War and Population Displacement: Lessons of History

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recently announced that the number of displaced persons caused by wars and conflicts, estimated at more than 65 million, has reached the highest level ever recorded. This book explores the reality by examining some significant population displacements and/or deportations caused by armed conflict. Throughout human history people not directly involved in wars have endured its consequences death, famine, destruction, illness, pillage, rape, robbery. These effects of war have become more globalized, resulting in migration in search of a better place to live or to find safety and security. Migration represents an indisputable reality found in every time and culture since prehistoric times until today, seen recently in the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia. Armed conflict brings with it population displacement: refugees fleeing the dangers of war, dislodgement by invaders or regime change, population migration with expansionist purposes. These phenomena have not been adequately studied from a historical perspective. Cast in the mold of war and society studies, this book, endorsed by the Spanish Association of Military History, works to fulfill a historiographic need, covering twelve relevant dislodgments caused by wars in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Modern and Contemporary History, and the present.

Reviews of War and Population Displacement: Lessons of History

These case studies represent a unique and valuable contribution to the knowledge of the dramatic phenomenon of population displacements caused by war. — Professor Beatriz Frieyro de Lara, University of Granada This is a must-read for sociology and demography scholars, for military and demography historians, and for anyone interested in peace and security. — Professor David Garcia Hernan, Carlos III University of Madrid The contributions to this highly welcome book clarify the background to current issues of extreme importance. — Professor Enrique Garcia Riaza, University of the Balearic Islands This valuable book brings a much-needed historical perspective to an important but often overlooked aspect of war. — Professor Geoffrey Jensen, Virginia Military Institute For those interested in gaining historical depth to some distressing contemporary crises this book offers a unique collection of expert views. — Emeritus Professor Angel Vinas, Complutense University of Madrid