Turkish+Migration+To+Germany

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A Brief History
** After World War II in 1941, the German population lost approximately 4.5 million Germans, most of whom were members of Germany's labor force. As a result of this, Germany was approaching a state of economic collapse, and measures needed to be taken in order to keep the economy afloat after such heavy losses. As a solution, Germany decided to start to 'import' guest workers from other nations. Most of these nations were LEDC's, who's laborers were willing to fill positions which German laborers cla **** ssified as dirty jobs, as well as not requiring much skill and involving long **** hours of underpaid work. However, these jobs were vital to the economic well being and balance of th **** e nation. The largest percentage of guest workers came from Turkey, other guest workers migrated from I ** **taly and Yugoslavia. **

 ** The Turkish migration to Germany was a voluntary migration, thi ** ** s means the Turkish immigrants chose to migrate due to pull factors in their destination, rat **** her than push factors from the origin. Some of the major push and pull factors are as follows: ** 

Tug of War Migration (Push and Pull Factors)
 * ** Germany offered many job opportunities- Turkey, being an LEDC, is not as economically developed as a country such as Germany, this would mean that personal economic opportunities are not as available, so the fact that an MEDC like Germany was offering many job opportunities and welcoming immigrant guest workers to the country, was a major pull factor. **
 * ** Living in Germany meant living in a more developed nation- A more developed nation would entail better health care and benefits, as well as more educational opportunities for immigrants workers, also the standard of education would be better. Public transportation systems **** (which immigrants would most likely be using) would be a more developed and intricate **** system. **
 * ** There was already a large Turkish population in Germany- This is pretty self explanatory: it would mean there was already a sense of community and the move wouldn't be as traumatizing. Traditions as well as culture would be easier kept because the immigrants would be more likely to move into areas where Turks had already established themselves and culture could be preserved within the community. **

** However, there were also negative aspects tied to immigrating to Germany, there was much hostility towards the guest workers, as they weren't natives some Germans felt that the Turkish people were stealing their jobs. Undoubtedly, there were social and economical impacts on Germany, for the better and for the worse, it was all a matter of which perspective you viewed the migration from. What most people do not focus on, are the impacts on Turkey from the migration. **

** Impact on Turkey ---(socio-economic, political, environmental) ** ** +Less pressure on jobs--less unemployment +People of childbearing age moved- decrease in BR +Migrants were originally supposed to return to Turkey eventually---with new skills +Money was sent to relatives---general increase in well-being of the population -Less space for expanding the economy -Usually the more skilled move ** 
 * -Left with many old peopleaging population

Along with direct changes in the socio-economical aspects of the populations, there were also long term changes, and it is important (especially to demographers) to be able to predict the impact of these migrations in the future. **

** Changes over time, predictions for future ** ** Migrants didn’t go home, they postponed and postponed their return Migrants were joined by their families---Germany became more than just a "job-opportunity" Now, only a quarter arrive as “guest-workers”, others are simple immigrants, or following families Now there are almost as many women as men as work isn’t the sole purpose of immigration Feel a sense of belonging now, they are more than “guest-workers”, want political voice More middle class workers now They have started to assimilate more Since Turkey is planning on becoming a part of the EU, I guess that over time the situation there will improve, and less people will emigrate **



  **Can Ravenstein's Laws be Applied? ** ** His 5th law states that "The longer the journey, the more likely it is that the migrant will end up in a major centre of industry or commerce". This law holds true because that is indeed where most of the migrants went. Almost all of them went to the cities, because it was these that had the most job opportunities.

Ravenstein's 7th law is: "Females migrate more than males within their country of birth, but males are more likely to move further afield". The vast majority of the guest-workers that arrived in Germany did so without their families, those only followed later on, after the job was secured. Also, the guest-workers were almost exclusively males, so the women didn't migrate as far. **

**http://www.allacademic.com/ meta/p_mla_apa_research_ citation/0/6/9/4/8/p69486_ index.html** [|http://www.sln.org.uk/geography/schools/blythebridge/ASCSTurkey.][|htm] Waugh, David, Elizabeth Clutton, Sheila Morris, Pete Murray, and John Smith. //Geography- An Integrated Approach//. 3rd ed. Nelson Thornes.
 * Citations **