Men are permitted to
volunteer at seventeen (with consent of parents or guardians); all
volunteers serve nine years in the reserve; those joining the Guards
or cavalry must maintain themselves at their own expense. The total
contingent demanded for army and navy in 1880 was 235,000, and
231,961 were enrolled; of this deficit of 3,039, the greater number,
3,000, were Jews.
_Organization_.--The Emperor is the Commander-in-Chief, who issues
orders through the War Ministry, whose head is responsible for
the general efficiency of the Army. There is also the "Imperial
Head-quarters," under a general officer who, in the absence of the
War Minister, takes the Emperor's orders and sees to their
execution. The War Council, presided over by the War Minister,
supervises all financial matters in connection with the army. There
are also a High Court of Appeals, and the Head-quarters Staff, who
supervise the execution of all military duties. Commissariat,
artillery, engineer, medical, military education, Cossack, and
judge-advocate departments complete the list of bureaus.
The military forces are arranged into nineteen army corps: five
comprise three divisions of infantry; one, two divisions of cavalry;
the remainder, two divisions of cavalry and one of infantry; with a
due proportion of light artillery and engineers the war strength of
an army corps is 42,303 combatants, 10,755 horses, and 108 guns.
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