ABSTRACT
The political systems of Europe before 1914 varied from the completely parliamentary to the almost completely despotic. The educational systems of Eastern Europe, which made great progress from the middle of the nineteenth century, were copied from those of the West. If education stimulated enterprise, economic development also created a demand for educated people. Religious influences were an important factor in the political and social differences within Europe. It is important to distinguish between the decline of religion in Western Europe and the attack by reformers and revolutionaries on religion in the East. Another important factor in the background to European socialism is the problem of nationalities. The combination of these economic, social, political, cultural, religious and national factors determined the nature of the labour movements which grew up throughout Europe at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
