7.2 Migration

Why Europeans Left

In the 19th century, millions of Europeans emigrated due to population growth, land shortages, and the disruptions of industrialization, which displaced rural artisans and peasants. Famine (like the Irish Potato Famine), religious persecution (especially against Jews in Eastern Europe), and lack of economic opportunity pushed people abroad, mainly to the Americas, but also to Australia and colonial territories.

Internal Migration & Urbanization

Industrialization drove massive rural-to-urban migration within Europe as people sought factory jobs in growing cities like Manchester and Berlin. This urbanization strained housing, sanitation, and infrastructure, creating overcrowded slums, but also fueled the growth of an urban working class and new social reform movements.

Consequences of Migration

Migration reshaped European society and the wider world: it eased overpopulation pressures, spread European culture and labor abroad, and created diaspora communities. It also sparked nativism and anti-immigrant sentiment in receiving countries, while emigrant remittances and returnees brought new ideas and wealth back to Europe.

Key terms

Push factors for emigration

Population growth, land shortages, famine, religious persecution, and lack of economic opportunity.

Irish Potato Famine

A famine in the 1840s caused by potato crop failure that led to mass starvation and Irish emigration, mainly to the U.S.

Urbanization

The growth of cities as people moved from rural areas to work in factories during industrialization.

Nativism

Anti-immigrant sentiment and policies favoring native-born citizens over newcomers.

Diaspora

A dispersed population living outside their original homeland, often maintaining cultural ties to it.

Try an AP-style question

Many Europeans emigrated in the 1800s mainly to…

1. the Middle East
2. China and Japan
3. the Americas and Australia
4. Africa and Antarctica