OF EDUCATION 35 



Germany were organized on a new basis, and a hope- 

 ful and vigorous life was felt throughout the land. 



In 1 8 13 the allied armies defeated Napoleon in the 

 battle of Leipsic, and Germany was again free. 

 Almost as soon as a generation had grown up in the 

 new education, Germany had occasion for using all 

 the power her armies had gained through its means, 

 to show the world whether there was any reality 

 in her dreams of power to preserve her liberties 

 through an improved method of education. 



In 1870 France declared war against Germany. 

 Germany did not hesitate for one hour. Full of life 

 and energy, Germany once more grappled with the 

 great power that had invaded her homes sixty years 

 before. The best-educated army the world has ever 

 seen immediately moved toward the proud capital of 

 France. Two hundred miles from Paris the two 

 great armies met. For the French it was utter defeat 

 in every battle. In a short campaign of seven weeks, 

 the Germans had taken 260,000 prisoners of war, and 

 turned the red battlefields into great cemeteries for 

 the dead soldiers of France. Paris itself was soon 

 invested, and France, which had been the terror of 

 all Europe for a century, was completely broken. 



It was to be expected that a method of education 

 originating among German-speaking people, would 

 spread much more rapidly where their language is 

 used than in countries speaking different languages. 



