Emigration: The Early Years, 1905–18

Abstract

The destruction of colonial society and the resulting impoverishment and demographic pressure were not sufficient causes of emigration to France. The neo-classical theory of the free movement of labour from zones of low wages and surplus labour (the colony) to zones of high wages and labour shortage (the metropole), like water finding the same level between two interconnecting tanks, is entirely inadequate. It fails to take account of the fact that international migration is usually regulated by political and legal measures that can open or close the valves of ingress and egress according to the needs of the European economy.¹