沈阳师范大学 主讲人：历娜 欧洲历史与文明

第十一章：欧洲文明 European Civilization, : Economy and Politics

第二节 基本的人口统计： 欧洲人口的增长 Basic Demography: The Increase of the Europeans

Overview 1. European and World Population Growth since Stabilization of European Population 3. Growth of Cities and Urban Life 4. Migration from Europe, Summarization 6. Questions to ponder 7. Key points

1. European and World Population Growth since 1650 All continents except Africa gained enormously in population in the three centuries following 1650, but it was Europe that grew the most. The proportion of Europeans in the world’s total, including those of European origin in other continents, reached its maximum for all time between 1850 and the World War II.

Causes of Demographic Growth a. Possible causes of the rise in population 1. ended the civil war; 2. stopped the chronic violence and marauding; 3. protected agriculture and family life. examples: 1. Japan: Tokugawa ( 德川 ) kept peace; 2. China: Qing dynasty brought an order; 3. India: under British rule; 4. Java: under Dutch.

b. Africa was an exception of the swelling rise of population. 1. slave trade removed over 10 million people in three or four centuries; 2. slave raiding led to the disruption of African cultures.

Improved Living Conditions a. Some other causes of growth were at work in Europe. 1. liberation from endemic afflictions; bubonic plague ( 黑死病 ) in 17 th century smallpox （天花） in 18 th century 2. Improvement of agriculture; 3. Improvement of transportation; 4. Industrial Revolution （工业革命）.

b. Between 1650 and 1900: 1. Asian population increased less than threefold; 2. European population increased fourfold, or fivefold if count in the descendants of those who migrated to other continents. c. The ascendancy of European civilization in the two and a half centuries after 1650 was due in some measure to demographic growth.

2. Stabilization of European Population The stabilization and relative decline of the European population followed from a fall in the birth rate. The reduced birth rate is not a mere dry statistical item, nor does it affect populations merely in the mass. Low birth rate reflects the small family system. Families used contraception to hold down the birth rate or to limit the family.

A European Family Pattern Late married or never married. Shortened the number of years a woman bore children. Enable young people to acquire skills or accumulate savings before setting up new families. Less explosive population growth, less-extreme poverty.

A European family

Life in the City Standards of life for the working classes often collapsed. reason 1: the proliferation of offspring; reason 2: crowded conditions of housing; reason 3: decline of child labor; reason 4: the desire to lighten the burdens upon mothers.

The effects of the small family system upon total population became manifest only slowly, but in all the leading counties total numbers continued to rise, except in France. Between 1800 and 1950, Europeans grew into 700 million around the globe. Since productivity increased even more rapidly, the standard of living for most of the Europeans rose in spite of the increase of numbers, and there was no general problem of overpopulation.

3. Growth of Cities and Urban Life Some people stayed in the rural areas. Rural populations in the inner zone became more dense, turning to the more intensive agriculture of truck gardening or dairy farming, leaving products like wool and cereal grains to be raised elsewhere and then imported. With the development of railroads, it became possible to concentrate on manufacturing in large towns, and foods and fuel could be moved in great volume. The growth of cities between 1850 and 1914 was phenomenal.

The great city set the tone of modern society. 1. City life was impersonal and anonymous; 2. People were uprooted, less tied to home or church than in the country; 3. People lacked the country person’s feeling of deference for aristocratic families; 4. People lacked the sense of self-help characteristic of older rural communities; 5. Newspaper spread rapidly in the wake of telegraph; 6. The so-called yellow or sensational press appeared; 7. Articulate public opinion formed; 8. City people were disrespectful of tradition, receptive to new ideas. Impact of Urban Life

Some of the more blatant nationalism that arose after 1870 was also stimulated by city life, for people felt increasingly detached from all institutions except the state. At the same time city life, by its greater facilities for schooling, reading, and discussion, made for a more alert and informed public opinion of an enlightened kind.

4. Migration from Europe, a. The Atlantic Migration 1. During the same period in which cities were growing, almost 60 million people left Europe and crossed the ocean; 2. The Atlantic Migration towers above all other European migrations in magnitude, and possibly also in significance; 3. It was by this means that earlier colonial offshoots of Europe were transformed into new societies; b. Since WWII, there have been large migrations into Europe from Africa, the middle East, and Asia, and into the Americas from places outside Europe; c. In the century before 1940 the migration of European people was a key force in the dissemination of European institutions and cultures.

Causes of the Exodus The exodus from Europe was due to a remarkable and temporary juxtaposition of causes. One fundamental cause or precondition was that before 1914 the new countries welcomed immigration, such as in Australia and New Zealand. One result was that no inrush of outsiders to compete for jobs at low wages was desired. In 1921 and 1924, US set laws to restrict immigration.

In Europe there were many conditions propelling emigrants outward. Physically: Steamship and railroad made it easier and cheaper to emigrate; Economically: 1. People in the mass could for the first time afford a long journey; 2. Plentiful jobs and highest wages; 3. Flight from economic ruin or starvation.

Freedom of Movement The underlying liberalism of the age might be the most basic reason of European exodus. The disappearance of serfdom allowed the peasants of eastern Europe to change residences without obtaining a lord’s permission. Governments permitted their subjects to emigrate, to take with them their money; The rise of liberty in Europe made possible the great emigration. For so huge a mass movement the most remarkable fact is that it took place by private initiative and at private expense.

5. Summarization All continents except Africa gained enormously in population in the three centuries following 1650, but it was Europe that grew the most. Low birth rate reflects the small family system. The growth of cities between 1850 and 1914 was phenomenal. In the century before 1940 the migration of European people was a key force in the dissemination of European institutions and cultures.

6. Questions to ponder 1. How did the localized famine become a thing of the past? 2. Why did European birth rates begin to fall about 1880? 3. What was the European family pattern? 4. How has urban life shaped the character of modern society? 5. What caused the migration from Europe that took place in the century after 1840?

7. Key Points 1.The major trends in world population growth since 1650 in Europe and in the world as a whole. 2.The development of improved living conditions in England. 3.The growth of city life between 1850 and 1914.