the rivers Elbe and Weser. The acquisition of the Island of Heligoland is of ambiguous value. While this little rocky inlet remained in the hands of England, Germany might at any time have had the annoyance of seeing a hostile fleet collect there, but now that it is protected by German batteries it makes an outlying point open to the first attack. The mouth of the Elbe has become a more important place since it received the North Sea and Baltic Canal. The two extremities of the canal are not much exposed to danger; the more easterly lies in the middle of Kiel Harbour, and is covered by strong fortifications at its entrance. To protect its course through Holstein, if it were threatened by a force that had landed, say, in Jutland, would be more difficult. The coasts of the Baltic, owing to their extent, are inconvenient to fortify, and are not so naturally difficult of approach as the shallows of the North Sea. The best protection here consists in a line of railway running along the coast, and ready to carry help to any point threatened. The important commercial inlets, however, are fortified, or else ready to be closed by torpedoes in case of war. Fortunately the large towns lie far back, out of danger of bombardment, a good way up the mouths of rivers, and in some cases at the end of broad haffs. Two of them, Danzig and Königsberg, are already among the strongest defensive positions along the eastern frontier. If France were to conspire with the giant Empire of the east for the destruction of the German Empire, it would help to bring about its own ruin and the slavery of its future generations. The unlimited growth of the Russian Empire, and the disturbance of the balance of power in the interior of Europe to the advantage of Russia, which already contains more than a quarter of all the inhabitants of the Continent, do undoubtedly constitute a danger to the whole Germanic, and also to the whole Latin world. The danger is but little lessened by the consideration that there are no grave interests in dispute between Russia and Germany. While it is certain that Germany will never covet a square mile of Russian soil, no one can answer for it that the Russian Colossus, in its unceasing expansion, may not some day attempt once more to push its western frontier forward. No natural barriers, difficult to cross, protect Germany on the east. Only the power of the German people to defend itself can protect this boundary. The task is rendered more difficult by the length and its retreating curve to the westward. The frontier measures 750 miles from Memel to the Three-Emperors Corner at Myslowitz, and while the direct line from the eastern ends of East Prussia and Silesia passes through Warsaw, the Russian territory on the Middle Warta pushes so far westward that Berlin stands at a distance of only 180 miles from the frontier. This wedge of Poland points menacingly towards the German capital, and leaves the military strength of Russia free to choose upon what part of the long frontier line it will direct the full force of its onset. East Prussia, surrounded on the south, east, and north by Russian territory, exposed on the north-west to the attack of the Rus sian Baltic fleet, is connected with the main body of the Empire only by a length of 75 miles and lies in the greatest danger. The first effort of any Russian attack would be to paralyse this wing of the Prussian eagle. If the armies of Germany were compelled to act on the defensive here, they would find their task lightened only along the southern border, where there are woods and the tangled waters of Masuria. Between the long lakes with their many arms, the roads have to go across narrow passages which would be easy to defend, even if the closing of them had not been prepared in time of peace, by building little forts like Fort Boyen at Lötzen. For great hostile undertakings this tract of country is in any case less suitable. The natural lines of Russian advance are the broad valleys of the Pregel and the Vistula. The Russian railway system has prepared, in the junctions of Vilna and Warsaw, points of departure for both these lines of attack. The fortifications of Kovno, at the crossing of the Niemen, form a base from which an army which was not opposed by an equal force would find the way open through the Pregel district as far as Königsberg. A wide ring of forts has of late years made this place into a fortress of the first rank, which cannot be fully surrounded so long as the Frische Haff with its fortified entrance, the Pillauer Deep, are not in the enemy's hands. With Königsberg as a base, a lesser Prussian army might maintain its footing upon the island of the coast between the Haffs and the mouths of the Pregel, whose branches fall into them; or, stationed behind the Deime and the Alle, such an army could protect all East Prussia. Its situation would only be seriously endangered if a Russian army from the Vistula were to gain a decisive success, and to cut East Prussia's communications on the west. The strong fortifications on the line of the Vistula have been erected to meet this danger. Thorn, in particular, has a large ring of detached forts commanding both banks of the river, and able with an energetic and active garrison to extend their influence north-eastward, as far as the Prussian lake country, and south-westward as far as the lakes of the Upper Netze. Only 30 miles further to the north lies Graudenz at the head of an important bridge, which has recently been strongly fortified, and lies half-way between Thorn and the delta of the Vistula. The area of the delta ready for inundation strengthens the position of Dantzig, which the forts on the western hills and at the mouths of the river have made into a spot most capable of being defended. It is connected with Königsberg on one side by the Frische Haff. With the great military strength which Russia has at command, it would undoubtedly be possible that, simultaneously with an invasion along the Pregel and Vistula, an advance should be attempted towards Berlin. The advancing army on the left bank of the Vistula would be threatened on the flank by Thorn, and could not go on until it had completely invested this fortress; but if it did succeed in reaching the eastern border of the province of Posen, it would come into a country much cut up by long lakes running from north to south and offering many positions favourable to the defence. Beyond lies the reach of the Warta that runs northward, and upon it the strong fort ress of Posen. Here the lines of communication from all the eastern portions of the Empire converge. An interruption of these communications, by the surrounding of Posen, would be a heavy blow which the German military leaders would have to use every exertion to prevent. The wide ring of forts and the modern methods of construction give to Posen a great power of resistance to a siege, the materials for which would have to be brought from a great distance and by very difficult roads. Taken together, Königsberg, Dantzig, Thorn, and Posen form a ring of fortresses that enclose a natural division of territory and greatly enhance its powers of defence. The line of the Oder is of but secondary importance. Since the razing of the defences of Stettin, it has possessed but one strong fortress, Cüstrin, which has outlying forts, and stands at the embouchure of the Warta in a considerable area of easily flooded country. South of the Obra Bruch, which connects the Warta and the Oder, and bounds the sphere of influence belonging to the fortress of Posen, lies but one fortified place, at the head of a bridge, Glogau. Silesia is less important for the purpose of protecting the eastern frontier. It does not lie in the natural line of a Russian advance, and is in some degree defended by the far projection eastward of the Austrian Empire. The whole conditions of national defence along this eastern frontier, with its unfavourable peculiarities, suggest that this border cannot be satisfactorily held on the defensive, and that serious injury can only be averted by a vigorous offensive. In the eastern provinces where no river runs, like the Rhine, parallel with the frontier, making a basis of defence, the place of some such basis would have to be supplied artificially by railway lines running along the border. The carefully laid out system of communications has everywhere created two, and sometimes for long distances three, independent lines of railway running parallel with the frontier, and these-if satisfactorily secured against destructive attacks by bodies of Russian cavalry-would render possible a rapid displacement of troops. They can, however, only be so guarded by a considerable advance of German troops. As the different size of the areas to be covered and the differences in railway development in the two empires would undoubtedly assure to the Germans the advantage of being more quickly ready for battle, it is obvious that Russia must reckon, in case of war, upon taking up at first a purely defensive attitude. She has prepared for it by constructing the square of Polish fortresses-Novo Georgiewsk, Ivangorod, Brest-Litewski, and Goniondz-which will enable her to collect her forces behind the great river frontage of the Bobr, Narew, Bug, and Vistula, and there to await with confidence the approach of any attack. Warsaw has also been made into a stronghold. This conception of the position depends upon the paucity of railways, economically so much required in the great district on the left bank of the Vistula. Russia trusts for protection, even in this first stage of a war, to her superfluity of space, and to that "fifth element" which Napoleon discovered with terror-the unfathomable mud of the roadway, which paralyses the most active strategy and tires the most valorous soldiers. The offensive side of national defence therefore presents serious difficulties to Germany. But the rich cultivation and increased population of Poland have in the course of a century changed the character of the battlefields, and deprived Russia of the exceptional position which she appeared to occupy after the experiences of Napoleon. The Russian Empire cannot be regarded as so invulnerable and so unapproachable for hostile troops at the present day as it was in 1812. The method of defence which was possible then cannot be repeated. Calm and expert judges are inclined not to overestimate the danger of a war with Russia. Much would of course depend upon whether Germany had to bear all the weight of it alone, or whether it could reckon on the aid of its present ally, Austria-Hungary. The position of that power in regard to Russia is essentially different. The greater part of the Empire is sheltered by the Carpathians. Only Silesia, Galicia, and the Bukovina stretch down into the plain of Eastern Europe, and absolutely demand an armed defence against their great neighbour. Three railways lead from Moravia and five from Hungary into the district where the Oder rises, and into the basins of the Vistula and Dniester. Of these railways, six debouch into the valleys of the Vistula and San, behind which the principal defensive force would have to assemble, supported by the two great fortresses of Cracow and Przemysl, which are connected by two independent lines. Use could also be made of the lines in the valleys of the Waag and the Hernad, deep in the mountains, if troops had to be carried from one side to the other. The choice of two points of concentration at only 150 miles apart bears witness clearly enough of the conviction that a strip of land so long, and at the ends so narrow, as the outer border of the Carpathians from Teschen to Czernowitz (400 miles) can only be defended by forces held well together, and ready to take the offensive. The attraction of the enemy by a strong army serves better than a dispersion of forces to secure districts that lie at a distance. While the army of Cracow in a well-chosen position would face towards the Polish seat of war, and at the same time be ready, in case of an alliance, for co-operation with the German forces, the army of Przemysl and Lemberg would be required to advance towards Volhynia and Little Russia. In consequence of the division of the country into a northern and a southern field of operations, separated by the great marshy district of the Bug and the Pripet, this army would choose an independent aim, namely, Kiev. Although preparations are thus made for defence on the four faces of Central Europe and are continually perfected to meet the requirements of the times, we may, on the other hand, perceive in its interior a striking diminution of the friction between one state and another which was formerly so marked a defect. A general view of the defensive measures of Central Europe in the present day brings out, as at no previous time, the essential unity of this great civilized region. Among all the alliances of our day, that between the two great Central European Powers is the most natural and has the strongest internal guarantees of permanence. If these two continue to hold together, not only will their smaller western neighbours be enabled, under the protection of their swords, still to enjoy prosperity and security, but the unruly peoples between the Adriatic and Black Seas will also learn to value and enjoy the blessings of peaceful industry. Central Europe has been the battlefield of all nations long enough to resist a recurrence of such sufferings with all its might and by a united movement of its millions of trained soldiers. May the great monument on the battlefield of Leipzig, where the criminal effort to enslave a whole continent was defeated, not by military skill, but by the elemental power of liberty-loving nations, remain the last memento of the political errors of previous centuries, a warning to all ambitious tyrants in the future, and an admonition to the peoples of Central Europe to remain united, to keep peace, and to command peace. UNFAMILIAR NAMES IN THE GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE. Nature and location of geo- Name usually used in graphical feature. America. Form used in parts of Ocean Sea east of British Isles...North Sea La Manche or Der Kanal. Body of water between Köln England and France....English Channel ...City in Germany .Cologne 's Gravenhage or Haag...Capital of Netherlands....The Hague ..Country of Europe... .Netherlands or Pays Bas |