The Social Consequence of Rural-Urban Migration in Imperial Germany: The 'Floating Proletariat' Thesis Reconsidered

This paper, a study of internal migration in Imperial Germany, challenges the thesis that the social consequences of urbanization were particularly disruptive for rural newcomers. Using published data from cities of destination, I show that much of the migration took place in stages via smaller cities, and that where families were involved, they were mostly those of the middle class. Moreover, the proportion of migrants in a given ward or occupation showed little relation to the incidence of social or economic dislocation there. All this suggests that migrants were more active participants than passive victims in the process of urbanization, which brought with it not only greater risks, but greater payoffs as well.