The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

The Great Round World and
What Is Going On
by Various

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Title: 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
Author: Various
Editor: Julia Truitt Bishop
Release Date: August 9, 2005 [EBook #16498]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: THE GREAT ROUND WORLD AND WHAT IS GOING
ON IN IT.]
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.
In this assembly, however, they can show their true sentiments, and the
friction between the rival races is extraordinary. If the Bohemians want
any special laws made, the Germans oppose them. If the Germans try to
get a measure through the parliament that is for their benefit alone, the
Czechs combine to defeat it.
When, therefore, the German party succeeded in ousting Count Badeni,
the Czechs were furious.
The German Austrians foolishly celebrated their victory with bonfires
and illuminations, making a fête of the success which was so hateful to
the Czechs.
The angry Bohemians sought revenge in riot.
In Prague, the capital of Bohemia, there were fierce anti-German
risings.
The houses of the Germans were bombarded with stones, the German
theatre and German restaurants were attacked and damaged, and the
German Quarter, or portion of the city where most of the Germans live,
was visited by an angry mob which plundered the houses and shops.
All persons speaking the German language were subject to attack, and
for this reason the unfortunate and harmless Jews came in for their
share of the popular hatred. The majority of them do not speak Czech,
and many of the signs over their shops are in the hated German
language. Many of them were therefore robbed, beaten, and cruelly
ill-treated.

The riots grew so serious that they almost amounted to a rebellion.
Thousands of Czechs streamed into Prague to assist the rioters. The
streets were filled with furious men, who attacked and beat any person
using words of German. The very women on their way to market were
not safe. They were obliged to wear the Bohemian national colors to
save themselves from attack.
One poor old woman was severely beaten because she could not speak
Czech. About three hundred Germans were taken to the hospitals,
suffering from wounds they had received.
The disturbances having assumed such a serious character, the troops
were ordered out to restore order.
They were greeted with showers of stones, broken glass, or any missile
that came handy. The soldiers were finally obliged to fire on