Civilization / Foundations of Civilization

Compulsory Schooling & Literacy

Compulsory schooling (Prussia 1763) makes reading and arithmetic mass knowledge; global literacy rises from ~12% (c. 1820) to 88% (2024).

The state obliges all children to attend school: first in individual German territories (Weimar 1619, Gotha 1642), in Prussia through the 1763 General School Regulation. In the 19th century most industrial states followed. Literacy is a precondition for industry, democracy and science; around 1820 only about 12% of adults worldwide could read (estimate).