A Top-down Approach to the Historical Demography of 18th-Century Pomerania

Abstract

Taking advantage of relatively well-preserved Prussian statistics, the author examines the dynamics of the Pomeranian population in the 18th century to suggest priorities for further studies at both the individual and local community level. He proposes to take the concept of the mode of reproduction as their common paradigm and also take a functionalist approach, even if detailed research may reveal that it was not external forces, as older theories proclaim, but internal forces of destabilization that finally destroyed the assumed system.

Keywords

• Pomerania
• 18th century
• Prussian statistics
• demography
• population growth
• mode of reproduction