Book Reviews and Notices : Europe on the Move-War and Population Changes, 1917-47. BY EUGENE M. KULISCHER. (New York: Columbia University Press. 1948. Pp. xiv, 377. $5.00.)

• Published date: 01 September 1948
• DOI: 10.1177/106591294800100350
• Date: 01 September 1948
• Subject Matter: Articles

358

under

the

Japanese

occupation.

The

general

reader

will

regret

that

there

is

no

map

to

guide

him

through

the

maze

of

unfamiliar

place-names.

H.

ARTHUR

STEINER.

University

of

California

at

Los

Angeles

.

Europe

on

the

Move-War

and

Population

Changes,

1917-47.

BY

EUGENE

M.

KULISCHER.

(New

York:

Columbia

University

Press.

1948.

Pp.

xiv,

377.

$5.00.)

This

is

a

story

of

population

movements

in

Europe

with

somewhat

spe-

cial

emphasis

on

Russia.

Assuming

the

accuracy

of

the

voluminous

statis-

tics

used,

the

author

presents

an

astounding

picture

of

millions

of

human

beings

moving

like

ants

over

Europe.

This

description

of

masses

of

people

retreating

before

advancing

armies,

people

being

transplanted

or

deported,

or

dying

by

the

thousands,

makes

the

Voelkerwanderung

in

the

early

Chris-

tian

era

fade

into

insignificance.

The

author

presents

what

amounts

to

a

new

interpretation

of

the

Bolshevik

conquest

of Russia.

He

states:

&dquo; ....

Russia’s

civil

war

was

a

warlike

migration

from

central

Russia,

a

grain

con-

suming

area,

starved

because

of

the

collapse

of

industry,

to

the

food-produc-

ing

area

of

eastern

and

southern

Russia&dquo;

(p.

125).

Regarding

World

War

II

he

says:

&dquo;The

demographic

factor

largely

determined

the

course

of

the

war.

Its

influence

was

outstanding

both

in

the

French

capitulation

and

in

the

German

defeat.

The

victory

won

by

the

growing

populations

was

fol-

lowed

by

a

reallotment

of

Europe’s

soil

in

the

interests

of

these

populations&dquo;

(p.

306).

The

reviewer,

while

immensely

impressed

with

the

story

told,

feels

that

some

of

the

conclusions

presented

are

opinions

held,

rather

than

facts

proved.

For

example,

the

statement:

&dquo;England’s

urban

growth

was

consistently

checked

by

overseas

migration&dquo;

(p.

157 ) ;

and

in

Germany &dquo; ...

overseas

emigration

was

at

a

complete

standstill

by

the

end

of

the

19th

cen-

tury,

...

in

a

period

of

rapid population

growth,

the

export

of

goods

was

substituted

for

the

export

of

men.

When

the

limits

of

market

expansion

had

been

reached,

an

effort

was

made

to

extend

Germany’s

economic

founda-

tions

by

violence,

and

Europe

was

hurled

into

a

gigantic

war&dquo;

(p.

157-158).

The

author

fails

to

implement

this

interpretation

of

the

causes

of

World

War

I

in

any

way.

He

may

be

right

in

asserting

that

the

German

popula-

tion

will

once

more

assume

alarming

proportions

in

the

near

future,

but

this

opinion

is

certainly

contradictory

to

Gustav

Stopler’s

recent

and

very

able

article

on

the

same

subject

in

Fortune,

May,

1948.

However,

these

minor

criticisms

should

in

no

way

detract

from

a

very

excellent

piece

of

work

which

will

add

much

to

our

understanding

of

the

postwar

world.

The

statement:

&dquo;If

the

victors

in

the

second

World

War

had

elaborated

a

plan

of

restoring

Germany

so

as

to

imperil

the

preservation

of

peace,

their

activities

could

not

have

been

more

unlucky

than

they

have been

in

fact&dquo;

(p.

316),

seems

most

apt

just

now.

O.

H.

WEDEL.

University

of

Arizona.