The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 59, December 23, 1897 / A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

Vol. 1 December 23, 1897. No. 59
Copyright, 1897, by The Great Round World Publishing Company.
The troubles in Austria have not been brought to a close by the downfall of Count Badeni and the appointment of Baron von Gautsch.
Count Badeni was, as you will remember, particularly obnoxious to the German element in Austria, and many people thought that his dismissal would restore harmony. Instead, it has given rise to some very serious rioting in Bohemia.
We explained to you in a former number that Austro-Hungary is composed of a number of states and provinces.
The leading races in this much-disturbed country are the Germans, the Slavs, and the Magyars.
The Germans number about ten and a half millions; the Slavs, who comprise about nine distinct races, about twenty millions; and the Magyars about seven and a half millions.
The most important of the Slavs are the Czechs, or Bohemians, who number about five and a half of the total twenty millions.
While, as you can readily see, the Slavonic races considerably outnumber the Germans and the Magyars, the government is vested in these two latter races, and therefore the Slavs are forced to obey the will of the governing people. They do so, as we have seen, with a very bad grace.
Between the Magyars and the Germans there is no great friendliness, but the Hungarians have their own parliament, and are independent in many things. Between the Austrians and the Czechs there is an intense and undying antipathy, which it seems impossible to overcome.
The Bohemians would like to be as independent as the Hungarians, but their desires are not heeded, and they are forced to submit to the government of the Austrian Reichsrath or parliament.