Editing Rural flight (section)

====German ''Landflucht''====
{{Main|Landflucht}}

''[[Landflucht]]'' ("flight from the land") refers to the mass [[Human migration|migration]] of peasants into the cities that occurred in [[Germany]] (and throughout most of Europe) in the late 19th century.

In 1870 the rural population of Germany constituted 64% of the population; by 1907 it had shrunk to 33%.<ref name="Schapiro, Shotwell p. 300">SchapiroShotwell; 1922, p. 300.</ref> In 1900 alone, the Prussian provinces of [[East Prussia]], [[West Prussia]], [[Province of Posen|Posen]], [[Province of Silesia|Silesia]], and [[Province of Pomerania (1815–1945)|Pomerania]] lost about 1,600,000 people to the cities,<ref name="Kirk p. 139">Kirk1969, p. 139.</ref> where these former agricultural workers were absorbed into the rapidly growing factory labor class;<ref name="Mises p. 8">Mises2006, p. 8.</ref> One of the causes of this mass-migration was the decrease in rural income compared to the rates of pay in the cities.<ref name="Shafir p. 150">Shafir 1996, p. 150.</ref>

''Landflucht'' resulted in a major transformation of the German countryside and agriculture. [[Mechanized agriculture]] and migrant workers, particularly Poles from the east (Sachsengänger), became more common. This was especially true in the [[province of Posen]] that was [[Prussian partition|gained by Prussia]] when [[partitions of Poland|Poland was partitioned]].<ref name="Shafir p. 150" /> The Polish population of eastern Germany was one of the justifications for the creation of the "[[Polish corridor]]" after World War I and the absorption of the land east of the [[Oder-Neisse line]] into Poland after World War II. Also, some labor-intensive enterprises were replaced by much less labor-intensive ones such as [[game preserve]]s.<ref name="Drage p. 77">Drage 1909, p. 77.</ref>

The word ''Landflucht'' has negative connotations in German, as it was coined by agricultural employers, often of the German aristocracy, who were lamenting their labor shortages.<ref name="Mises p. 8" /><ref name="McLean, Kromkowski p. 56">McLean, Kromkowski 1991, p. 56.</ref>