Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/689

 The German Empire and the Third French Republic 529 Church control, liberty of the press, and other ideas which seemed to be undermining the authority of the Church. A public-school system was established in which clergymen were forbidden to teach, and the private schools, which had been mainly run by religious orders, were placed under strict government inspection. As the monastic orders opposed the carrying out of this and similar laws, which they regarded as persecution, parliament finally closed their schools and forced the religious orders to dis- band. As a result many monks and nuns left France. 946. Separation of Church and State. The next step was more far-reaching. By the treaty, or "Concordat," of 1801 between Napoleon and the Pope the bishops were appointed by the gov- ernment, and the salaries of all the clergy were paid by the State, 1 much as had been the case in the old regime. The clergy, therefore, naturally a very influential class because of their religious duties, were in a sense government officials as well as clergymen. Many of the Republicans had ceased to believe in what the Church taught, and finally a law was passed in 1905 to separate Church and State in France. The government stopped the state contributions to the clergy, but placed the churches and their furniture at the disposal of the priests. On the other hand, in order to punish the clergy for refusing to accept the new arrange- ment, palaces of bishops and theological seminaries were turned into schools and hospitals. The Catholic Church in France is now dependent, as are all churches in America, upon the voluntary contributions of those who are interested in supporting them. 947. Progress during the Third Republic. France under the Third Republic steadily advanced in wealth, the French people being noted for their thrift and economy. The savings of French peasants enabled the great banks to lend money to other nations, particularly Russia, so that Paris came to rival London and New York as a money center of the world. France has been some- what slow in adopting governmental measures for improving the 1 Although the Catholic religion was recognized as that of the majority of Frenchmen, the State also recognized the Reformed (Calvinists) and Lutheran churches and the Jewish religious community.