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In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the number of people who could read and write was small. They lived in towns, at royal courts and amongst the clergy. At the same time, few new texts were produced. The Reformation and the invention of the printing press provided the impetus for literacy in Europe. The French Revolution at the end of the 18th century provided a further impetus. But it was not until industrialisation and urbanisation after 1860 that the breakthrough came. Poverty, the suppression of indigenous cultures and colonialism meant that literacy rates varied greatly on other continents.