Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/486

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
GAB—GYZ

-168 empire is divided into nine fortress districts, each iiicliid- ing a certain number of fortified places. The Baltic coast fortresses are Mt-inel, Pillau, D-aiitzic (first-cl-.iss fortress), (‘olberg, Swineiniinde, Stralsund, Traveiniinde, Kiel, l"riedriclisort, Sonderburg-Diippel. On the North Sea are 'illielinsli-aven and the fortresses by which the mouths of the Elbe, Weser, and Ems are guarded. The eastern frontier is protected by the first-class fortresses of l{6nigs- berg, Daiitzic, Thorn, and Poseii 3 and by the secondary ones of .farienburg and Dirseliaii on the Vistula, and of Glogau on the Oder, which are especially intended for the protection of the railways. For the southern frontier there exist only the fortresses of Neisse. Glatz, and Kiinigstein on the Elbe. The old inland fortresses have been abol- ished, except the first-class ones of Kilstrin, Magdeburg, Spaiidau, and (for railway protection) Torgau on the Elbe. Ulm and Iiigolstadt on the Danube, both first-class fortresses, are also maintained. On the western frontier Strasbarg and .etz have been fortified by a wide range of outer fortifications, and there is besides an outer line of smaller fortified places, consisting of New Breisach, Bitsch, Saarlouis, and Thioiiville. A second line runs along the Rhine, where there are large fortresses serving as eiicamp- meuts at Rastadt, .Iainz, Coblentz, and Cologne, and smaller ones f J!‘ the protection of the Rhine bridges at Geriners- lieiiii, Ehrenbreitstein opposite Coblentz, Diissehlorf, and Wesel. The empire thus possesses 16 fortified places of the first class serving as camps, an:l 27 other fortresses. .'av_r/.—The German navy is but of recen.; origin. In 1843 the German people urged the construction of a fleet. Money Was collected, and a few iiieii-of-war were fitted out ; but these were subsequently sold, the German buiidestag (federal council) not being in sympathy with the aspirations of the nation. Prussia, however, began laying the founda- tions of a small navy. To meet the difficulty arising from the want of good harbours in the Baltic, a small extent of territory near Jalide Bay was bought from Oldenburg in 1851, for the purpose of establishing a war-part there. Its crinstruction is now practically completed, although at enormous expense, and it was opened for ships by the eni- peror in June 1869 under the name of Wilhehnshaven. In 1861 Prussia, by 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, —blaclt, white, red, with the Prussian eigle and the iron cross. From 1848 to 1868 the increase of the navy was slow. In 1851 it consisted of 51 ships with 188 guns (among which there were, however, 36 small gunboats of 2 guns each), and with 1180 hands in all. In 1868 it consisted of ‘<9 vessels of 563 guns, among which number there were '3 iroiiclads, and 43 other steamers. Since then a definite plan for the development of the navy has been set on foot, and great activity has been displayed in fitting out ships and in augmenting the personnel. The following table shows the increase that has oeeurred in the navy budget since 1868:- I 0"]. flr . E.:tl'fl- I _ . _ ' Extra. in Y 0,.,]",,u.-‘,_ , Oi (1111.11) . onnnmy ‘ _ L‘ .5 £ £- 1-4";-9 3--_I_.0no 393.000 I N4 092.000 1 ,!)76.0(i0 l.~ii.'.) 3‘-.._000 Stu ,o(io 157:. 9(|2_()00 4_-,4_m,0 1870 470,000 610, 000 1.576 1 .0531)! in 2;;,s4_(m0 l-"71 .";-‘$0,000 600 000 1877 1.083.000 1.429 000 1532 I 666 000 6H5.mio _ 1878-79 1,205,000 1.721000 has I 0ss,o00 750,000 The personnel of the navy consisted in 1878 of 965 officers and 9265 men. There are 2 sailors divisions (Iatrosendivisionen) of 79 officers and 6029 seamen and boys, a sliip-boys department U E It M A N Y [.'.u'v. (Alitlieiluiig) of 400 hands, 2 doclryard divisions ('t-i-ftdivisionen) , with 1-18 officers aml 1718 men, aml 1 battalion of ni:i'rines with 1035 men. The sailors and inarincs are levied by eoiiscriptioii from among the scafariiig population, which is on this .'1CC01lllt('X('llllI1, from service in the ill‘1ll_'. The total sea-going population of tier- many is estimated at 80,000, 48,000 of whom serve in the iner- ehant marine at home, and about 6000 in foreign service. iiiduceincnts to enter the navy are held out to able scaint-ii. ( I rent The following table gives the state of the navy in August 1878 :— Ships. Nuinlier. I (inns. Toiiiiage. llni'~('-l‘ou-ei' .i-inoiir-clad ships— 1 Frigates ................ .. 7 85 .‘},-I00 to 5.1!‘ '0 3.3.00 to 3.000 Corvettes .............. .. 3 20 2.400 to 5.0!"! 3.000 to ."i.ti0<) Floating battt-i'ies.. 7 1'2 780 to 1,200 700 to l,'.'0t‘ .'on-armour-clatl ships- |-'loatiiig battery ....... .. 1 23 3.300 .'l.t 100 Dccked eorvcttcs .... .. 11 11:6 1.700 to ‘.’.!~"'0 l.-‘:00 to 4..*~m Corvettes ............ 7 (:2 1.000 to Liiiio Hm to 2.400 Despatch vessels .. .... .. 5 6 31:0 to 1,.-'-00 3.31,) to .';,min Gunboats... 1-.’ 30 000 to 1.200 (:00 to 1.100- Torpedo ships .......... .. 11 .. 24 to 2:00 80 to '.’,-'}00 'l'i'ansport steaniers 2 .. ' -12-’; 3520 Sailing vessels ..... .. 4 ‘.58 2.500 Total... . 70 41‘: ' 91.300 110.000 11 i~:i.Ioio.*. In the oflicial eensus it has been usual to return the religious creed of the inhabitants, though a few states, such as Prussia and Hamburg, omitted this particular in 187:3. Oflicial estimates indeed have been made of the religious profession of the people in these states for 1875 also, but only the census of 1867 and that of 1871 can be accurately compared. The number of persons styling theniselves of no religion, or refusing to state their religion, is very small. The following table gives the results of the three last enu- nierations :— ._- ,.- isr.-.. CrCCds' sits. ( ifsiie cs ‘ltd _ Protestants .......... .. 24,921,000 25591.6-23 ' -2«;.71s.s~_>:i li0l11fl1l Catholics 14.564.000 14 867,600 15.371,‘_"_’7 Dissenters ........... .. 117,000 82.150 100,608 Jews ................... .. 499.000 512,160 5‘Z0,575 Other creeds ........ .. l 176 l _ .. Religion not stnted.. f 6'000 16,980 16’1“)' Total .... .. 40.107,000 41,060,695 -1'_’,7‘_’7,360 Almost two-tliirds of the population belong to the Ev:ni- gelical Church, and rather more than a third to the Cliurch of Rome. The dissenters are very inferior in Illl[lllJt‘l'>'. amounting to only about 100,000 souls, but the Jewish ele- ment, represented by half a million (11 per cciit.), is more considerable than in any other state of West, Nortli, or South Europe. The following table gives the proportion of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews in every 1000 inhabi- tants:—- Rate to 1000 Inlialiitaiits. 1‘i'otcstants. Catholics. E J ews. 1 867 621 363 1 '3 1 1 87 1 623 362 1 ‘.2 '5 1 875 625 360 1 2'1 The Protestants have increased in number by 0'4 per cent. of the population since 1867. This increase, however, must not be attributed to conversions, but rather to the greater increase of population in the Protestant provinces of Germany as compared with the Catholic ones; though at the same time the official returns of Prussia prove that conver- sioii to the rival communion is much more frequent with Catholics than with Protestants. Three states in Germany

have a decidedly predominant Catholic population, viz.,