A School History of the Great War | Page 4

state
in the empire, had an antiquated system of voting which rated men's
votes according to the taxes they paid, and placed political power in the
hands of a small number of capitalists and wealthy landowners,
especially the Junkers (yoong´kerz), or Prussian nobles. The
educational system, while giving a rudimentary education to all, was
really designed to keep large masses of the people subject to the
military group, the government officials, and the capitalists. Blind
devotion to the emperor and belief in the necessity of future war in
order to increase German prosperity, were widely taught. The "mailed
fist" was clenched, and "the shining sword" rattled in the scabbard
whenever Germany thought the other nations of Europe showed her a
lack of respect. Enormous preparations for war were made in order that
Germany might gain from her neighbors the "place in the sun" which
she was determined upon. Other nations were to be pushed aside or be
broken to pieces in order that the German "super-men" might enjoy all

that they wished of this world's goods and possessions.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.--The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1910
had a population of 49,000,000, made up of peoples and races who
spoke different languages and had different customs, habits, and ideals.
These races, instead of being brought under unifying influences as
foreigners are in the United States, had for centuries retained their
peculiarities. Germans comprised 24 per cent of the total population;
Hungarians, 20 per cent; Slavic races (including Bohemians, Poles,
South Slavs, and others), 45 per cent; Roumanians, over 6 per cent; and
Italians less than 2 per cent. The Germans and Hungarians, although
only a minority of the total population, had long exercised political
control over the others and by repressive measures had tried to stamp
out their schools, newspapers, and languages. Unrest was continuous
during the nineteenth century; and the rise of the independent states of
Serbia, Roumania, and Bulgaria tended to make the Slavic and
Roumanian inhabitants of Austria-Hungary dissatisfied with their own
position.
After 1815 the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy continued under the rule of
the royal family of Hapsburgs, whose proud history extends back to the
fifteenth century. Austria (but not Hungary) was part of the German
Confederation, and her representative had the right of presiding at all
meetings of the confederation. Between 1815 and 1848 the Austrian
emperor and his Prime minister were the leaders in opposition to
popular government and national aspirations. But in 1848 a serious
uprising took place, and it seemed for a time that the diverse peoples
would fly apart from each other and establish separate states. The
emperor abdicated and his prime minister fled to England. Francis
Joseph, the young heir to the throne, with the aid of experienced
military leaders succeeded in suppressing the rebellion. For sixty-eight
years (1848-1916) he was personally popular and held together the
composite state.
In 1866 Austria was driven out of the German Confederation by
Prussia. Seven years earlier she had lost most of her Italian possessions.
Thereafter her interests and ambitions lay to the southeast; and she bent

her energies to extend her territory, influence, and commerce into the
Balkan region. A semblance of popular government was established in
Austria and in Hungary, which were separated from each other in
ordinary affairs, but continued under the same monarch. In each
country, however, the suffrage and elections were so juggled that the
ruling minority, of Germans in Austria and of Hungarians in Hungary,
was enabled to keep the majority in subjection.
Austria-Hungary has not progressed as rapidly in industry and
commerce as the countries to the north and west of her. Her life is still
largely agricultural, and cultivation is often conducted by primitive
methods. Before the war her wealth per person was only $500, as
compared with $1843 in the United States, $1849 in Great Britain,
$1250 in France, and $1230 in Germany. She possessed only one good
seaport, Trieste (tr[)i]-[)e]st´), and this partly explained her desire to
obtain access to the Black Sea and the Ægean Sea. About half of her
foreign trade was carried on with Germany. The low standards of
national wealth and production made the raising of taxes a difficult
matter. The government had a serious struggle to obtain the funds for a
large military and naval program.
ITALY.--For a thousand years before 1870 there was no single
government for the entire Italian peninsula. Although the people were
mainly of one race, their territory was divided into small states ruled by
despotic princes, who were sometimes of Italian families, but more
often were foreigners--Greeks, Germans, French, Spanish, and
Austrians. The Pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church, governed
nearly one third of the land. This condition continued after 1815. But
during the nineteenth century the Italians began to realize that they
belonged to one race. They saw