Ahmadiyyat or Qadianism! Islam or Apostasy? — Page 230
have been possible without the new acquired wealth of the nations at that point in time. Speaking of the excellent tax returns in the year 1865, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, called it: 'an intoxicating augmentation of wealth and power. "6. And why should the Chancellor of the Exchequer not have spoken in these terms when statistics indicate that the wealth of the Imperial. British Government rose from £6,000 million in 1865 to £11,000 million in 1895 and £14,000 million in 1910. 7. Across the channel, French capital increased from 2 billion to 3 billion francs between 1872 and 1913 and Germany increased its export trade threefold between 1878 and 1912. 8. A short glance over the state of affairs in other European countries shows that Italy experienced a similar economic prosperity, Sweden began to possess more shipping tonnage than its gigantic neighbour. Russia; Russia itself became a land of prosperous estates, Holland became rich in her colonial empire and so did Belguim. ⁹. During this period of prosperity and affluence, British industry began to pay 50% more taxes and Prussia, where development had been slow, entered its first phase of industrial expansion and, before long, it rivalled. England as its industrial output increased by 600%. 10. Education which had previously been an exclusive privilege of a relatively small section of society became compulsory in many countries. . Sweden introduced compulsory education in 1870 and by the early 80's, France followed suit. In Britain, education became compulsory in 1891 and Holland introduced compulsory education in 1900. Even. Spain followed the example of most European countries in 1909. ¹¹ 1. This however is the tip of the iceberg. Suffice it to say that if the adversaries of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community were to acquaint themselves with the history of that era, they may yet find that as 5. Ibid 6. Ibid 7. Ibid 8. Ibid 9. Ibid 10. Ibid 11. Ibid 231