Demography can explain a lot about history. Imperial Rome’s military strength and will to rule declined in tandem with the decrease in its population relative to that of the barbarian hordes. In the 19th century, European colonization was fueled by a rapid rise in population with the advent of the industrial revolution when scientific medicine and public health reduced infant mortality and infectious diseases. These measures cut the death rate, while the birth-rate remained high at its old replacement rate. Population pressure in Europe drove it to colonize most of the world. However, as the industrial revolution gathered steam, living standards rose, urbanization increased and, most important from the perspective of demographers, the birth-rate began to fall precipitously.
In the 20th century, after the European introduction of modern medicine and public health measures to native colonial populations, their numbers rose abruptly just as the Europeans had in the previous century. By the middle of the 20th century, demographics had shifted decidedly in favor of the subject people as the tide of European settlers receded. That explains, to a large degree, the rapid decolonization that occurred at the time.
Algeria was a classic case of this reversal. In the 1830s, the Arab population numbered only about 1.5 million and was in decline. Large waves of French settlers crossed from the northern to the southern Mediterranean, moving into what seemed an open space. Agricultural development grew dramatically, with cultivated land expanding from 2,000 square miles in 1830 to 27,000 by 1954. French healthcare virtually eradicated malaria, typhus, and typhoid, and brought about a striking reduction in infant mortality among non-Europeans. As a result, the Muslim population rose sharply reaching 4.5 million by 1906 and 9 million by 1954. This demographic transformation ultimately contributed to the end of French rule in 1962.
Populations are still growing in many places within the developing world where living standards are slow to catch up. The birth-rate is declining just as it did a century earlier in Europe, but it will take some time to come into balance again with the death rate in those regions. During this period, populations will continue to swell.
In the 21st century, with the birth rate declining below the death rate for native Europeans, its population is shrinking while non-European populations are still growing. This has left a vacuum in Europe that is rapidly being filled by non-Europeans. In essence, they are colonizing Europe. The modern-day movement of migrants from the Indian subcontinent, Middle East, and Africa is aided by modern technology that makes it easier for them to discover the loopholes in European legal systems and exploit them with the assistance of open-border NGOs. Migrants easily penetrate the border defenses of Europe, not that those defenses are very formidable anyway.
In fact, instead of pulling up the drawbridge on fortress Europe, they are inviting migrants in greater numbers. For example, in the UK alone, it is estimated that authorities have allowed a migrant population to settle in the last decade within its borders that is equal to 7% of the total native population. At the current rate of immigration and immigrant reproduction, the UK natives will find themselves to be subjects of this new wave of colonizers within this century. That is how shifting demographics and democratic rule work together to steal a continent.
Image generated by AI.