The Social and Economic Structure of Contemporary Europe597The Population of Twentieth-
Century Europe
At the beginning of the modern era in the early eigh-
teenth century, Europe had an estimated population of
slightly more than 100 million persons. By the late
twentieth century, Europe numbered more than 500
million inhabitants—approximately twice the popula-
tion of the United States. Most of that population
growth came during the population explosion that be-
gan in the mid-eighteenth century and continued dur-
ing the nineteenth century. In 1900 the population of
Europe stood at 423 million, meaning that three-
fourths of Europe’s modern growth had occurred before
the twentieth century (see table 30.1). In the late twen-
tieth century, the rate of growth began to drop sharply,
although the full impact of that trend will not be seen
until the early twenty-first century (because demo-
graphic totals are often seen a generation after the
start of a trend).
The population history of the major states of Eu-
rope underscores modern political history. In 1700
France possessed a great demographic advantage over
all of its rivals in western and central Europe; France
was nearly 50 percent larger than all German states
added together and three times as populous as Great
Britain. By the start of the twentieth century, France
had less than three-fourths of the population of unified
Germany and approximately the same population as
Britain. The population explosion had quadrupled Ger-
many and quintupled Britain while not quite doubling
the population of France. The reunified Germany of
1990 remains the largest state in the European Union
(EU) with a population of eighty-one million; Britain,
France, and Italy each number approximately fifty-eight
million, slightly more than 70 percent of the size of
Germany. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, birthrates
in Europe fell precipitously—which demographers are
calling a “baby bust”—meaning that these relationships
will be changed in the early twenty-first century. The
birthrate in Germany dropped below a level that would
sustain the same population total (demographers use a
rate of 2.1 children per woman), so Germany is ex-
pected to be smaller in 2025 than in 2000, whereas
France will grow slightly. Such trends raise complex
questions about the balance of power within Europe
and the continued preeminence of Europe as a center of
world power. (Will smaller populations be an advantage
or a disadvantage?)
The European population explosion of the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries shaped the important
trend of urbanization. During the eighteenth century,
Europe had been a rural society, with the vast majority
of the population living on farms and in small villages.
By 1850 Britain had become the first country in history
to have the majority of its population living in cities.
Although much of Europe still remained rural in 1900,
nineteenth-century Europe had become an urban civi-
lization. Population migration from agricultural com-
munities had made London and Paris the largest cities
on Earth, and it had created dozens of large cities from
small towns (see illustration 30.1).Estimated Census Census
population population population
in 1700 c. 1900 c. 1990
Country (in millions) (in millions) (in millions)
France 19.3 38.5 57.7
Germany 13.5 56. 481.1
Italy 13.0 32.5 57.8
Spain 7.5 18.6 39.1
Britain 6. 437.0 58.0
Russia 16.0 126. 41 49.0Europe 110 423 501TABLE 30.1The Growth of European Population, 1700–1990