Refugees and the Exchange of Popula Tions

REFUGEES AND THE EXCHANGE OF POPULA TIONS. In the early history of European civilization wars and conquests were often followed or accompanied by considerable movements of population. Sometimes the two went necessarily together, because the motive for war was the desire for richer lands on which the conquerors wished to live; sometimes the movement of population resulted from the ferocity of the invaders who drove whole populations away from the countries which they had inhabited.

Temporary.

For a long period this feature of warfare dis appeared, but with the World War of 1914 it once more recurred. The events of 1914-18 caused greater movements of population from one place to another than there had been for centuries before. In some cases, it is true, these movements, though large, were only temporary. For example, although the Belgian refugees who fled from the German invaders in 1914 were very numerous, and although practically all of them remained away from their homes until the end of 1918, they did not attempt to create a new life or to establish new homes outside their native land ; their migration was only temporary, like that of the refugees who fled from the invaded provinces of France, Italy and Rumania, and to a smaller extent from all the territories occupied by enemy troops during the war.

Permanent.

But in other cases, great masses of refugees who left their homes when the tide of war swept over them had little prospect of ever returning or of recreating their previous life there. This has been the situation of a considerable proportion of the inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula. In that unhappy region of the world, where the population of large areas is mixed in race, great masses of people were obliged, either by fear of the invading armies or by the hostility of their immediate neighbours, to fly from the places where for centuries they and their f ore fathers had lived, and once they had left their homes the Govern ments of the countries which they had abandoned made it plain that they would not allow them to return, or would only allow them to return on conditions which the refugees considered alto gether unacceptable. Faced, therefore, with prolonged, if not permanent exile, the refugees were forced to try to build up a new life in the countries to which they had fled. This happened

in one case as the result, not of international, but of civil war. The struggle of 1917 to 1919 between the White and Red armies in Russia led to the emigration of one and a half million Russians who in the first instance sought refuge in the countries bordering on Russia, but subsequently, thanks to the action of the League of Nations, were for the most part enabled to settle more or less permanently in 45 countries throughout the world. In yet other cases the movement of population took place, not as the direct result of military action during a war, but in consequence of the terms of the treaties made when the war ended. But whether they came about under the terms of these so-called "exchange of population" treaties, or whether they were due to the compulsory or spontaneous flight of terror-stricken minorities while hostilities were still going on, these movements of population were due directly to the war. They all presented a number of common fea tures, while collectively they created great economic, social and political problems for the exhausted Governments of Europe. Before indicating what has been done to deal with this problem it is necessary to say a few words about its extent.

Excluding such temporary movements as those of the Belgians, the emigrations of war refugees of different nationalities were roughly as follows : I. Russians.—Between 1917 and 192o nearly one and a half million political refugees from Russia were thrown upon the charity of Europe. Some of these refugees were prisoners taken by the Germans and Austrians during the war, who refused to return to Russia. A great number were members of the defeated armies of Koltchak, Wrangel, Denikin and others. Many of the refugees were women and children who fled from the Bolshevist revolution. In the earlier days of their exile they were dispersed as follows : Germany 300,000, Poland 400,00o, France 400,00o, Constantinople Ioo,000, Yugoslavia 5o,000, Bulgaria 30,000, Czechoslovakia 26,000, Rumania and Greece 5o,000, Baltic States Ioo,000. In addition a large number, at least Ioo,000, fled east wards into China.