Chapter 13, Further Conclusions Summary and Analysis

The one nation Walter Benjamin mentions the most, other than France and Germany is actually Britain. Russia is also mentioned, as is Switzerland. In the case of the latter two, they are treated as important but not as the center. The British, especially the English are viewed as yet another major thread in the conditions of Europe on the whole during the 19th century. During the chapter entitled "r" [Ecole Polytechnique] the author refers, yet again obliquely, to the changes made to the educational system in Europe. While for the higher classes, education has been at times a token of class prestige and privilege but has also paved the way for the progress of humanity in all the realms of the mind. Here, with the rise of industry and the crafts, educational institutions made new methods for...