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Excerpt from The Geography of Europe: A Presentation of Some Aspects of European Geography for the Use of Members of the Students Army Training Corps
Only a part of Europe possesses this wonderful power of in¿uencing and leading the rest of the world. This part is western Europe from Italy and Austria northwestward. England possesses the power of leadership to a superlative degree. France and Germany, together with the small countries adjacent to them, also possess it strongly. Austria, Italy, and Scandinavia come next in in¿uence upon the move ment of world affairs. Spain takes a lower rank today, although a few centuries ago its in¿uence was greater than that of almost any other country. Russia, although located in eastern Europe, has some of the western power of leadership. Yet it wholly fails to stand on a par with the other great countries, such as England, France, and Germany. Its presence in Asia, for example, has changed the habits and thoughts of the native inhabitants far less than has the presence of England in India. Moreover, its in¿uence upon the activities of the other great powers is by no means equal to that of any one of the three great powers farther west. Thus we may say that only the western half of Europe today takes a leading part in the great movements which cause the words Europe and civilization to be almost inseparable.
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