The rule of the feudal system, that each man owed a certain amount of military service to his ruler has lasted to the present day and is responsible for much of the misery that now exists. Kings went to war with each other simply to increase their territories. The more land a king had under his control, the more people who owed him taxes, and the greater number he could get into his army, the greater became his ambition to spread his kingdom still farther. Questions for Review How was it that the king of a tribe could claim to own all the land in the country which he had invaded? Did the kings, lords, and fighting men contribute anything to the welfare of the working classes? Would the peasants have been better off if all the fighting men, lords, dukes, kings, etc., had suddenly been killed? Can you see why in some countries in Europe a man who earns his living is looked down upon by the nobles? What is meant by saying that the feudal system turns society upside down? Why did the farmers continue to feed the fighting men? Explain how the use of gunpowder in warfare helped to break up the feudal system. How did the rise of cities also help to do away with the feudal system? Chapter V. A Babel of Tongues The great family of languages.—Few languages in Europe not belonging to the family.—The dying Celtic languages.—The three branches of the Germanic family.—The influence of the Latin tongue on the south of Europe.—The many Slavic peoples.—The map as divided by kings without regard to peoples and languages.—The strange mixture in Austria-Hungary.—The southeast of Europe.—The Greeks and Dacians.—The Roman colonists.—The Slavs.—The Volgars.—The Skipetars.—A hopeless mixture. In Chapter II it was pointed out that almost all the peoples of Europe were related, in one big family of tribes. It is likely that the forefathers of the Celts, the Latins, the Germans, the Greeks, and the Slavs belonged to one big tribe which had its home back in the highlands of Central Asia. As a general rule, the relationship of peoples to each other can be told by the languages which they speak. If two tribes are related because their forefathers once belonged to the same tribe, it is almost certain that they will show this relationship in their languages.