European Migration Series
© Julie Goucher, August 2022

This post is part of a series about European Migration. You can read the complete series HERE.

Until the middle of the 19th Century migration from the Nordic region was reasonably small. I have divided the topic into what I have called “Push Factors” and “Pull Factors”. Some of those elements will replicate across other European countries, and that might be variable across different time periods.

The image below is taken from my notebook where I focused on specifics for this series.

If you look at the image, there is some replication between elements that were “PUSH” and “PULL”.

© Julie Goucher, 2022

The reality was people did not want to leave their family, friends and Country, but there was this need to do more, achieve more and therefore they were able to see the details from other Countries providing the opportunities they were keen to have.

There was the ability to be free, to be able to meet their religious obligations and know there was not to be any treatment that prohibited that. The promise of a better social and political structure was also a big draw.

What was probably the biggest element was around work – the ability to be able to work, to provide for themselves and family. There were areas that were attracting others from the same Country, so there was to be a sense that they were with likeminded and familiar people. The land of opportunity did exactly that, it provided opportunities to work, earn and progress. A step further, was the appeal of being able to acquire land, either freely given to new settlers or through affordable purchasing. Land Grants was a win-win, migrants to achieve what they wanted and the Country that embraced these migrants welcomed people who were going to populate the vast Countries, easing the burden on the cities.