Ethnic Exodus: Outward Migration from The Reconquista to World War Two

Throughout human history migration has always been a constant. This is indisputable; the Celts themselves were once upon a time just another group of migrants.

Migration is however a two-way street. Mass movements of people outwards has occurred throughout history; the Celts themselves left their original homelands after all.

So, let’s examine some of the mass movements of people outwards in Europe in the 20th century and touch on two other mass exits outside of the 20th century.

Post WW2 German & Polish movements (1945 to 1950)

What did a Soviet Communist, a British Conservative and a US Democrat agree on at the end of WW2? Ending centuries of failed multiculturalism.

First a brief overview as to why there were so many German settlements throughout Eastern Europe. The vast Eurasian Steppe stretches out 1,000s of miles, serving as a highway for Steppe peoples to invade and pillage Europe. Mongols, Huns, Tartars, etc., had all rolled across the steppes into Europe. Both large and small invasions had seen massed depopulation and an insatiable need for manpower. The solution the rulers of Hungary, Poland and others turned to? Invite in German settlers. Numerous Germanic settlements sprang up across Eastern Europe. These settlements, despite the passing of centuries, clung to their Germanic heritage. They did not integrate.

Following the finale of World War 2, national borders were radically redrawn at the behest (and benefit) of the victorious powers.. The USSR moved its borders westwards and, in the process, expelled 1.2m Polish citizens. In compensation for the loss of territory in the east to the USSR, Poland took large tracts of then German territory.

This expansion into Germany mirrored the expulsion of Poles in the east — 7 million ethnic Germans were expelled. In addition, approximately 3 million ethnic Germans were expelled from Czechoslovakia. Overall an estimated 20 million people, belonging to diverse ethnic groups, moved permanently in Central and Eastern Europe after World War 2.

Who drove this? Churchill, Stalin and Truman. Why did they do it? To remove centuries old ethnic tensions from escalating into major wars. In forcing through these mass movements, they admitted that multiculturalism was a failure.

Population movements after Greco-Turkish War (1923 to 1924)

World War 1 ended in 1918. The Ottoman Empire collapsed at its conclusion. Greece who fought with the winning side, the Allies, saw their opportunity to reclaim lands that had been lost to the Turks dating from 12th to 15th Centuries.

The war saw the Greeks make large starting gains, but as the war dragged on the Turks began to dominate. The war ended in stalemate with no change to original borders. Strikingly, the peace deal that ended the war saw large scale population exchanges between Greece and Turkey.

Approximately 1.2 million Orthodox Christian Greeks left Turkey, whilst 400,000 Muslim Sunni Turks left Greece. In total, 1.6 million people were forced to leave their homes permanently.

The population exchange was signed in 1923 and completed by 1924. The primary reason for the population exchange? To permanently end centuries long ethnic conflict between the Greek Orthodox Christians and Turkish Sunni Muslims. Multiculturalism had failed; there was no integration; parallel separate societies were the order of the centuries.

Irish Protestants leaving the Irish Free State (1922 to 1923)

Protestants formed 10% of the population of what ultimately became the Republic of Ireland. This fell sharply in the year after the War of Independence dropping to 7%, a drop of 33% or 100,000 people. The reasons for leaving were varied, ranging from the withdrawal of the British administration to the compulsory requirement to speak Irish in the Civil Service —believing that Southern Ireland no longer represented home was equally a relevant factor.

This voluntary movement of large numbers of people was again driven by a failed multicultural experiment extending back hundreds of years laying bare once more the myth of integration.

Pakistan deporting Afghan refugees (2023 to ongoing)

At the start of 2023 it was estimated that there were 4.4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan, at least 1.7 million of which are undocumented.

In an effort to justify mass deportations, the Pakistani Government cited a rise in crime and the cost of providing for the 4.4 million Afghans.

In 2023, after the first round of deportations, circa 500,000 Afghans left. The deportation of at least 800,000 Afghanis is a key objective of the second round of deportations, bringing the total of deportees to 1.3m people in less than a year.

Pakistan is not a signatory to the 1951 UN convention for the protection and rights of refugees. This enables the government of Pakistan to push through with this policy.

Conclusion

In the space of 100 years, at least 25 million people were mass deported from the lands they had lived in — in the case of many deportees, their family occupied these lands for centuries. 

These mass deportations transcend culture, race, religion & ethnicity. They have happened across the globe.

Multiculturalism (that extended in some cases back a century) had failed. Integration had failed. Failed multiculturalism is one of the primary driving factors behind numerous wars stretching back at least 1,000 years.

The leaders of radically different ideologies Stalin (communism), Truman (US democrat), and Churchill (conservatism) were united in recognising the failure of multiculturalism and they put an end to it. They achieved this by forced mass deportations.

Post-Script – Spain & Moriscos 17th Century

I have always loved history, but my true historical passion is understanding the “how” and “why” history unfolded as it did. The one era I have never fully understood the “why” of is the 120 years between the “Reconquista of Spain” in 1491 (retaking of Iberia for Christianity) to the final expulsion of the Moriscos (descendants of Spanish Muslims) in 1609.

What happened over the 120 years and why did it end in expulsion?

The overwhelming majority of the expelled Moriscos from Spain could trace their origins back 100s of years some close to 1,000 years. Muslims and Christians had lived side by side for virtually a millennium. Despite this there was no real integration. Both communities lived in separate parallel communities.

Following the Reconquista, the Moriscos had rebelled twice. All efforts at integration by Spain failed. Compulsory integration was tried, and failed, as the Moriscos clung to their way of life.

Barbary slave raids on Spain increased as the 1500s progressed, active participation by elements of the Morisco society aided and abetted the raids. The Ottoman Turks were in the ascendancy and a source of a real threat to the Spanish Empire. The potential for a 5th column within Spain was very real and tangible.

In the areas where Muslims were a small minority their neighbours helped them evade detection and expulsion. In the areas where there was a large Muslim population no such help was forthcoming from their neighbours.  Where the population was of a sizeable nature there was no integration.

Close to 1,000 years of living together had failed to bring about any true integration. In the end the Spanish were left with no choice but expulsion having exhausted all other options.