Europe

Historical Perspective

The history of Europe is one of migration and settlement. The first inhabitants came to Europe from Africa thousands of years ago, and intergroup struggles have characterized the continents. For example, invading migratory movements of groups (e.g., Germans, Celts) relocated between 800 BC and 400 BC, and new Steppe-tribes moved in from Asia. The Greek colonization (2000 BC to 400 BC) led to emigration to Italy, Sicily, and the Balkans. The Roman expansion (400 BC to 500 AD) caused population shifts throughout Europe, Northern Africa, and the Near East.

The period of transition from Late Antiquity to Early Middle Ages (ca 300–700 AD, or according to other historians, 400 AD-1000 AD) is known as the period of great migrations, characterized by invasions and movements of tribes from within and without the continent, leading to the building of Europe. Most tribes finally settled, becoming roots of the future European states. Migratory movements, both temporary and [Page 475]permanent, continued during the Crusades period (1000–1500) and the Viking expeditions (700–1000). Another period of migration (1450–1750) was related to the religious wars in Europe, and from 1650 to 1900, the industrial revolution set off migratory movements from rural to urban areas.

From 1500 to 1950, European nations were involved in successive colonization of overseas territories (North and South America, Asia, Africa), leading to both emigration and immigration. After 1750, improved living conditions and technical development resulted in a demographic revolution, while political revolutions brought about liberal trends and changes leading to the consolidation of modern nation-states. This complex process increased social and ethnic tensions between minorities and majorities, beyond the application of the principle of self-determination and increasing cultural imperialism of dominant powers.

Profound social changes and nationalist-political tensions led to World War I and the break-up of empires (Ottoman, Austria-Hungary, and the Tsarist Empire, which became the first socialist experiment, the USSR), whereas the extensive British Empire still survives, though not completely unaffected. The period between the world wars was extremely volatile, troubled by both internal conflict and external threats throughout Europe, but economic crisis, stagnation, and unemployment increased tensions and ethnosocial animosities.

A major reaction involved imposing strict border controls and immigration laws, which replaced the earlier, virtually free possibilities of circulation between countries. This did not necessarily impede refugees from seeking asylum in safer areas—for example, the Jews trying to flee the Holocaust or leaving occupied Finland for safer relocation in neutral Sweden. The end of World War II brought about new migration patterns, with an intense immigration to help reconstruct Western Europe from 1945 to 1973, involving people from the European periphery, returnees from former colonies to former colonial powers, intra-European refugees, and asylum-seekers from Asia and the Middle East.

In 1951, the Convention for Refugees was adopted. The creation of the state of Israel started an emigration of ethnic Jews from Europe. The 1973 oil crisis also created major structural changes. Labor immigration virtually ceased, but family reunions and asylum-seekers increased. The immigrant population consolidated, despite socioeconomic exclusion and xenophobic manifestations. New waves of refugees followed events in South America and other places.

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