Europeans in the history of the world

The place of Europe in populating the earth

History of Migratory Movements in Europe

Peopling North America: Population Movements & Migration

European migration across the Atlantic, beginning in the late fifteenth century, was not an anomaly within the European framework. For centuries prior to their arrival in the New World, Europeans had participated in extensive migrations throughout their continent and Asia. They were a mobile people, accustomed to the concepts of movement and migration. In many ways, the initial arrival in the New World by the Europeans and the advent of trans-Atlantic migration served to extend the migratory patterns that were already present in European society.

http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/migrations/F2.html

The place of Europe in populating the Earth

• Introduction– Since Ancient Greece to the mid 18th c.,

European population 40 -140 m (x3.5) vs.World population 230 - 650 m (x2.8)

– From the 19th c.European population increases considerably

great migratory flows of people

I. What was the role of Europe in populating the Earth

from Antiquity to the 19th century?

A. Regular phases of demographic expansion explain the successive migrations

1st Phase

1. The colonization of the Mediterranean basin in Ancient

Greece and Rome

a. Role of the Greeks around the Mediterranean sea (like frogs around a pond) :

transferring of the city elsewhere (e.g. Nice and Agde)

b. Role of the Romans: conquests in the West and East and creation of colonies (e.g; Nimes, Arles, Orange)

2nd Phase

2. End of Ancient World - 1000 A.D. new population movements

shake Europe before it begins expanding again in the

Mediterranean

a. Barbarian invasions lead to the fall of the Roman Empire

b. Advances of Islam, from the 8th c. A.D. hold back Christianity

3rd Phase

3. 11th and 13th centuries: most important European movements occur

when demographic growth reappearsCrusades and Reconquista

Crusades and Reconquista

4th Phase4. 14th Century: Black Plague ravages Europe

between 1348 and 1352 marks a break by dramatically slowing down the fragile growth

25 M dead – 1/3 of the population

5th Phase

5. Great discoveries of the Renaissance to the Colonization of other continents

Discovery of America (15th century) colonies in North America, Asia and Africa

European Colonization: several consequences

1. Setting up of colonies and slave trade2. Building of Empires and civilizations (15th-

19th C) 3. Exploitation of resources4. Imposing languages, religion5. Coherent societies form

progressively detach themselves from the mother country

Pull Factors of the New World

• Video: Opportunity Beckoned

• In the 19th century, the colonization of Africa and Asia has a political aspect and responds to an increased need for land due to the rapid demographic growth since the end of the 18th century.

B. How can we explain this growth?

• For a long period, limited growth (textbook, p. 12/13)

• Traditional democratic regime characterized by a high mortality rate (famine, war, epidemics) and a high birth rate to compensate

Change in 18th century: decrease in mortality rate

• agricultural technology reducing famines

• progress in hygiene and medicine which reduce the number of epidemics

Why did population growth in the world and particularly in Europe increase so rapidly in the 19th century?

• Population Growth

Since the birth rate remains high, demographic growth is high

World Population Growth 1700-1900

Regions (in millions) 1700 1800 1900Asia 436 646 902Europe 125 195 422Africa 106 101 118North America 2 5 90Central and South America

10 19 75

Oceania 3 2 6World Total 682 968 1613

Source: Population et société, n°394, octobre 2003

Key term: malthus = malthusian, malthusianism

Definition:demographic behaviour which aims to limit population growth due to fear of scarcity of resources/wealth to be shared

Malthus (English scholar) observed that sooner or later population will be checked by famine and disease.

That the increase of population is necessarily limited by the means of subsistence, That population does invariably increase when the means of subsistence increase (and vice versa)

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