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I am intrigued at population and it's impact on global events - particularly if we accept the idea that all things considered equal population is the most valuable resource of a country. From that pool countries draw their economic, military, scientific talent.
Today we often associate high populations with the global south and draw correlation with poverty and under development. We also often marvel at the how small Western countries took over huge swathes of the globe. This is without a doubt a remarkable achievement by such tiny countries as Britain but we often make a mistake. During the colonial period Europes population exploded and relative to rest of the worl was massive.
The Native Americans literally were outbred by Europeans who swamped North, Central, South America with their excess babies. People of British origin along with Germans, Latvians, Poles, Russians, Swedes, Spanish, French etc swarmed the Americas. Today there are more people of British and Irish origin living across the continents then are found in their native lands.
As a interesting referance in 1849 the British took over region coterminous to Pakistan. Using today as frame of referance this seems remarkable given Pakistan is significantly more populaous then Britain. But in 1849 Britains population was about 27 million. There are no exact figures for coterminous Pakistan from 1849 but using crude calculations the figure might have been as low as 8 million to possibly 10 million and even this was disjointed and spread out over huge geography. When these figures are taken into account things don't look as remarkable. Throw in superior weapons and political unity defeating large parts of the global south which was heavily fractured was not entirely unexpectd.
I read in source I can't now find that Latvian and Swedish females were bearing on average 8 to 9 kids back in 1880s. Today that number is below replacement levels. List below is interesting.
My point is the massive population explosion in Europe in 1800s drove the major events of that century and would go on to shape the modern world. Even the world wars that followed this period were the collision of the massive forces released by the tidal wave of populations and contest for resources.
Today we often associate high populations with the global south and draw correlation with poverty and under development. We also often marvel at the how small Western countries took over huge swathes of the globe. This is without a doubt a remarkable achievement by such tiny countries as Britain but we often make a mistake. During the colonial period Europes population exploded and relative to rest of the worl was massive.
The Native Americans literally were outbred by Europeans who swamped North, Central, South America with their excess babies. People of British origin along with Germans, Latvians, Poles, Russians, Swedes, Spanish, French etc swarmed the Americas. Today there are more people of British and Irish origin living across the continents then are found in their native lands.
As a interesting referance in 1849 the British took over region coterminous to Pakistan. Using today as frame of referance this seems remarkable given Pakistan is significantly more populaous then Britain. But in 1849 Britains population was about 27 million. There are no exact figures for coterminous Pakistan from 1849 but using crude calculations the figure might have been as low as 8 million to possibly 10 million and even this was disjointed and spread out over huge geography. When these figures are taken into account things don't look as remarkable. Throw in superior weapons and political unity defeating large parts of the global south which was heavily fractured was not entirely unexpectd.
I read in source I can't now find that Latvian and Swedish females were bearing on average 8 to 9 kids back in 1880s. Today that number is below replacement levels. List below is interesting.
in the 19th Century
(in millions)
(in millions)
| Austria | Britain | France | Germany | Italy | Russia |
1800 | | (10.5) | 27.3 | | 17.2 | 35.5 |
1810 | | (12.0) | | | | 40.7 |
1820 | 21.7 | 20.9 | 30.5 | 22.4 | 19.7 | 48.6 |
1830 | | 24.1 | 32.6 | 26.6 | 21.2 | 56.1 |
1840 | 29.5 | 26.7 | 34.2 | 30.4 | 22.9 | 62.4 |
1850 | 30.7 | 27.4 | 35.8 | 33.4 | 24.4 | 68.5 |
1860 | 32.6 | 28.9 | 37.4 | 35.6 | 25.0 | 74.1 |
1870 | 35.7 | 31.5 | 36.1 | 41.1 | 26.8 | 84.5 |
1880 | 37.9 | 34.9 | 37.4 | 45.2 | 28.5 | 97.7 |
1890 | 41.3 | 37.7 | 38.1 | 49.4 | | 117.8 |
1900 | 45.2 | 41.5 | 38.5 | 56.4 | 32.5 | 132.9 |
1910 | 49.5 | 45.2 | 39.2 | 64.9 | 34.7 | 160.7 |
My point is the massive population explosion in Europe in 1800s drove the major events of that century and would go on to shape the modern world. Even the world wars that followed this period were the collision of the massive forces released by the tidal wave of populations and contest for resources.
