ESTONIA

GENERAL

Area .......... 47,549 sq. km.Inhabitants (I922) .... 1,107,059

Per sq. km .... 23.3'

I.

Army.

A. SUPREME MILITARY AUTHORITY AND ITS ORGANS.

The supreme command of the Army is vested in the Government,which exercises it through the Minister of War.Ministry of War.

The Minister of War has under his orders:(i) The Chief of the Staff of the Army, under whom are placed

the inspectors of artillery, engineers, cavalry and musketry.(2) The General Staff, which is divided into six departments

(preparation for war).(a) The administrative and personnel services.(b) The supply services.(c) The medical service.(d) The supreme court martial.(e) The Judge-Advocate.(f) The Legal Adviser to the War Ministry.

B. HIGHER UNITS.

The Estonian Army in time of peace consists of:3 infantry divisions, besides air defence and coast defence troops.

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An infantry division consists of:Staff,Headquarters of divisional artillery,Two infantry regiments,Two groups of artillery.

The air defence and coast defence troops consist of Staff,i regiment of infantry,i division of armoured cars and tanks,I air regiment,i squadron of cavalry.

C. ARMS AND SERVICES

(i) In/fantry : 7 regiments, each consisting of 2 or 3 battalions;a battalion consists of three companies of riflemen and one heavymachine-gun company.

(2) Cavalry : i regiment and i independent squqadron. A regimentof cavalry consists of:

i technical section,3 line squadrons,i machine-gun squadron,i training squadron.

(3) Artillery : Four groups of light field artillery and two groupsof heavy field artillery; each group contains 3 or 4 batteries.

(4) Armoured units: One division of armoured cars and tanks,and 2 regiments of armoured trains.

(a) A division of armoured cars and tanks consists of:2 companies of tanks,i company of armoured cars,i company of motor vehicles,i stores company.

(b) A regiment of armoured trains consists of:2 armoured trains.

(5) Engineers: One battalion of pioneers and i signals battalion(a) A pioneer battalion consists of:

2 companies of sappers,i company of railway engineers,i gas warfare company,i searchlight company,i training company.

(b) A signal battalion consists of:2 companies of telephone and telegraph operators,i company of wireless telegraph operators,i training company.

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(6) Air Force: An air regiment consists of:i aviation group (land service), consisting of 2 flights and i

training flight,i seaplane flight,I training section,i technical section.

SUMMARY TABLE OF UNITS AND COMMANDS.

0 technical divisions

Q Infantry Cavalry Air Tanks Engineers Signal

4 7 6 i 2 i

D. BUDGETARY EFFECTIVES OF THE ARMY(1926).

Military and civil officials ............ 1,500Under-officers. ............. . 3,000Other ranks ........ ...... . . 12,840

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I7,340

E. RECRUITING.

All citizens of the Esthonian Republic are liable for military service.Military service is divided into four stages:

(a) Service in the active army;(b) On furlough from the active army;(c) Service in the reserve;(d) Service in the territorial force.

Military service in the active army lasts for eighteen months, exceptin the navy and coast defence, in which it lasts 24 months.

Contingents are incorporated in the active army on two occasionsin each year. The men called up for service are those who reached theage of 20 on January Ist of the current year.

The total period of service in the active army and the first reserveis five years.

Citizens who have completed their period on furlough from the activearmy are transferred to the reserve up to the age of 45.

The Ministry of War has power, with the assent of the Government,to summon reservists for not more than four periods of training, notexceeding six months in all (under-officers and specialists may becalled up for six periods not exceeding nine months in all). Servicein the territorial force lasts until the age of 55.

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II.

Navy.

LIST OF UNITS

(1925).Destroyers:

i. Lennuk (1915-17) 1,8oo tons. Dimensions: 3441/2 x 3i 1/4 x 9 2/ feet.Guns : 5 4-inch. 9 torpedo-tubes (I8-inch).

2. Wambola (1915-18) 1,585 tons. Dimensions: 314 /4 X 301/2 X 9 2/ feet.Guns : 4 4 -inch. 9 torpedo-tubes (i8-inch).

Miscellaneous: 8 units (torpedo-boat, gunboats, minelayers, etc.).

SUMMARY TABLE OF NAVAL UNITS.

I Number J Total Depreciatedtonnage tonnage tonnage

Destroyers and torpedo-boats ........ 3,6 13 6o02Miscellaneous vessels ....... . . .. 2 1,360 IIo

Total .............. 4,973 712Total of Naval personnel :

Sea service .............. 700Shore service. ............. 500

Depreciated tonnage (on January ist, 1926), is calculated as follows:(i) For battleships, battle cruisers, coast-defence ships, monitors, aircraft-carriers and miscellaneous

vessels, a reduction in original tonnage at the rate of i/20 per annum from date of completion.(2) For cruisers and light cruisers, a reduction of I/17 per annum from date of completion.(3) For torpedo craft and submarines, a reduction of 1/i2 per annum from date of completion.

2 Under the heading Miscellaneous Vessels, only sloops, gunboats, river gunboats and despatch vessels areshown ; excluding 3 gunboats of a tonnage of 744 tons, the year of launching being unknown.

III.

Budget Expenditure on National Defence.

A. NOTES ON BUDGET PROCEDURE.

(i) Until the end of 1925 the financial year coincided with the calendar year,but, after an intervening period of three months (January to March 1926), it waschanged in order to cover the period from April ist to March 3 ist.

(2) The budget consists of two parts : (a) ordinary revenue and expenditure ;(b) extraordinary revenue and expenditure, the latter being subdivided intoexpenditure shown under various Ministries and expenditure of the operation fundfor loans to municipalities, undertakings, etc. The extraordinary expenditureshown under various Ministries also comprises military expenditure.

(3) The budget is drawn up according to the principles of a gross budgetarysystem.

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B. BUDGET EXPENDITURE ON NATIONAL DEFENCE.

Summary of Defence Expenditure.

1923 1924 1925 1926-27

Closed Revised ClosedAccounts Estimates Accounts Estimates

Ministry of War: Emks (ooo,ooo's omitted)Ordinary expenditure .. 1,131.3 1,2o8.- 1,469.3 T,539.9Extraordinary expenditure 273-5 332.6 382.- 352.9

Total..... 1,404.8 1,540. 6 1,851.3 1,892.8

x The closed accounts have not become available.

The following table shows certain main items of ordinary and extraordinarydefence expenditure, according to the estimates for 1924 and 1925, the only yearsfor which detailed information is available.

___________________________________________________ 1924 j 1925

Ordinary expenditure i Emks (ooo,ooo's omitted)Salaries . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . . . . . 466.4 412.9Barracks ................... 1o.8 Io04.5Repair of buildings ............. i6.2 i8.-War material ................ 526.4 59.-5Miscellaneous expenses ............ 98.2 xo8.1

Total ordinary expenditure . ..... 1,2o8.- 1,235.-

Extraordinary expenditure:War material .. . . . ......... 88.7 164.8Construction of buildings . . . . . . 117.4 42.2Coast defence ................ 8.7 ii.6Chemical warfare material ........... 20.9Miscellaneous expenses ............ 17.8 5.9

Total extraordinary expenditure . . . 332.6 245.4

TOTAL DEFENCE EXPENDITURE . ... . ,540.6 1,480.4

IV.

Production and Exchange of Goods of Importance forNational Defence.

(P = Production; I = Imports; E =- Exports.)

I. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS(A) CEREALS. 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925

Metric tons (ooo's).Wheat P 14 21 20 15 22

Rye P 184 147 166 138 183Barley P 125 145 89 121 i15

Oats P 161 146 115 140 127

(B) POTATOES. P 782 718 682 675 650

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II. VARIOUS PRODUCTS

1921 1922 1923 1924 1925

Metric tons (ooo's).

Cotton, raw I 1.4 3-. 4.4 2.9 5.3

Flax (fibre) P 6.7 9'4 9.8 10.7 13.6E 1 5.6 9.9 10.3 II.3 7.0

Wool P I.5 I.4 o.8 o.8

Including tow.