Replication Files for Balancing Economic Stress: The Role of Rural-Urban Migration in 19th century East Belgium

In
this paper we propose an integrated view of both the rural and the urban sides
of migration in 19th century East Belgium. We study two rural areas,
Ardennes and the Pays de Herve, with diverging agrarian structures and pathways
to modernization. Both areas faced the
challenge of population pressure due to high fertility and falling mortality.
Between them was a textile town, Verviers, which was one of the cradles of
industrial revolution in continental Europe. Young people in rural areas
engaged in circular migrations with the goal of marrying and establishing new
households, which became increasingly difficult in communities with growing
populations and diminishing opportunities.
Moving from farm to farm also increased as the ownership of farmland
became more concentrated and unequal.
Those who did not succeed in the countryside moved to Verviers and
rarely returned to their rural roots. Instead, they entered a different migratory
system within the urban-industrial agglomeration. When urban economic conditions were bad,
migrants from Ardennes and the Pays de Herve did not leave Verviers for other
industrial areas. They preferred to remain close to kin living in the
villages. Overall, migration flows
responded weakly to short-term fluctuations in prices and industrial activity,
but rural-urban migrations relieved growing economic stress in the countryside.