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I've wondered what modern Europeans think, in general, of people from their country who left en mass for faraway places in the past? Were they the crazy ones who left? The troublemakers? The entrepreneurs? The sellouts who couldn't hack hard times?
Maybe you don't think much about them at all. I know in general Americans, the ones with European ancestry anyway, think about Europe a fair bit. One look at CD demonstrates that.
I myself traveled to the German town that shares my families name (more accurately from whence my families name came) and the people there I spoke with seemed kind of nonchalant about it. Surprised even, that I was interested enough to travel that far. Truthfully there was a lot more to my agenda that trip. But I went a fair distance out of my way to see it and take a picture with the Willkommen sign.
I enjoyed the really good beer, wonderful schnitzel and the picturesque scenery. My feelings weren't hurt or anything and perhaps they were just reserved, as I was a stranger, so I ask in this less formal setting.
I've wondered what modern Europeans think, in general, of people from their country who left en mass for faraway places in the past? Were they the crazy ones who left? The troublemakers? The entrepreneurs? The sellouts who couldn't hack hard times?
Maybe you don't think much about them at all. I know in general Americans, the ones with European ancestry anyway, think about Europe a fair bit. One look at CD demonstrates that.
I myself traveled to the German town that shares my families name (more accurately from whence my families name came) and the people there I spoke with seemed kind of nonchalant about it. Surprised even, that I was interested enough to travel that far. Truthfully there was a lot more to my agenda that trip. But I went a fair distance out of my way to see it and take a picture with the Willkommen sign.
I enjoyed the really good beer, wonderful schnitzel and the picturesque scenery. My feelings weren't hurt or anything and perhaps they were just reserved, as I was a stranger, so I ask in this less formal setting.
People live in the present and often focus on the future. Most people don't care about things such as immigrants from their country 150 years ago.
Generally some Americans do because of their country being so focused on race, skin color, heritages, but outside the US where such variables don't matter as much people don't generally care about immigrants from the 19th century and so on.
Only until recently Europe became a stable prosperous place. For most of its history Europe was engulfed in wars, famine, oppression, division, oppressive political regimes, overpopulation, which is what caused millions of Europeans to leave in masse to places like South America, North America, Australia.
I recently took a photographic tour of several European cities and how they looked like in the 50s and was surprised to see that many European cities had slums like the ones you'd find in India. It was quite interesting to see how the average European home lacked indoor plumbing, the norm was sharing a bath with everyone else in the building, many countries were terribly poor, overpopulated, communism was not a joke and it took over half of the continent like a cancer, to make matters worse the gloomy weather probably made Europe much more depressing than what it is today. No wonder so many of them left.
With that being said, I think most modern Europeans don't really care about 19th century migrants or their descendants in other faraway countries and so on. I am sure the average person will find interesting that you tell them your family came from so and so, but don't expect them to be taken back or to see you as a local, or to even want to dig deeper into details. To them you telling them your family came from Germany long ago, it's like you being told by someone how their family came from California 80 years ago, it's just anecdotes.
Last edited by mille-electronics; 08-26-2016 at 04:35 PM..
People live in the present and often focus on the future. Most people don't care about things such as immigrants from their country 150 years ago.
Generally some Americans do because of their country being so focused on race, skin color, heritages, but outside the US where such variables don't matter as much people don't generally care about immigrants from the 19th century and so on.
I think you're right on some points (and maybe all points for some people). Americans don't have a long term history in one place. Europeans do, for the most part, and maybe they take that for granted.
Surely it's come up as a topic of conversation for some families. Maybe those who have maintained ties with their distant relatives? I also know that some Europeans are very interested in their own families history going back a lot further than 150 years. I've heard them discuss it with some enthusiasm.
To be honest I live in the present too but that doesn't mean I can't indulge some curiosity in the past as well. Does it?
Norway was very poor 150-100 years ago. I guess the ones that left wanted a new future. I think the Homestead Act was crucial for many.
I do not feel a kinship with all the Americans of Norwegian decent. They are just Americans to me.
It's surprising how poor Europe was just over 80 years ago!
I can only imagine how depressing it must have been trying to survive in January 1929 in the middle of the winter, in some damp gloomy Irish slum, or dark cold Norwegian mining town.
It's no wonder Europeans left to North and South America in such vast numbers!
I think you're right on some points (and maybe all points for some people). Americans don't have a long term history in one place. Europeans do, for the most part, and maybe they take that for granted.
Surely it's come up as a topic of conversation for some families. Maybe those who have maintained ties with their distant relatives? I also know that some Europeans are very interested in their own families history going back a lot further than 150 years. I've heard them discuss it with some enthusiasm.
To be honest I live in the present too but that doesn't mean I can't indulge some curiosity in the past as well. Does it?
I am not saying its bad to care about the past. I am just pointing out the fact most people don't really think or care about their countrymen and where they migrated to in the 18th century.
Back when people were leaving Europe in massive numbers, most modern European countries didn't even exist, many modern European nations were part of some kingdom or just didn't simply exist. Many European political entities from back then also don't exist any longer. (Prussia comes to mind).
Europe has changed tremendously in the last 50 years, so modern Europeans often just ignore the past.
Because of its low demographic growth, very few French left the country during the 19th and early 20th centuries compared with other European countries.
France had a net migration rate during this period (More people immigrated to France than people left the country).
Even to populate Algeria, France had to call immigrants from Southern Europe.
I am French and I wonder why so few of them emigrated in the first place. Maybe it was already the best country in the world 200 years ago, who knows.
France was a wealthier country in those days, and didn't have much population growth back then, still many french left to places like Argentina in large numbers.
Ireland for example was as poor as a poor African nation. Sweden too. Germany was overpopulated, bankrupted, Spain was closed up to the world and isolated under a harsh dictatorship. Eastern Europe was a multicultural heaven full of jews, gypsies, slavs, germanic minorities, magyars, balkans, you name it, many of the countries didn't even exist or were in a different place from where they are today. (Poland for example back then was largely situated in the modern Ukraine and Belarus, while modern Poland was part of Prussia which no longer exists)
Europe was very different, and I am afraid, not as nice!
France has been a largely rural country for most of its history, with very few population and everything centered around Paris. One of the reasons France even today is still so centralized and a large part of its population growth was due to migration from southern Europe. That is the reason so many French has some Spanish granny, or some Italian grandpa, or a Portuguese ancestor somewhere.
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