AP European History

1. AP European History Demographic Trends in European History

2. Late Medieval Family Trends (1250-1300) • Married young due to short average life span of 35 years. • Lived in extended families in which the old were cared for by younger relatives. • Large families were needed to work in the fields.

3. Late Medieval Population Trends • Population growth was small due to a high birth rate and a high death rate. • Population trends depended upon crops and disease.

4. Late Medieval Class Trends • Western Europe: the four existing classes were clergy, nobility, peasants/serfs, & merchants/skilled artisans. • Eastern Europe: the three existing classes were clergy, nobility, & peasants/serfs.

5. Late Medieval Production Trends • Agricultural economy dominated Europe. • Some small artisans existed, as needed. • A growing merchant class began to emerge by the end of this period.

6. Late Medieval Gender Trends • Men dominated society and family life. • Only men & royal women went to school. • A woman’s only outlet for educational & social growth was to become a nun. • Women of the nobility were expected to coordinate activities on the estate. • Poor women were expected to work in the fields and take care of their households.

7. Renaissance Family Trends (1350-1550) • Similar to the Medieval Period. • Married young due to short average life span of 35-40 years. • Still lived in extended families in which the old were cared for by younger relatives. • Large families still were needed to work in the fields.

8. Renaissance Population Trends • Population growth was still small due to a high birth rate and a high death rate. • Population trends depended upon crops, disease, and war.

9. Renaissance Class Trends • Eastern Europe: existing three classes were the clergy, nobility, & peasants/serfs. • Western Europe: clergy, nobility, merchants (beg. of the modern middle class), peasants, serfs, and artisans (who become the urban working class).

10. Renaissance Production Trends • Agricultural Economy • Beginning of International Trade • Skilled artisans start to become important in towns.

11. Renaissance Gender Trends • Women’s roles in Catholic areas remained the same as in the medieval period. • In Protestant areas, women could not become nuns, so higher education was almost completely eliminated for women.

12. Early Modern Family Trends (1500-1700) • Age of marriage rose due to the need to establish a trade to support a family. • Families still lived in extended groups either on farms or in cottage industries.

13. Early Modern Population Trends • Steady but slow growth of the population, except during the Thirty Years’ War. • High birth & death rates still existed.

14. Early Modern Class Trends • Class structures remained essentially the same, but the middle class was growing much more powerful in both size and economic clout.

15. Early Modern Production Trends • Agricultural Economy • Cottage Industries began to dominate production in W. Europe by about 1600. • Merchant trade and shipping was very important in nations on the Atlantic seaboard.

16. Early Modern Gender Trends • More educational opportunities for women in merchant class or upper class homes. • Even upper class women were rarely allowed to go to the universities. • Those families who could afford higher education for their daughters sent them to finishing school.

17. 18th Century Family Trends • Europe outside of England remained the same as the early modern period. • England was different by the end of the century due to the Industrial Revolution. • In England, families who moved to the city became fragmented due to the factory system. • No longer did they all work at the same place & see each other all day long. • In England, many elderly persons died with no one to care for them.

18. 18th Century Population Trends • High population growth all over Europe, because more family members meant more income, both on the farm and at the factory.

19. 18th Century Class Trends • Eastern & Central Europe: Same as previous periods. • France: Still 3 estates, but the middle class brought an end to this in the revolution. • England: the landed aristocracy controlled it politically, the middle class controlled it economically, & the urban workers were exploited. England was a “squirarchy.”

20. 18th Century Production Trends • Agricultural economy with many cottage industries in the west. • In England, the growth of the factory system after 1750 revolutionized production and transportation.

21. 18th Century Gender Trends • Eastern & Central Europe remained the same. • England: more education for all children, & upper class women can go to college to study liberal arts. • England: lower class women exploited in factories & some became wet nurses or prostitutes to make a living. • England: Women became more independent and could inherit property without remarriage.

22. 19th Century Family Trends • Continued family fragmentation in urban areas, while rural families remained the same. • Age of marriage dropped in urban areas.

23. 19th Century Population Trends • Fast population growth as the death rate began to fall due to better medicine, sanitation, etc. • The birth rate began to fall by the end of the century, but not the overall population growth rate.

24. 19th Century Class Trends • Western Europe began to resemble England, due to industrialization. • Western Europe began to have a split between the upper and lower middle class. • Eastern Europe remained feudal in character.

25. 19th Century Production Trends • Factory system all over Western Europe • Cottage industries began in Central Europe • Eastern Europe & Russia remained agricultural.

26. 19th Century Production Trends • Industrial diversification all over Europe. • Tremendous growth in technology, transportation, and communications, especially in Western Europe.

27. 19th Century Gender Trends • Women still working to achieve equal rights, but much progress has been made.

28. 19th Century Gender Trends • Women still dominated legally by their husbands, even in Western Europe. • Women in Western nations actively attempted to achieve women’s suffrage. • Women held many “pink-collar” jobs.

29. 1900-1960 Family Trends • Nuclear Families • Smaller Families • Women gained more power in families, but working mothers were still frowned upon.

30. 1900-1960 Population Trends • Birth Rate dropped. • Population growth slowed in Western Europe, but not in Eastern Europe.

31. 1900-1960 Class Trends • Legal differences between classes disappeared after WWI and the Russian Revolution, but inequality existed economically & politically. • Communist party elites became the “new nobility” of Eastern Europe & the USSR.

32. 1900-1960 Production Trends • Industrialization of the USSR & parts of Eastern Europe occurred. • Strong industrial base existed in Western Europe. • Production was disrupted by two world wars. • Eastern Europe remained predominantly agricultural.

33. 1900-1960 Gender Trends • Women gained voting rights as a result of WWI in most nations of Europe. • Women began to work for equal rights in society & the workplace.

34. 1960-Present Family Trends • More women working, otherwise the same as 1900-1960. • Birth control pills gave women more control over reproductive issues. • Smaller families resulted.

35. 1960-Present Population Trends • Very slow, almost zero population growth rate in Europe.

36. 1960-Present Class Trends • Class inequalities are based on wealth and political power.

37. 1960-Present Production Trends

38. 1960-Present Gender Trends