If after entering the ranks any one wishes to attain some commission, an examination must first be passed; but if he has previously acquitted himself creditably at a preparatory military school, he may be promoted without being examined. After a fixed term of service the aspirant is then advanced to a higher division, where his military education is completed. If satisfactory he is promoted and finally receives his coveted commission. But if the officer is now especially ambitious, there is one more school where the highest positions in the service are awarded. The interest that the government takes in the training of its soldiers is attested by the fact that it pays the expenses of all who aspire to military honors.
In most of the other European countries the education is similar to that of the Prussian system, but not so rigid and complete. The result is that Germany has not only the largest and finest equipped army, but also the most enlightened and educated soldiers in the world.