atter country France retaliated by lengthening the term of military
service from two to three years. This accomplished practically the same
purpose without causing a ripple of excitement, and as France determined
to recover her lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine her fight is to the
limit of her endurance.

There were, at the outbreak of war, 869,403 men in the National Army of
France, which was composed of the Metropolitan army, having a total of
753,403 men, of the Colonial army, numbering 116,000 men. These figures
do not include the personnel of the Gendarmerie, or military police,
which numbered 25,000 men.

Military service is compulsory in France and all males between the ages
of 20 and 48 years must serve three years in the army, the only cause
for exemption being physical disability. Following the active service
the soldier passes to the reserve for 11 years, after which he is seven
years in the Territorial army and seven years in the Territorial
reserve. The training in the active reserve consists of two periods of
training and maneuvers which last for four weeks each, in the
Territorial army one period of two weeks, and in the Territorial
reserve, no fixed period. There are more than 2,000 reservists per
battalion produced by the length of the reserve service, and when the
troops are mobilized the active units can be easily maintained at full
war strength. The number available in this way gives enough men for each
battalion and regiment in the field with enough men left over for
routine home guard work.

FRENCH MILITARY DIVISIONS.

There are two infantry regiments, composed of from six to eight
battalions, to the brigade, in the French army, with two brigades to a
division and two divisions to an army corps. A field artillery regiment,
consisting of nine batteries of four guns each, is attached to each
division. With nine field and three howitzer batteries and six
reinforcing batteries added under mobilization, each corps on a war
footing has 144 guns. There is also added to every army corps in the
field one cavalry brigade of two regiments, one cavalry battalion,
engineer companies and sanitary and service troops. The cavalry
divisions are composed of three brigades of two regiments each--together
with three batteries of horse artillery. There is in an army corps, when
mobilized, approximately 33,000 combatants, and in a cavalry division
4,700 men. An aeronautical corps in the French army consists of