nd equipped
than those of France, and her war plans so much more complete,
that she was able to lay France prostrate, before the enormous
resources of that country in men and material could rally in her
defense.

The relative conditions in which two opposing forces will enter a
war, and their relative performances afterward, will depend upon
the relative excellence of the war plans made for them, and the
thoroughness with which the plans are tested before war breaks. So
it is not difficult to see why all the great armies have patterned
after Germany, and organized special bodies of officers for the
preparation and execution of War plans; and why it is that they
endeavor to secure for that peculiar duty the most thorough and
industrious of their officers. Owing to the nature of war itself,
the principles of warfare apply in their essentials to navies as well
as to armies; and so the navies have patterned after the armies and
made plans whereby they can get ready to fight in fleet organization
on the ocean with the greatest possible effectiveness in the shortest
possible time.

During peace times every navy is maintained on a "peace basis";
only such ships and other material being kept in full commission,
and only such a number of officers and enlisted men being actively
employed, as the appropriations allotted by the government permit.
Those ships and other material that are not actually in commission
are maintained in reserve, a condition of partial readiness, of
which several degrees are recognized, in which a reduced number of
officers and men are kept on board, and the various structures and
apparatus are kept in as high a degree of readiness as circumstances
will permit. In order to man in time of war these vessels in reserve,
and insure a sufficient personnel in the active fleet, a "naval
reserve" is organized in each country, composed of officers and men
who have had experience in the regular navy. They are compelled to
undergo a specific amount of training each year, to keep themselves
in readiness at all times to answer the call for active service on
short notice, and to maintain such communication with the government
as will make it easy to locate any man at any moment.

The act of getting ready, the passing from a state of peace to
a state of readiness for fighting, is called "mobilization."
Mobilization plans are an important element in war plans, but the
details of any mobilization plan are of such a co