Population Growth in Earlymodern Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Population Growth in Earlymodern Europe - Essay Example "Migration to urban centres was a long-term trend over the century; it was also a short-term trend during periods of famine, and it resulted in a disproportionate growth in the numbers of the urban poor," Bonny (1991, p.273). Another obvious cause was the tight-knitted family of those days which gave enough security, care, medical included, and the right atmosphere for the children to survive. "Family was at the foundation of private life. In western Europe, the nuclear family was most common. In eastern Europe, the nuclear family was also prevalent, although extended households were more common than in the west. Kinship ties bound the family to other groups within rural communities" http://wps.ablongman.com/long_kishlansky_cw_6/0,10852,2350097-,00.html Even though here the discussion is between mortality rate and fertility, there were many other contributing factors to the population. Change in land-labour ratio and hence, in real wages and land rents, affected the economy and the population growth levels. Differences in marriage patterns, modernization of rural societies, loss of communal and private properties, alternation in the social hierarchies, empire building and travels to distant lands resulting in high economic development, scientific discoveries and advancement in medical science, were all such contributors to the population. Representative government, literacy, technology, development are all might not be major factors; still they contributed. It is important to know that population could work in two ways. "Population can function in two ways to explain social and economic change in early Modern Europe. First, changes in the land-labour ratio can explain changes in real... Early modern period is approximately from 1500 to 1750 that includes rise of colonies, agrarian revolution, industrial revolution, initiation of transportation, communications and mobility, and reformation. This was a period of transition and even the people who did not migrate, eventually did well.This was the time when there was a booming increase in the population of Europe. The increase was proportionately larger compared to the increase in the rest of the world and one particular cause of this sudden demographic expansion is difficult to pinpoint. According to Musgrave, countries like Italy, Spain and Southern France developed higher strata of political, economic and social existence, which eventually ensured a much higher standard of living, even better than that could have been offered by the industrial revolution. This development eventually established â€Å"Europe’s place in the world.† In spite of the disastrous Thirty Years' War, this period, comparatively e njoyed a better peace and the earlier crisis-ridden days were forgotten fast enough to give place to a period of growth, arts, creativity and intellectuality. "Although some areas took as much as a generation to recover pre-crisis levels, many managed to do so with surprising speed. Fertility rates have improved with better standard of living and relaxed way of life. It is necessary to conclude that there were many factors that led to an unprecedented population growth during this period.