Chapter XXIX: Part III: Military System and Schools in Austria (2)

Special regard will be given to candidates whose fathers have been killed or invalided in the field; after these, to those who are orphans on both sides; to the sons of Officers of special merit, of Officers with large families, and the like.

Appointments upon provincial and private foundations, or as paying pupils, will be made in the manner already stated in the general account of the Educational Institutions.

The age of admission is the eleventh year completed, and twelfth year not exceeded, and the candidate will be expected to know the subject of instruction prescribed for the third class of the common (_normal_) schools.

A knowledge of German, however, will not be considered indispensable. Pupils who are not Germans will receive in the first half year of the first course special instruction in German.

The instruction continues during four yearly courses. The command is held by a Field Officer, assisted by--

1 Subaltern Officer as Adjutant.
2 Captains.
10 Subaltern Officers.
2 Ecclesiastical Professors.
1 Accountant.
1 Army Surgeon.
1 Surgeon’s Assistant.
12 Sergeants for Inspection.
4 Orderlies, together with the requisite number of mechanics
and servants.

The subjects of instruction are--

1. Religious Knowledge. 2. German Language and Art of Speaking. 3. French. 4. Natural History. 5. Geography. 6. History. 7. Arithmetic. 8. Algebra. 9. Geometry and Plane Trigonometry. 10. Rules of Drill and Exercise. 11. Calligraphy. 12. Common Drawing. 13. Gymnastics, Single-stick, Swimming.

Those pupils who satisfactorily complete their four years’ course are transferred, according to their capacities, and as far as possible, to their own wishes, into one of the Military Academies. Entrance into the Marine Academy takes place at the close of the second year.

Pupils who do ill, will, at the close of any one of the three first years, be removed into the course of the following year at one of the Upper Houses of Education; or, at the close of the fourth year, into one of the Infantry School Companies.

This removal, in the case of paying pupils, will be dependent on the consent of the parents; failing which, they will be sent back home.

2. _The Military Academies._

The object in these is to educate Officers in the higher military subjects for the different arms of the service.

There are four Academies; the Neustadt Academy, the Artillery Academy, the Engineers’ Academy, and the Marine Academy.

The scholars in each are divided into four yearly courses of nearly equal numbers. In the Neustadt Academy each year is sub-divided into two parallel classes, the instruction being the same in both.

The pupils in the Military Academies are of the different kinds described in the account of the Cadet Houses, and the appointments similarly made; the Academies and the Cadet Houses in these respects forming a single body.

Candidates for admission into the Neustadt Academy, the Artillery Academy, or the Engineers’ Academy, must be nearly, if not quite, fifteen, and not above sixteen years old. For admission into the Marine Academy, they must be nearly, if not quite, thirteen, not above fourteen years old.

The Academies receive their pupils in the first instance from the Cadet Schools, after the satisfactory completion of the fourth (or, in the case of the Marine Academy, the second) year, and then, as already stated under the head of the School Companies, from the Artillery School Companies, and from the Engineer, Pioneer, Flotilla, and Marine School Companies, after the highly satisfactory completion of the second (or, in the Marine School, of the fourth) year.

Pupils from these School Companies, before entering the Academies, will take the Military Oath, receive the rank of Lance-Corporals, and be admitted free of charge as Attendant Pupils into the Academies, to receive their education for the rank of Officer. Scholars from the general body of soldiers, who are attending the School Companies, are to be treated, in respect of their transfer to the Academies, in the same way as the other pupils.[48]

[Footnote 48: In the School Companies there are two different sets
of Scholars, those who have come from the Houses of Education or
from private schools, and those who _attend_ after two years’
service in the Army. These are _frequentanten_ in the School
Companies, but all alike, who come from the School Companies, are
_frequentanten_ in the Academies.]

Entrance into the Academies is confined to the commencement of the first year.[49] Pupils admitted from places of private instruction are examined in the subjects taught in the Cadet Schools; those who wish to enter the Neustadt, the Artillery or Engineers’ Academy, in the following subjects, to the extent here described:--

1. German:--The Art of Speaking; Prosody; the Rules of Speaking;
the various Rhetorical Styles.
2. Natural History:--General knowledge of the Three Kingdoms.
3. French:--General grammatical rules; Translation from German
into French.
4. Geography.
5. History:--Ancient and of the Middle Ages.
6. Geometry and Rectilinear Trigonometry, with the Application
of Algebra, and the Solution of Geometrical Problems.
7. Common Drawing.

[Footnote 49: It appears, however, that a transfer of pupils, for
example, from the Engineers’ Academy to Wiener Neustadt, in
consequence of incapacity for Mathematics, is allowed at a later
standing. After passing a year at Znaim, a young man may enter the
second year’s course at Neustadt.]

Candidates for the Marine Academy will be required to know,--

1. The German Grammar, including Syntax.
2. Zoölogy.
3. French:--The Auxiliary Verbs; the Four Conjugations; Reading.
4. General Geography.
5. Ancient History.
6. Arithmetic and Algebra as far (inclusively) as Equations of
the First Degree, with two unknown Quantities.
7. Common Drawing.

Candidates from both institutions must also possess the degree of religious knowledge corresponding to their age, and must write a good current hand.

Pupils who are found negligent in the course of their academical studies, will at the close of the first, second, or third year be transferred to the classes corresponding to their age in the School Companies, or will be enlisted in the Army as Cadets if they possess the requisite bodily qualifications, in the manner already described.[50]

[Footnote 50: The wishes of the parents are, of course, consulted
in the case of paying pupils, but it is said that their consent is
very generally given.]

_The Neustadt Academy._

Wiener Neustadt having been the seat of this Academy for more than a century, the ancient name thence derived will be retained in its usual acceptation, though the Academies for the Artillery and the Engineers will also be placed in the same locality. The institution counts 400 pupils, designed primarily for the Infantry of the Line and of the Frontier, and secondly, for the Chasseurs and the Cavalry.

The Director of the Academy is a Colonel or General, attached to whom, for purposes of instruction, discipline, and general management, there are three field and thirty-four other Officers; for religious care and instruction, four Ecclesiastics; for medical attention, one Regimental Surgeon, one Army Surgeon, and one Surgeon’s Assistant; for the accounts, one Accountant, and four Accountant’s Assistants. The large number of pupils maintained in the institution requires, moreover, a proportionately large staff for superintendence, a numerous body of attendants, servants, and the like; so that the whole number to be added to that of the pupils does not fall short of 309 persons; 64 horses are allowed for the riding lessons.

The plan of study is based on that of the Cadet Schools, and embraces the following subjects:--

1. Religious Knowledge. 2. French. 3. Italian. 4. Bohemian. 5. Hungarian. 6. Logic and Psychology. 7. Geography. 8. History. 9. Analytical Geometry and Higher Analytical Mathematics. 10. Mechanics, Spherical Trigonometry, Mathematical Geography, Triangulation. 11. Natural Philosophy, Elements of Chemistry. 12. Practical Mensuration, taking Maps at Sight. 13. Descriptive Geometry. 14. Military Composition. 15. Positive International Law,[51] Austrian Civil Law (_Privat Recht._) 16. Military Penal Law and Procedure. 17. Pioneer Service, with Field Fortification. 18. Permanent Fortification. 19. Civil Architecture. 20. Arms and Munitions. 21. Study of Ground and Positions, and Military Drawing. 22. Rules and Regulations, and Military Administration. 23. Rules of Infantry Drill and Exercise. 24. Rules of Cavalry Drill and Exercise. 25. Manœuvring. 26. Riding. 27. Gymnastics. 28. Fencing. 29. Dancing. 30. Swimming.

[Footnote 51: The Law of Nations as it exists _de facto_ without
consideration of its principles.]

Pupils who show a talent for general drawing will be practiced in it.

After the completion of the fourth year’s course, the pupils will be recommended by the Supreme War Department to His Majesty for nomination as Second Lieutenants of the second class.

In their distribution into the various regiments, &c., of the army, the choice of the pupils will, as far as possible, be considered.

The pupils upon leaving will be, without exception, fully equipped at the expense of the State. Only in the case of the pupils who wish to enter the Cavalry, the parents (or guardians) will be called upon to give security for the payment of 1,000 florins (100_l._) towards the expenses of the first equipment, and for a monthly allowance of 25 florins (2_l._ 10_s._)

3. _The Artillery and Engineers’ Academy._

The arrangements of these two Academies are in many respects similar, as required by the character of the two kindred sciences for which they are founded.

The number of scholars is fixed at 160 pupils, and 40 attendant pupils (_Frequentanten_) in each.

The command in each is intrusted to a General or a Colonel.

For the smaller number of scholars, fewer instructors, superintendents, and attendants are needed; the complete amount in each Academy is fixed at 200 men, in addition to the scholars. Each has thirty-two horses allowed to it.

The plan of instruction is in many respects identical in each.

The subjects taught in both are--

1. Religious Knowledge. 2. French. 3. Italian.[52] 4. Logic and Psychology. 5. Geography. 6. History. 7. Analytical Geometry and Higher Analytical Mathematics. 8. Descriptive Geometry. 9. Mechanics and the Elements of the Study of Machinery. 10. Mathematical Geography. 11. Natural Philosophy and Chemistry. 12. Practical Mensuration, taking Plans at Sight. 13. Military Composition. 14. International Law; Austrian Civil Law. 15. Military Penal Law and Penal Procedure. 16. Military Drawing; Study of Ground and Positions. 17. Rules and Regulations, and Military Administration. 18. Riding. 19. Gymnastics. 20. Fencing. 21. Dancing. 22. Swimming.

[Footnote 52: This is at present, in point of fact, omitted for
want of time.]

Common drawing will be treated, as it is at the Neustadt Academy, as an optional subject.

In the Artillery Academy the following additional subjects will be taught;--

1. Bohemian.[53] 2. Field Fortification and Permanent Fortification. 3. Tactics of the Three Arms. 4. Artillery. 5. Sieges, Construction of Batteries; Artillery. 6. Rockets. 7. Rules of Drill and Exercise in the Artillery and Infantry. 8. Instruction in shoeing horses, in judging of their Age, in judging of them at Sight, in Bridling, Saddling, and Grooming.

[Footnote 53: The Artillery is recruited very largely from Bohemia
and Moravia. A knowledge of the Bohemian language (which is pretty
nearly the same as Moravian) is therefore essential for an Officer
in the command of Artillerymen.]

In the Academy of the Engineers the additional subjects are--

1. Arms and Munitions and Artillery. 2. Art of Fortification. 3, 4. Civil Architecture, Plain and Ornamental. 5. Pioneer Service. 6. Rules of Drill, Exercise, and Manœuvring.

The pupils of the two Academies enter in the same way as those at Neustadt, after the satisfactory completion of four years’ instruction, with the rank of Second Lieutenant of the Second Class, the respective services of the Artillery, and of the Engineers or Pioneers. Pupils for whom no vacancies can be found enter the Infantry.

4. _The Marine Academy._

This, like the other Academies, is in the charge of a Field Officer, or a General.

The pupils are 100 in number; the Teachers, other Officers, and attendants, 88.

One essential distinction here (explained by the necessity of habituating the pupils to the sea) is the admission at an age earlier by two years, and the proportionally earlier termination of the course.

The plan of instruction combines a continuation of the studies prescribed in the Cadet Schools, with the commencement of those specially required for the marine service, viz.:--

1. Religious Knowledge. 2. German. 3. Italian. 4. French. 5. English. 6. Geography. 7. History. 8. Algebra. 9. Geometry and Plane Trigonometry. 10. Analytical Geometry and Higher Analytical Mathematics. 11. Spherical Trigonometry and Nautical Astronomy. 12. Mechanics and Natural Philosophy. 13. Descriptive Geometry. 14. Navigation. 15. Military Composition. 16. International Law, Austrian Civil Law, Sea Law. 17. Military Penal Law, and Penal Procedure. 18. Artillery. 19. Fortification, Attack and Defense of Coast Fortifications. 20. Naval Tactics and Naval History. 21. Knowledge of Rigging, &c. (_Takelungslehre._) 22. Naval Manœuvres. 23. Naval Architecture. 24. Signals. 25. Rules and Regulations. 26. Rules of Drill and Exercise. 27. Calligraphy. 28. Military Drawing. 29. Common Drawing. 30. Swimming. 31. Gymnastics. 32. Fencing. 33. Dancing.

In addition to the practical instruction given in the course of the school year, the pupils of the three first years will in the months of August and September be sent in sailing vessels on a voyage for practice.

The pupils at the end of four years enter as Cadets into the Navy, the Flotilla Corps, or the Corps of Naval Architecture.

After completing a practical course of two years, they will receive their promotion as Second Lieutenants of the second class.[54]

[Footnote 54: Literally, “as _Frigate-Ensign_, or Second
Lieutenant of the second class,” the former being in rank the same
as the latter. The order of rank is,--

Captain of a Man-of-War equal to a Colonel in the Army.
“ of a Frigate “ Lieutenant Colonel ditto.
“ of a Corvette “ Major ditto.
Lieutenant of a Man-of-War “ First Captain ditto.
“ of a Frigate “ Second Captain ditto.
Ensign in a Man-of-War “ First Lieutenant ditto.
“ in a Frigate “ Second Lieutenant ditto.

In the Corps of Naval Architecture the ordinary military titles
are used.]

C. SPECIAL SCHOOLS.

1. _The Military Teachers’ School._

The object here is a double one; first, to bring up good and serviceable teachers in the subjects of study prescribed for the Military Houses of Education; secondly to provide at the same time instructors in gymnastics and fencing for all the military schools and for the troops. The institution accordingly consists of two departments, each of thirty Attendant Pupils, receiving instruction in these two different branches.

Non-commissioned Officers are admitted after a service of at least two years. Candidates for admission into the Teachers’ department must, in addition, possess the required amount of knowledge in the subjects taught in the Military Houses of Education; and, as a rule, must know, besides German, one other of the Austrian national languages. Proficiency in every one of the subjects will not be considered essential. Candidates for admission to the Gymnastic and Fencing Department will be required to show a certain amount of readiness in the use of arms and in gymnastic exercises, and an evident capacity for acquiring greater skill.

Registration for admission is to be obtained in the usual course of the service from the Supreme War Department.

The Attendant Pupils receive, in addition to their ordinary pay, bread and the extra allowance; and for their better subsistence also an allowance corresponding to that granted for provision during a march.

The command is held by a Field Officer or Captain; six Subaltern Officers and four Sergeants act as teachers, the latter as assistants in the instruction in fencing and gymnastics, and as swimming master. The instructor in the art and methods of teaching may be a civilian.

The subjects of instruction in the Teachers’ Department are--

1. The Art and Methods of Teaching. 2. German. 3. Another Austrian Language. 4. Arithmetic and Geometry. 5. Geography. 6. Military Composition, and the Management of the Internal Affairs of a Company. 7. Calligraphy. 8. Common and Military Drawing. 9. Gymnastics, Fencing, and Swimming.

In the Gymnastic Department,--

1. Staff, Rapier, Sword, and Bayonet Fencing. 2. Gymnastics and
Swimming. 3. Knowledge of Fire-arms.

In both Departments a certain number of hours weekly will be devoted to Military Exercise.

Instruction in all the subjects will be given with special reference to the methods to be pursued in teaching them in the various Military Schools.

The course in each Department lasts one year. Under certain circumstances particular pupils in the Teachers’ Department may remain for the further completion of their studies a second year in the institution.

In the Teachers’ Department, pupils who show no aptitude or liking for some particular subject, may be exempted from attending the lessons given in it, so as to allow them to give more thorough attention to other branches.

After passing the examination, the pupils are either sent immediately to undertake duty in the Military Schools, or return to their service in the troops, and pass, as occasion requires, into the Military Schools. Corporals who distinguish themselves by remarkably good progress will be promoted to the rank of Sergeant.

2. _The United Higher Course for the Artillery and Engineers_,

Has for its object the more advanced instruction of young Officers in a scientific and technical point of view, for service in the Artillery and Engineers.

Twenty Officers, of more than usual capacity, between twenty-one and twenty-six years of age, will be admitted from each of the two arms. They must be unmarried, and must have served with distinction during a period of not less than two years.

Officers in whose cases these conditions are satisfied, and who desire to be admitted to the course, apply for registration for admission to the examination, in the ordinary form, to the War Department.

Officers who, in the month of October, are summoned to attend, may charge their traveling expenses to the Treasury, and undergo an examination before the Professors attached to the Course, in the following subjects:--

1. Analytical Geometry and Higher Analytical Mathematics. 2. Mechanics and the Elements of the Study of Machinery. 3. Natural Philosophy and Chemistry. 4 Military Composition. 5. French. 6. Military Drawing, tested by the production of a Drawing of their own doing.

Candidates for the Artillery will be, moreover, examined in the Tactics of the three Arms, and in Artillery; and those from the Engineers, in the Art of Fortification and in Civil Architecture, both Plain and Ornamental.

The text-books used in the Academies of the Artillery and Engineers will serve as a measure for the range of attainment required. Pupils who passed with distinction through these Academies will thus be specially fitted for admission into the Higher Course after they have proved, during their time of service, their diligence in bringing the knowledge they have acquired into actual application.

On the close of this preliminary examination, the results will be submitted to the Supreme War Department, and the recommendations for admission laid before His Majesty.

A superior Field Officer, either of the Artillery or the Engineers, will be intrusted with the charge of the united course. The lectures will be given by the Professors of the Academy of the Artillery and Engineers. From the nature of the duties, partly common and partly distinct, which devolve upon the two corps, it follows that the course of the studies (which will be carried on during two years) will in like manner be partly common and partly separate.

The subjects of common instruction will be--

1. Mechanics in application to Machinery, combined with Machine Drawing. 2. Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, combined with practice in manipulation, in making experiments, and in analyzing. 3. Theory of Artillery, in reference to the constructions that occur in Artillery. 4. Higher Tactics. 5. Principles of Strategy, illustrated by the representation of campaigns, with special attention to the use of Artillery, as well in Attack and Defense of fortified places, as in the field.

Separate instruction will be given to Artillery Officers in--

1. Service in Workshops, Depôts, and Arsenals. 2. Knowledge of Foreign Artillery, of the requisites (_ausrüstungen_) for Field service and Sieges, and for furnishing fortified places.

To Engineer Officers, in--

1. Ornamental Architecture, combined with Architectural Drawing. 2. The Art of Fortification, special attention being given to working out projects.

The pupils receive in addition practical guidance and supervision in all subjects of a scientific nature connected with the Art of War.

The pupils of the second year undergo an examination in October. Upon the results of the examination the War Department decides on their promotion for the rank of Second to that of First Lieutenants.

3. _The War or Staff School._

The object of the War School is to give Officers of all arms an education for higher duties, especially for those of the Staff and of the Upper Adjutant Department.[55]

[Footnote 55: The Higher _Adjutantur_ or the Aide-de-Camp
Department.]

Any Subaltern Officer of the active army, without distinction of arms, may claim admission into the War School, provided he is above twenty-one and under twenty-six years old, is unmarried, and has served as Officer uninterruptedly and with distinction two years at least with the troops, and, provided, finally, he has passed the prescribed preliminary examination.

For admission to the examination, registration, to be obtained in the usual form from the War Department, is requisite.

The examination is conducted between October 10th and 20th, in the War School buildings; the registered candidates will be summoned to Vienna at the beginning of October; traveling expenses will be paid by the Treasury. The subjects are--

1. Algebra and Geometry, including Plane and Spherical Trigonometry. 2. Geography. 3. History. 4. Arms and Munitions. 5. Field and Permanent Fortification. 6. Pioneer Service. 7. Rules of Drill and Exercise (in detail, for the arm in which the candidate has served, and generally for the other arms.) 8. Manœuvring. 9. Military drawing, tested by the production of a drawing of the candidate’s own doing. 10. Military Composition, tested by working out an exercise in the presence of the Commission. 11. French. And finally, 12, the candidate must be able to speak one of the national languages of the Austrian Empire, Slavonic, Hungarian, or Italian, and must write a good current and legible hand.

The amount of knowledge required in these subjects will be regulated by the range of the text-books prescribed for use in the Academy at Neustadt. Regard, however, will not so much be given to the minutiæ of knowledge possessed by the candidate, but rather to the evidence of his having a correct judgment and quick apprehension, and the power of expressing himself both orally and in writing.

Upon the results of the examination, formally drawn up by the authorities of the school, recommendations for admission will be submitted to the sanction of His Majesty.

The number of attendants in the War School is fixed at thirty, and the length of course is two years.

The attending pupils receive, in addition to their ordinary pay, a monthly allowance of twenty florins, rations, and allowance for two horses; when employed in taking surveys and reconnoitring, they have an extra allowance of thirty florins monthly.

The War School is commanded by a General or Superior Field Officer.

Five Field Officers or Captains, taken as a rule from the Staff, give lectures on the prescribed scientific subjects. One Field Officer or Captain of Cavalry takes the duty of riding-master; and one civil Professor that of instruction in the French language and literature. Necessary officers, attendants, and servants take the duty of adjutants, of the internal management, of the service, and of attending to the thirty horses.

The first year’s subjects of instruction are--

1. Military Drawing and the study of Ground and Positions. 2. Higher Tactics. 3. Staff and Superior Adjutant Duty. 4. French Language and Literature. 5. Riding.

Those of the second year,--

1. Military Drawing, Ground and Positions. 2. Military Geography. 3. Principles of Strategy, illustrated by representations of some of the most instructive campaigns. 4. French Language and Literature. 5. Riding.

The course begins on the 1st of November, and lasts to the end of September.

The Attendants at the War School must be practiced in those arms in which they have not served. They are for this purpose distributed into the various bodies of troops forming the garrison of Vienna, go through the exercises and manœuvres of these troops--in the first year with one, and in the second with the other arm. At the termination of these periods of practice, they will be called upon to undertake the command of a Battery, of a Squadron of Cavalry, and of a Division of Infantry.

In the month of May, the attendant pupils of the first year will go out upon a course of practical surveying; those of the second year will be similarly employed in reconnoitring, choosing sites for encampment, discovering, judging of, and describing proper points for taking up positions, forming _têtes-de-pont_, entrenched camps, and the like, and in performing other duties falling within the service of the Staff.

At the beginning of October, the pupils of the second year will undergo an examination, which will be conducted, both orally and by papers.

Upon the results of this the Supreme War Department will determine upon their promotion to the rank of First Lieutenants (if they are not already of that rank,) and this without any reference to their previous position, their position henceforth being simply determined by their merit.

The same grounds determine the cases of those who are admitted to the Staff, or who return to their respective arms.

Those who, after a satisfactory completion of the course, return to service with the troops, will, after three years’ meritorious service, be specially recommended for extraordinary promotion.

_Control of the Institutions._

The Upper and Lower Houses of Education, the Infantry School Companies, the Cavalry School Squadrons, and the Frontier School Companies, are under the orders of the Commanders of the Army, the Army Corps, or the military government in whose district they are situated. The Artillery and Engineer School Companies are under the orders of the General Artillery and Engineer Departments; the Pioneer and Flotilla School Companies, under those of the Quartermaster-General’s Department; the Marine School Company, under those of the Admiralty. Which functionaries, however, receive from the Supreme War Department all directions relating to organization and instruction.

The Cadet Schools, the Academies, the Military Teachers’ School, the Upper Artillery and Engineer Course, and the War School, are immediately under the orders of the Supreme War Department.

The general organization of all the military schools and places of instruction is once for all established by the regulations sanctioned by His Majesty. These regulations contain all that concerns the physical, moral, and intellectual training of the pupils, and all have the one object of rearing them up as worthy members of the Austrian army, and faithful supporters of the throne and of the honor of their country.

III. REMARKS ON THE AUSTRIAN MILITARY EDUCATION.

The English Commissioners in their General “_Report on the Education and Training of Officers for the Scientific Corps_” hold the following language:--

The magnitude of the Military Education of Austria entitles it to rank among the chief Institutions of the Empire. It has been remodeled since the wars of 1848, 1849. It is now centralized, and wholly directed by one of the four Co-ordinate Sections of the War Office, which is independent of the others, and reports directly to the Emperor. This Educational or “Fourth” Section has the control of between 300,000_l._ and 400,000_l._ yearly. It provides for the free or nearly free education of more than 5,000 pupils. The extent and completeness of the system will be best understood by a reference to the clear and valuable official account of the schools.[56]

[Footnote 56: See _Ante_, p 412-441.]

The military schools are divided by this document into (1) those which educate pupils for _Non-commissioned Officers_, (2) those which educate for _Officers_, (3) and those _Senior Schools_ which complete the education and extend the instruction of both classes. The method of training Non-commissioned Officers is a peculiar and remarkable part of the system.

1. No less than 5,730 pupils are in process of being educated for Non-commissioned Officers. They are received into a Military School at seven years old, and at that early age are devoted to the army, with a kind of solemnity, by their fathers, somewhat similar to the practice at Woolwich Academy :--“I hereby pledge myself to surrender up my son to the Imperial Military Service, in case of his being admitted into a Military Educational Institution, and I will under no pretext require his return.” This promise, as the official document states, may no doubt be recalled if the youth finds that he has mistaken his vocation; but it must exercise great influence (and such is its avowed object) in retaining him in it.

After passing successively through two Junior Institutions,--the Lower Houses of Education, where he continues till eleven years old, and the Upper Houses, where he remains till fifteen,--the boy receives his finishing course in one of what are termed the School Companies, the highest class of schools for training boys to become Non-commissioned Officers in all arms of the service. These are twenty in number, and scattered over the whole Empire, containing generally 120 pupils each, though in one case only sixty; and with a course of either two or three years, according to the nature of the service. The extent and the requirements of the Empire give a striking variety to their character. Thus, in the frontier School Companies, “the range of the studies is more extensive, because the Non-commissioned Officers on the Military Frontiers are intrusted with the general administration, and require of necessity a knowledge of Political Administration, of Jurisprudence, and Agriculture;” and thus also the Non-commissioned Officers for the responsible Flotilla Service of the mouths of the great rivers, the lagoons of the Po, the head of the Adriatic, and the lakes, are carefully educated and frequently promoted. Following the course of a pupil through these Upper Houses and School Companies, we were much struck by the sensible and vigorous character of the education, and the motives supplied for exertion. In the Upper Houses the boys compete for entrance to the School Companies which they prefer, and the more scientific companies are a special object of ambition, because it is more usual in these for young men to be raised by their talents to the Academies, and thus made Officers, “free of all cost:” according to the regulations, however, this is possible in all. It may be stated that from six to ten pupils from each of the more scientific School Companies,--the Artillery, Engineer, Pioneer, Flotilla, and Marine Companies,--are yearly transferred to the Academies, to complete their education there for the Officer’s Commission.

A system of this kind, supplying at once a good education and large opportunities of advancement, must necessarily operate as a great encouragement to young men educating for Non-commissioned Officers; and allowing for the social differences of the two countries, it resembles in spirit the French system, which throws open the gates of the Polytechnic and St. Cyr, and with them a proportion of the Commissions in the Army, to all.

This, however, is not all. The sums devoted to the education of Non-commissioned Officers, as well as Officers, are immense, and may be regarded as a spontaneous contribution of the National Feeling, no less than a State provision. A system both of public and private foundations (_Stiftungen_) prevails--part derived from the Emperor, part from the provinces, part from private gifts and legacies--by which 3,190 pupils are supported in the Houses of Education and the School Companies, and 1,320 in the Cadet Schools and Academies. The very large majority of these exhibitions supply a _complete_, about 200 a _partial_, maintenance. And it is curious to observe the aid to education which is so common in our own Universities, devoted in Austria to what may be termed the great National Institution--the Army,--and retaining all the limitations to the descendants of Founders or Natives of provinces which marked our own foundations. Some of these exhibitions have been founded by foreign soldiers for their own countrymen. Thus there are two bearing the name of the O’Gara and the O’Brady, to be held by any Irishmen of good family, one of which is in the gift of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin. We should add that this system is still a living and popular one. Within three years the city of Brünn has founded such an exhibition “for sons of Austrian subjects in Moravia, and by preference in Brünn, in commemoration of His Majesty’s escape from assassination in 1853.” We ourselves heard a distinguished Officer express an intention of founding one of these Exhibitions. The comparison with the open _Bourses_ of the Polytechnic is remarkable; but the Austrian appointments to free places seem to be given, like the Prussian, solely as rewards for the service of the parent.

2. The education of young men for Officers is conducted upon the same principles which regulate that for Non-commissioned Officers. The age of admission to a Cadet School is about eleven. The pupils are pledged to the service with the same formalities which we have noticed in the Lower Houses of Education. Between fifteen and sixteen they enter one of the Academies for the Line, the Artillery, the Engineers, or the Marine, and after four years they pass to their respective services.

Thus, unlike the French system, that which is followed in Austria commits the pupil to the Army, and to a Military Education, from an early age, resembling herein the plan of the _Accademia Militare_ of Turin. But an attempt seems to be made to combine general with special teaching. Thus, although even in the two first years (from fifteen to seventeen,) at Wiener Neustadt, there is some introduction of successful practical military teaching, the chief weight is thrown upon mathematics, history, geography, drawing, and French; special military teaching has a greater, though far from an exclusive place, in the two last years. The studies are high, and (as far as we could judge) pursued carefully, and with excellent discipline.

The description we have given of the system pursued in the Schools for Non-commissioned Officers will have shown that there is a constant appeal to emulation. The same is found at Wiener Neustadt. There is a careful system of assigning credits during the whole school period, which itself argues competition. The chief immediate reward, indeed, is the choice of a regiment on leaving the school; but the prospect of entering the Staff School stands in no distant perspective, and this is filled with so many pupils from Wiener Neustadt, that it must be looked upon as the sure reward of a successful Neustadter. There are other inducements of a different character. The discipline being strict, pupils are constantly removed from Wiener Neustadt and the other Academies to the schools for Non-commissioned Officers, and though sometimes allowed to enter the army as Officers, it must always be as juniors to their contemporaries at Wiener Neustadt. We heard instances of great strictness in this matter.

The new course for the Special Arms in Austria is not yet completely in operation. It is at present carried on separately in the Academy of Olmütz for the Artillery, and that of Znaim, in Moravia, for the Engineers. There are 200 pupils in each Academy, and the courses of instruction, which are more special or technical than at Wiener Neustadt, last four years, from the age of fifteen to nineteen. The yearly examinations, the manner in which the marks of the monthly examinations tell on the final one, and the careful classification of the pupils in the order of merit, reminded us of the system of the Polytechnic more than any other school we have seen. And an inspection of the very high credits obtained by the first thirty pupils will prove the diligence with which the studies are pursued. We should add that several pupils of marked talents come from the scientific School Companies, A further fact bears witness to the vigor of the discipline. We have alluded to the dismissal of unpromising subjects from the Austrian Military Schools. In the course of three years, since the changes of 1850, it appears that nearly 100 pupils were removed from Znaim, as not coming up to the standard required for the Engineers by the new regulations.

3. The courses of instruction in the three Academies for Infantry and Cavalry, Artillery, and for Engineers, last for the same time, and run (as it were) parallel to each other. Each is, or is to be, completed by a senior department. The United Course for the Artillery and Engineers is not indeed yet combined in the magnificent buildings begun at Wiener Neustadt; but it is already organized in a provisional state at Znaim for the Engineers, and the plan of instruction drawn up is a solid one. The arrangements for the general Staff School require more remark.

In our report upon Austrian schools we have specially noticed this School as remarkable for its thorough and open competitive character from first to last, and its very sensible plan of study. Admission to it is by competition, open to Officers of all arms: the pupils are not unduly overburdened with work; perhaps, there is even room for one or two more subjects of importance; but what is done seems to be done thoroughly; the Officers are carefully ranked, on leaving the School, according as the abilities they have displayed, may be considered a criterion of their fitness for employment on the General Staff; and _in this order_ they enter the Staff Corps. The consequence is that every Officer knows distinctly, from the time that he first competes for admission until his final examination on leaving, that the order in which he will enter the Staff depends entirely on his own exertions and success at the school. It seemed to us that this open competition produced a spirit of confidence and energy in the students, as great, if not greater, than any we met with elsewhere.

The whole of the above system of education is directed by the Fourth Section of the War Department. In all the schools we found traces of its activity; and the energy and system which prevail in the Military Teaching of Austria appear in great measure to result from its being directed by this single head.

IV. THE STAFF OR WAR SCHOOL AT VIENNA.

[From Report of English Commissioners in 1856.]

The Staff School (Kriegs-Schule,) in Vienna, was established in 1851, and grew out of the experience of the Hungarian war, although a Staff-Corps had existed for more than a century in the Austrian army, and for many years past all the appointments in it have been made upon an examination, which was, in fact, one of competition. The process was formerly as follows:--

An officer desirous of becoming a candidate for a staff appointment, sent in his name to the colonel of his regiment, whose recommendation he was obliged to obtain as a preliminary step. If supplied with this, he began his course of staff study, and was sent for this purpose to some large garrison town as an _attaché_ to the staff. Whilst here he went through, for two years, the course of drawing, writing military memoirs, mapping the country, &c., and for two years more served on active staff duty with different bodies of troops. At the end of these four years a number of the officers thus employed in a particular country were brought together, and examined by the chief of the staff in the country, assisted by a board of officers appointed for the purpose. No actual list was drawn out of the order in which the candidates acquitted themselves, but it was understood that the best were chosen and put upon the general staff. The work upon this was exceedingly laborious; few except officers of real ability were candidates for it, and patronage in it was looked upon with great dislike. On the other hand, studies and reading were not made the first requisite; a ready intelligence and quick eye to make an officer a _Colonnen-führer_,--leader of a column on a march,--were always most valued.

Before describing this school, it may be as well to mention shortly the staff-corps and the corps connected with it.

1. The General Staff of the Austrian Army consists of:--

Twelve Colonels.
Twelve Lieutenant-Colonels.
Twenty-four Majors.
Eighty Captains.

The _attachés_, to the number of eighty,--_i.e._, those who are expecting appointments, may be subalterns, but they obtain the rank of captain on joining.

The chief of the staff-corps is Field-Marshal Hess.

2. There has been created very lately a separate corps of adjutants or aids-de-camp, who are charged with the administrative duties, such as inspecting the bearing, equipment, carrying on the discipline, &c., of the troops. This consists of--

Eleven Generals.
Eighteen Lieutenant-Colonels.
Eighteen Majors.
Fifty-eight First Captains.
Ten Second Captains.
Ten First Lieutenants.

There is no examination for entrance into this corps. Appointments are made by the generals, and we were told that there was some scope for “protection.”

3. There is also a smaller corps for the purpose of surveying, called the Corps of Geographical Engineers, connected with the staff, inasmuch as some of the staff officers draw the maps on a large scale, which it is the business of this corps to reduce. It is usually occupied on the Great Surveys of the Empire; at present it is employed on the Survey of the Principalities.

It consists of--

One Colonel, called the Director.
Two Lieutenant-Colonels.
Two Majors.
Sixteen Captains.
Sixteen Lieutenants.
Four Sous-Lieutenants.

The staff school consists of thirty pupils taken from all arms of the service, fifteen being received each year, and the course of study lasting two years. It is under the direction of a general and a lieutenant-colonel; and, with few exceptions, such as might occur in the time of war, no appointments on the general staff are to be given to any officers who have not passed through the staff school.

In order to enter the school for the staff corps, an officer must have served at least two years with his regiment, and be unmarried, and above twenty-one and under twenty-six years of age. He may then forward to the chief of the staff, through his colonel, his claim to be admitted as a candidate at the entrance examination. Further inquiry is made, and a good many of the names sent in are struck off the list. Such, we were told, was the case last year when the names sent in were very numerous, but out of these only forty-five were allowed to compete, and out of these again only fifteen (the regular yearly number) were selected. The competition for entrance into the school is indeed said to have been very active ever since it was opened. Most of the students are _Neustadters_; the seven professors were all, with the exception of the professor of the French language, military men, and chiefly officers of artillery, formed in the long studies of the old Bombardier School.

The subjects in which the candidates for admission are examined are--

1. Algebra and Geometry, Plane and Spherical Trigonometry.
2. Geography.
3. History.
4. Arms and Munitions.
5. Field and Permanent Fortification.
6. Pioneering.
7. Rules of Drill and Exercises.
8. Manoeuvring.
9. Military Drawing.
10. Military Composition.
11. French.
12. To be able to speak one of the Austrian national languages,
and to write a good current and legible hand.

The most striking features in the system of this school, both at the entrance and throughout the course, are that it is distinctly competitive, that it admits very young officers, and that while the work is considerable, the subjects for study are not numerous. In these three points it differs considerably from the Prussian Staff School, in which the students are generally older, and the principle of competition is not so fully carried out. In the Austrian school, the students are placed on entering in the order which their entrance examination has just fixed. They are examined once a month during their stay. On leaving the school, their respective places are again determined, and they have a claim for appointments in the staff corps in the exact order in which they were placed on leaving the school.

Their relative places on leaving the school are assigned to them, as we were assured, very carefully, and, after much consultation in every case among the professors; but this is not done by marks, nor by any minute system of testing intellectual qualifications, but an estimate is formed upon the whole work of the two years, both on the studies in the school and the practice in the field,--of the student’s comparative fitness, _as an officer, for the work of the staff_. “We try to estimate the whole man,” was the expression used to us, “whether he will make a good _Colonnen-führer_” (a good man to direct a regiment on a march,) as was said elsewhere. This general estimate was preferred to that of marks, on the ground that the latter might give too much weight to the more appreciable, _i.e._, simply intellectual qualities.

The students do not at present live within the establishment, but are to do so when the new ones, building, are ready. They begin their lectures at half-past seven and end at one or three o’clock on alternate days, going to the riding-school in the afternoon on the days when their morning’s work ends at one. Thirty horses are kept for their use.

The subjects of instruction during the first year consist of--

1. Military Drawing and the Study of Ground and Positions.
2. Higher Tactics.
3. Staff Duties.
4. French Language and Literature.
5. Riding.

And those of the second year are as follows:--

1. Military Drawing, and the Study of Ground and Positions.
2. Military Geography.
3. Principles of Strategy, illustrated by representations of
some of the most instructive campaigns.
4. French Language and Literature.
5. Riding.

The students are occupied at the school about eight hours daily and their chief work is military drawing and topography. We went into the room where the students of both years were working together at drawings and plans under an artillery officer, said to be one of the best draughtsmen in the army. Some of the plans were modeled in soap, the _hachures_ being marked very elaborately, so that the models and drawings might closely correspond. We also attended a lecture of the second class in military geography. A student traced out on the blackboard the line of the Western Alps, and was examined very closely on the smaller passes, the rivers, and the bases of operations for armies on both sides. The answers were very minute, and given with the greatest readiness; and we understood the question to be taken at random, and not to be a prepared one.[57]

[Footnote 57: It may be desirable to give some specimens, taken
from the official account of the school, of the questions put at
the examinations for admission,

I. _Viva voce._

1. Mathematics:--
Give an explanation of geometrical series, and a proof of
the general formula.
How is the circumference and area of a circle determined? How
are the trigonometrical functions of the different quadrants
of the circle indicated?
2. Geography:--
What is meant by the _backbone_ of Europe? What states does
it pass through?
The source of the Elbe; its principal feeders?
3. History:--
Describe generally the wars of Charles V.
The political consequences of the Battle of Leipzig.
4. Arms and Munitions:--
What is the material of sword blades? how are they made and
proved?
How are gun carriages made for field and siege guns?
What kinds of hollow shot are used in the Austrian artillery,
and on what do their effects depend?
5. Field and Permanent Fortification:--
How is a trench made?
How is a parapet built?
What does a front of fortification consist of? what is the
disposition of the several lines? what parts protect the
principal rampart? what is the form of the flanks? and how
is the main ditch made?
What is meant by detached works? where are they placed?
What are the best arrangements for the successful defense of
a fortress?
6. Pioneer Service:--
How are two beams of the same dimensions fastened together
in the same direction?
How are suspension bridges put up?
7. Rules for Drill and Exercise:--
(_a._) Infantry.
Wheeling during a march.
Forming of close battalion column.
(_b._) Cavalry.
Marching in files and fours.
Forming line from the flank to the front and rear.
(_c._) Artillery.
Intervals and distances in a battery.

II. Paper Work.

In Mathematics:--
1. Prove that in every triangle the square of the one side
is equal to the sum of the squares of the two other sides,
less twice the product of these two, multiplied by the
cosine of the angle they inclose.
2. If the hypothenuse is 33, and one angle 25° 48’ 12”, find
the other angle and the perpendicular, &c.]

The student officers attending the school are called upon to serve in those arms to which they do not belong. For this purpose they join the troops of the garrison of Vienna during June, July, August, and September, and if they belong to the infantry they go through all the exercises of the cavalry in one year, and of the artillery in another. If they belong to the cavalry, they go in the same manner through the exercises of infantry and artillery. After going through this practice, they have to take command of a battery, of a squadron of cavalry, and of a division of infantry.

The month of May is devoted in the first year to an expedition for practice in surveying the country, and in the second, for making reconnaissances, &c.

October is a vacation in the first year. In the second it is taken up with the final examination before leaving.

The officers acting as professors receive 600 florins, about 60_l._ annually, besides their pay.

Immediately after the final examination, if there are any vacancies in the staff corps, the pupils receive appointments in order of merit, and are at the same time made captains. In proof of their receiving appointments on the earliest opportunity, we were told by Colonel Scudier that the last ten vacancies in the staff corps were filled up out of the twelve students who had just left the school. One of these was only a second lieutenant, and in order to make him a captain, (the rank required for the staff corps,) the Emperor promoted him to be a first lieutenant immediately, and to be a captain within three days afterwards. This double promotion was on the ground of great merit.

If an officer finds no vacancy in the staff corps ready for him, he must return to his regiment and wait as an attaché. But if a second lieutenant, he is entitled immediately to a step of rank, and if a lieutenant, after three years’ service he is made a captain, although he may not even then be attached to the staff corps.

There are to be eighty of these attachés to the staff. Their number at present amounts to only thirteen.

With regard to special aids-de-camp, generals are allowed to choose their own, without examination, but with this limitation, the officer chosen must not be a relation.[58]

[Footnote 58: The following shows the nature of the Report
presented by the examiners upon an Officer examined for admission.
It is called the _Prüfungs-Act_, and is sent into the Supreme War
Department, that is, to the Fourth Section.

Form No. I. gives the name, age, rank, and length of service of
the Candidate (Lieut. R. H.)

Form No. II.:--

_a._ Oral Examination.

1. Mathematics, Very good.
2. Geography, Very good.
3. History, Very good, knowledge
thorough, statements logical.
4. Arms and Munitions, Excellent; acquainted with the
very details.
5. Field and Permanent
Fortification, Both satisfactory.
6. Pioneer Service, Very good.
7. Drill and Exercise Rules--
Infantry, Very good.
Cavalry, Not thorough.
Artillery, Good.
8. Manœuvring, Excellent.
9. French, Translates without difficulty
from French into German, and
German into French. Not much
practice in speaking.
10. National languages, Speaks good Bohemian.

_b._ Paper Work--

1. Mathematics, &c. &c.

_c._ Accomplishments--

Writing.
Military Drawing.

REMARKS.--Lieutenant R. H. is a pupil of the Neustadt Academy, of
much natural talent, and quick apprehension. His way of expressing
himself is quick and logical, and shows a clear head. He has a
fair military bearing, and prepossessing appearance. He gives
every hope of proving a useful Officer of the Staff, and deserves
admission into the War School.

Form No. III. gives the questions actually put, as in the note on
the preceding page.

(Signed) . . . . . .]

MILITARY EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS IN 1869.

PRINCIPLES OF MILITARY EDUCATION.

The disastrous results to the integrity of the empire and the reputation of the army, of the military operations of Austria in 1858, against the combined forces of France and Sardinia, and of the still more humiliating defeat in the brief but momentous campaign of 1866 against Prussia, forced the military authorities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to a thorough investigation of her military system and the education of the officers of her armies. It was not difficult to account for ultimate defeat in the larger armies and better prepared in all the resources by which large armies are equipped, fed, and moved. But military critics were not slow in discovering that better preparation should have been made, the field should have been taken earlier, and the forces combined and moved with great certainty and skill.