The Twentieth Century Movement of People
Chapter 30 Notes
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE
Significant numbers of people moved – willingly or not – in and out of various parts of Europe in the 20th century. Europeans moved from the country to the city; the Nazis and the Soviets displaced millions of people, re-settling some and killing others; post-war border changes and policies pushed and pulled local minorities and entire nations around the map of Europe.
Millions of Europeans emigrated, while European colonials returned "home" from overseas. Non-European peoples also flocked to the former colonial powers, looking for work and educational opportunities. This post-colonial population influx included many Muslims; Muslims, like others, were also drawn to the economic opportunities Europe offered.
Europe's immigrant Muslim communities are often segregated or poorly assimilated, and in many cases discriminated against. The European birth rate has dropped below replacement levels, which will undoubtedly have profound consequences in coming decades.
THE WELFARE STATE
After World War II, many Europeans saw social welfare insurance as a political right. Britain's Beveridge most clearly laid out the principle that medical care, old-age pensions, and other benefits were a right to be shared equally, not a tool for wealth distribution; this made such schemes palatable across the political spectrum. Attlee's Labour Party ministry introduced universal health care in Britain in 1945, and welfare legislation spread across Western Europe. Through the postwar reconstruction period and the quarter-century of slow and steady growth that followed – until the inflationary late-1970s – many Europeans endorsed a Keynesian economic model, in which government was deeply involved in a mixed economy.
Since then, there has been greater confidence in free markets, and some social welfare programs have been scaled back. Demographic changes in Europe will pose further challenges to Europe's existing social
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE
Significant numbers of people moved – willingly or not – in and out of various parts of Europe in the 20th century. Europeans moved from the country to the city; the Nazis and the Soviets displaced millions of people, re-settling some and killing others; post-war border changes and policies pushed and pulled local minorities and entire nations around the map of Europe.
Millions of Europeans emigrated, while European colonials returned "home" from overseas. Non-European peoples also flocked to the former colonial powers, looking for work and educational opportunities. This post-colonial population influx included many Muslims; Muslims, like others, were also drawn to the economic opportunities Europe offered.
Europe's immigrant Muslim communities are often segregated or poorly assimilated, and in many cases discriminated against. The European birth rate has dropped below replacement levels, which will undoubtedly have profound consequences in coming decades.
THE WELFARE STATE
After World War II, many Europeans saw social welfare insurance as a political right. Britain's Beveridge most clearly laid out the principle that medical care, old-age pensions, and other benefits were a right to be shared equally, not a tool for wealth distribution; this made such schemes palatable across the political spectrum. Attlee's Labour Party ministry introduced universal health care in Britain in 1945, and welfare legislation spread across Western Europe. Through the postwar reconstruction period and the quarter-century of slow and steady growth that followed – until the inflationary late-1970s – many Europeans endorsed a Keynesian economic model, in which government was deeply involved in a mixed economy.
Since then, there has been greater confidence in free markets, and some social welfare programs have been scaled back. Demographic changes in Europe will pose further challenges to Europe's existing social