move the troops.
The citizens responded promptly enough, but France had no bureaucracy
or military plans to match those of Germany, and, as throughout French
history, the leaders of the people failed at the crucial moment. The
plodding English had to help out the French railway plans, and then had
to turn around and find their own railroad defects. When England first
sounded the call to arms, men deserted the railroad service to go into
training to such an extent that the authorities had to stop it and
maintain transportation as, of course, an important arm of the
war-service.

The history of the unpreparedness of both England and France has yet to
be written. It would not be useful to print much that is already
known. There are two political sentiments in both countries, and
political issues will rise again in both after the war.

A little contemplation here will show the extravagance of many
estimates of the number of men to be put in the field in time of war.
Many estimates have taken little account of the number of men required
to handle a modern transportation service, and the supply organization
to back up an effective army at the front. Transportation and
war-supplies are on such an expanded basis as was not dreamed of a few
years ago. The war plans of one generation cannot be the war plans of
another either on land or sea. That France had 4,500,000 men capable
of bearing arms did not mean that she could hold 4,000,000 men in
fighting array at any one time.

After five months of war France had only 1,500,000 men at the front,
and from the camps and military organizations she expects to have ready
a fresh army of another million in the spring. But she mobilized
nearly 4,000,000 men. Paris industry, trade, and commerce could shut
down in a day, but there was no organization that could make in a day
or a week the men of France into an army at the front. Her 600,000
regular troops were, of course, always in position to be thrown on the
defensive at the German frontier. None of the nearly 4,000,000
additional men could be got with arms and munitions of war into
Belgium, to meet effectively the trained troops of Germany.

The German troops were "moving" as early as July 25, while all the
governments of Europe, including Austria, were negotiating for and
hopeful of peace. When war was declared against France, she promptly
offered Belgium five French army corps for defence. King Albert
declined, saying