The Times of Wednesday contains an illuminating study by its
Military Correspondent of the armed strength of France in the event of a sudden attack by Germany. The keynote of the article is that the French nation has closed its ranks. France can place four million trained men under arms, and her
armies will be concentrated on the frontier as soon as, if not sooner than, Germany's Germany, it is true, possesses more ample troupes de couverture, which might execute minor operations within certain limits; but these are not suited for taking a serious offensive. In any case, France in an emergency would incorporate the hundred and sixty thousand reserves in her frontier zone, and it is doubtful, to say the least, whether Germany would attempt to do the same thing with her Alsace-Lorrainers. The writer thinks that the Republican Constitution of France will not cause time to be lost, since the President possesses large discretionary powers in a matter of national defence. On the whole, therefore, he concludes that it is unlikely that Germany will take the initiative, partly because she would fear for the fate of her shipping, and partly because she remembers the declaration of Clausewitz that the defensive is the stronger form of war. The writer also points out that in the event of an unprovoked attack she could not rely upon Austria, and probably not upon Italy. She would find "an isolation that would not be splendid."
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