Slovenes evolved in the 19th century (in about a hundred years) from poor or in the vast majority illiterate people in one of the most literate nations in the Habsburg Monarchy, which was indisputably the merit of the Austrian primary educational system. Although the Austrian school system has for almost the whole century and in most Austrian provinces with Slavic populationaimed for a Germanization (or Italianisation and Magyarisation), it was by comparison with the French or the British much more socially, culturally and (with an increasing consideration of "provincial" languages) also nationally open. It decisively contributed to the modern social, cultural and national formation of all the Habsburg Nations, especially the nations that have not yet had nationally defined elites and have only with the modern-minded intellectuals gained active holders and creators of national consciousness and politics. The percentage of high school and university-educated citizenry was in the countries of the Slovenian population, as repeatedly pointed Vasilij Melik, due to lower social structures of less developed secondary education and the fact that on Slovenian with the exception of theological seminars there were no high schools until the fall of the monarchy rather lower than for Germans, Poles and guilds. But since the forties of the 19th century also with training in higher schools rapidly growing number of Slovenian intellectuals, who in the second half of the 19th century become messengers Slovenian national requirements, expansion and growth of literacy of the population are to foster knowledge "National (book) language "reading culture and the creation of national feelings of belonging.