BEFORE THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Everything considered, Austria in the eighteenth century was in a very backward state. Education was sadly neglected. Illiteracy was general among the lower classes. Manners were brutal. Immorality was rife in all ranks of society. Free-thinking was popular in the upper classes and superstition pervaded the untutored peasantry. For the tourist there was in Austria little that was attractive outside the cities. These were united by an extensive system of roads, which, on the great lines of travel, were maintained by the centralized government in condition far better than was the case in the petty states of what we now call Germany.
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Upon the other portions of Europe we need not long delay. Switzerland, securely placed in the center of the Continent, took no recognized part in the affairs of Europe, and was permitted to work out its destiny undisturbed. Great wealth was unknown, and simplicity of living was the rule. Some of the mountain districts afforded a very scanty subsistence, but the country as a whole was reasonably well-to-do and contented, and some cities, such as Basel and Geneva, enjoyed remarkable prosperity.
In the northwest comer of the Continent were situated the Low Countries — the seven Dutch provinces that we collectively call Holland, from the name of the most important, and the Austrian Netherlands. The story of the rise of the Dutch Republic is one of the marvels of the history of Europe. Throughout the seventeenth century the little republic was extraordinarily prosperous, and her merchant vessels brought her untold wealth from every part of the world. Despite her diminutive size she stood up against the aggressive policy of France, for a moment humiliated England, and took an active part in the War of the Spanish Succession. The long strain of this and previous wars was, however, too severe, and except for the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48) and the brief but unfortunate naval war with England just at the close
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