> The great leap forward didn't come during the renaissance as many people imagine but as late as the 19th. The 20th for communist countries. Actually it is mo

> The great leap forward didn't come during the renaissance as many people imagine but as late as the 19th. The 20th for communist countries. Actually it is more like 18th century in Austria-Hungary where compulsory school attendance (6 years long - just read, write, count) was established in 1774 School Reform under Empress Maria Theresa and the elementary school as I know it was established by The Imperial Elementary School Act (Reichsvolksschulgesetz) of 1869 standardized compulsory schooling as a whole and increased compulsory schooling from six to eight years. Which is very nice history lesson, but does not answer the question of "why did European rulers even bothered with compulsory education at all".