 | 6 |1,052,391 | 54,389 | 901,408 | 2,354,253 |
| 1903 | 6 | 973,953 | 54,231 | 984,604 | 2,356,511 |
| 1904 | 6 | 996,601 | 66,372 | 947,358 | 2,379,234 |
+------+-------+----------+----------------+-----------+------------------+

The total turnover of the Imperial Bank was, in the first year of its
foundation, 1-3/4 milliards pounds sterling; and, in 1899, 90
milliards. Eighty-five per cent of its bank-notes have been, on the
average, covered by metal reserve.

The total value of silver coins is not to exceed 10 marks, and that of
copper and nickel 2-1/2 marks per head of the population. While the
coinage of silver, nickel and copper is reserved to the state, the
coinage of gold pieces can be undertaken by the state for the account
of private individuals on payment of a fixed charge. The coinage takes
place in the six mints belonging to the various states--thus Berlin
(Prussia), Munich (Bavaria), Dresden (in the Muldenerhutte near
Freiberg, Saxony), Stuttgart (Wurttemberg), Karlsruhe (Baden) and
Hamburg (for the state of Hamburg). Of the thalers, the Vereinsthaler,
coined until 1867 in Austria, was by ordinance of the Bundesrat
declared illegal tender since the 1st of January 1903. No one can be
compelled to accept more than 20 marks in silver or more than 1 mark
in nickel and copper coin; but, on the other hand, the Imperial Bank
accepts imperial silver coin in payment to any amount.

The total value of thalers, which, with the exception of the
Vereinsthaler, are legal tender, was estimated in 1894 at about
L20,000,000.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Cotta, _Deutschlands Boden_ (2 vols., 1853); H.A.
Daniel, _Deutschland_ (1896); J. Kutzen, _Das deutsche Land_ (Breslau,
1900); Von Kloden, _Geographisches Handbuch_, vol. ii. (1875); G.
Neumann, _Das deutsche Reich_ (2 vols., 1874); O. Brunckow, _Die
Wohnplatze des deutschen Reiches--auf Grund der amtlichen Materialien
bearbeitet_ (new ed., Berlin, 1897); _Handbuch der Wirtschaftskunde
Deutschlands_ (4 vols., Leipzig, 1901-1905); _Gothaischer
genealogischer Hofkalender auf das Jahr 1907_ (Gotha); A. von W. Keil,
_Neumanns Ortslexikon des deutschen Reiches_ (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1894);
Meyer, _Konversations-Lexikon_ (1902 seqq.); Brockhaus,
_Konversations-Lexikon_ (1900 seqq.); J. Kurschner, _Staats- Hof- und
Kommunal-handbuch des Reiches und der Einzelstaaten_ (Leipzig, 1900);
P. Hage, _Grundriss der deutschen Staats- und Rechtskunde_ (Stuttgart,
1906), and for Statistical matter chiefly the following: _Centralblatt
fur das deutsche Reich. Herausgegeben im Reichsamt der Innern_
(Berlin, 1900); _Die deutsche Armee und die kaiserliche Marine_
(Berlin, 1889); _Gewerbe und Handel im deutschen Reich nach der
gewerblichen Betriebszahlung, vom 14. Juni 1895_ (Berlin, 1899);
_Handbuch fur das deutsche Reich auf das Jahr 1900, bearbeitet im
Reichsamt der Innern_ (Berlin); _Handbuch fur die deutsche
Handelsmarine auf das Jahr 1900; Statistik des deutschen Reichs_,
published by the _Kaiserliches Statistisches Amt_ (including trade,
navigation, criminal statistics, sick insurance, &c.); _Statistisches
Jahrbuch fur das deutsche Reich_ (Berlin, 1906) and _Vierteljahrshefte
fur Statistik des deutschen Reichs_ (including census returns,
commerce and railways). See also among English publications on
geographical and statistical matter: _Annual Statement of the Trade of
the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions for
the Year 1899_ (London, 1900); and G.G. Chisholm, _Europe_, being
vols. i. and ii. of Stanford's _Compendium of Geography and Travel_
(London, 1899 and 1900). The fullest general account of the geology of
Germany will be found in R. Lepsius, _Geologie von Deutschland und den
angrenzenden Gebieten_ (Stuttgart, first volume completed in 1892).
Shorter descriptions will be found in E. Kayser, _Lehrbuch der
geologischen Formationskunde_ (Stuttgart, English edition under the
title _Text-book of Comparative Geology_), and H. Credner, _Elemente
der Geologie_ (Leipzig).

ARCHAEOLOGY

From an archaeological point of view Germany is very far from being a homogeneous whole. Not only has the development of the south differed from that of the north, and the west been subjected to other influences than those affecting the east, but even where the same influences have been at work the period of their operation has often varied widely in the different districts, so that in a general sketch of the whole country the chronology can only be a very rough approximation. In this article the dates assigned to the various periods in south Germany are those given by Sophus Muller, on the lines first laid down by Montelius. As regards north Germany, Muller puts the Northern Bronze age 500 years later than the Southern, but a recent find in Sweden bears out Montelius's view that southern influence made itself rapidly felt in the North. The conclusions of Montelius and Muller are disputed by W. Ridgeway, who maintains that the Iron age originated in central Europe, and that iron must consequently have been worked in those regions as far back as c. 2000 B.C.

_Older Palaeolithic Period._--The earliest traces of man's handiwork are found either at the end of the pre-Glacial epoch, or in an inter-Glacial period, but it is a disputed point whether the latter is the first of a series of such periods. A typical German find is at Taubach, near Weimar, where almond-shaped stone wedges, small flint knives, and roughly-hacked pieces of porphyry and quartz are found, together with the remains of elephants. There are also bone implements, which are not found in the earliest periods in France.

_Palaeolithic Transition Period_ (_Solutre_).--More highly developed forms are found when the mammoth has succeeded the elephant. Implements of chipped stone for the purposes of boring and scraping suggest that man worked hides for clothing. Ornaments of perforated teeth and shells are found.

_Later Palaeolithic Period_ (_La Madeleine_).--The next period is marked by the presence of reindeer. In the Hohlefels in the Swabian Achthal there is still no trace of earthenware, and we find the skull of a reindeer skilfully turned into a drinking-vessel. Saws, needles, awls and bone harpoons are found. It is to be noticed that none of the German finds (mostly in the south and west) show any traces of the highly developed artistic sense so characteristic of the dwellers in France at this period.

The gap in our knowledge of the development of Palaeolithic into Neolithic civilization has recently been partially filled in by discoveries in north Germany and France of objects showing rather more developed forms than those of the former period, but still unaccompanied by earthenware. It is a disputed point whether the introduction of Neolithic civilization is due to a new ethnological element.

_Neolithic Age_ (in south Germany till c. 2000 B.C.).--Neolithic man lived under the same climatic conditions as prevail to-day, but amidst forests of fir. He shows advance in every direction, and by the end of the later Neolithic period he is master of the arts of pottery and spinning, is engaged in agricultural pursuits, owns domestic animals, and makes weapons and tools of fine shape, either ground and polished or beautifully chipped. Traces of Neolithic settlements have been found chiefly in the neighbourhood of Worms, in the Main district and in Thuringia. These dwellings are usually holes in the ground, and presumably had thatched roofs. Our knowledge of the later Neolithic age, as of the succeeding periods, is largely gained from the remains of lake-dwellings, represented in Germany chiefly by Bavarian finds. The lake-dwellings in Mecklenburg, Pomerania and East Prussia are of a different type, and it is not certain that they date back to the Stone age. Typical Neolithic cemeteries are found at Hinkelstein, Alzey and other places in the neighbourhood of Worms. In these graves the skeletons lie flat, while in other cemeteries, as at Flomborn in Rhine-Hessen, and near Heilbronn, they are in a huddled position (hence the name _Hockergraber_). Necklaces and bracelets of Mediterranean shells point to a considerable amount of commerce. Other objects found in the graves are small flint knives, stone axes, flint and lumps of pyrites for obtaining fire, and, in the women's graves, hand-mills for grinding corn. The earthenware vessels usually have rounded bottoms. The earliest ornamentation consists of finger-imprints. Later we find two periods of zigzag designs in south Germany with an intermediate stage of spirals and wavy lines, while in north and east Germany the so-called string-ornamentation predominates. Towards the end of the period the inhabitants of north Germany erect megalithic graves, and in Hanover especially the passage-graves.

_Bronze Age_ (in south Germany from c. 2000-1000 B.C.).--In the later Stone age we note the occasional use of copper, and then the gradual appearance of bronze. The bronze civilization of the Aegean seems to have had direct influence along the basins of the Danube and Elbe, while the culture of the western parts of central Germany was transmitted through Italy and France. No doubt the pre-eminence of the north, and especially of Denmark, at this period, was due to the amber trade, causing southern influence to penetrate up the basin of the Elbe to Jutland. The earlier period is characterized by the practice of inhumation in barrows made of clays, stones or sand, according to the district. Bronze is cast, whereas at a later time it shows signs of the hammer. From the finds in Bavarian graves it appears that the chief weapons were the dagger and the long pointed _Palstab_ (palstave), while a short dagger fixed like an axe on a long shaft is characteristic of the North. The women wore two bronze pins, a bracelet on each arm, amber ornaments and a necklace of bronze tubes in spirals. One or two vases are found in each barrow, ornamented with finger-imprints, "string" decoration, &c. The later period is characterized by the practice of cremation, though the remains are still placed in barrows. Swords make their appearance. The women wear more and more massive ornaments. The vases are highly polished and of elegant form, with zigzag decoration.

_Hallstatt Period_ (in Germany 8th-5th century B.C.).--The Hallstatt stage of culture, named after the famous cemetery in upper Austria, is marked by the introduction of iron (see HALLSTATT). In Germany its centre is Bavaria, Baden and Wurttemberg, with the Thuringian forest as the northern boundary. In Brandenburg, Lusatia, Silesia, Posen and Saxony, where there was no strong Bronze age tradition, Hallstatt influence is very noticeable. In west Prussia the urns with human faces deserve notice. The dead are either buried in barrows or cremated, the latter especially in north and east Germany. In Bavaria both practices are resorted to, as at Hallstatt. The pottery develops beautiful form and colour. Fibulae, often of the "kettle-drum" form, take the place of the Bronze age pin.

_La Tene Period_ (4th-1st century B.C.).--Down to this time there is very little evidence concerning the racial affinities of the population. When our records first begin the western and southern portions of Germany seem to have been inhabited by Celtic peoples (see below "Ethnography"). La Tene, in Switzerland, has given its name to the period, of which the earlier part corresponds to the time of Celtic supremacy. It is interesting to note how the Celts absorb Roman and still more Greek culture, even imitating foreign coins, and pass on their new arts to their Teutonic neighbours; but in spite of the strong foreign influence the Celtic civilization can in some sort be termed national. Later it has a less rich development, betraying the political decay of the race. Its centres in Germany are the southern districts as far as Thuringia, and the valleys of the Main and Saar. The ornamentation is of the conventionalized plant type: gold is freely used, and enamel, of a kind different from the Roman enamel used later in Germany, is applied to weapons and ornaments. Chariots are used in war, and fortified towns are built, though we must still suppose the houses to have consisted of a wooden framework coated with clay. In these districts La Tene influence is contemporary with the use of tumuli, but in the (non-Celtic) coast districts it must be sought in urn-cemeteries.

_Roman Period_ (from the 1st century A.D.).--The period succeeding to La Tene ought rather to be called Romano-Germanic, the relation of the Teutonic races to the Roman civilization being much the same as that of the Celts to classical culture in the preceding period. The Rhine lands were of course the centre of Roman civilization, with Roman roads, fortresses, stone and tiled houses and marble temples. By this time the Teutonic peoples had probably acquired the art of writing, though the origin of their national (Runic) alphabet is still disputed. The graves of the period contain urns of earthenware or glass, cremation being the prevalent practice, and the objects found include one or more coins in accordance with Roman usage.

_Period of National Migrations_ (A.D. 300-500).--The grave-finds do not bear out the picture of a period of ceaseless war painted by the Roman historians. On the contrary, weapons are seldom found, at any rate in graves, the objects in which bear witness to a life of extraordinary luxury. Magnificent drinking-vessels, beautifully ornamented dice and draughtsmen, masses of gay beads, are among the commonest grave-finds. A peculiarity of the period is the development of decoration inspired by animal forms, but becoming more and more tortuous and fantastic. Only those eastern parts of Germany which were now occupied by Slavonic peoples remained uninfluenced by this rich civilization.

_The Merovingian Period_ (A.D. 500-800) sees the completion of the work of converting the German tribes to Christianity. _Reihengraber_, containing objects of value, but otherwise like modern cemeteries, with the dead buried in rows (_Reihen_), are found over all the Teutonic part of Germany, but some tribes, notably the Alamanni, seem still to have buried their dead in barrows. Among the Franks and Burgundians we find monolithic sarcophagi in imitation of the Romans, and in other districts sarcophagi were constructed out of several blocks of stone--the so-called _Plattengraber_. The weapons are the _spatha_, or double-bladed German sword, the _sax_ (a short sword, or long knife, _semispathium_), the knife, shield, and the favourite German axe, though this latter is not found in Bavaria. The ornaments are beads, earrings, brooches, rings, bracelets, &c., thickly studded with precious stones.