Absolutism and the Eighteenth-Century Origins of Compulsory Schooling in Prussia and Austria

by James Van Horn Melton

Book Overview

Compulsory schooling is widely held to be a creation of modern industrial society. Yet already in the eighteenth century, Prussian and Austrian rulers attempted to introduce universal education in societies that were overwhelmingly rural and 'premodern'. Focusing on the reigns of Frederick the Great of Prussia (1740-86) and Maria Theresa of Austria (1740-80), this 1988 book examines the origins, aims, and achievements of the compulsory school movements...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521346681
• ISBN13: 9780521346689
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.0"