... through a demographic revolution In the year 1800 Europe had a total estimated population of 187 million, just one century later this number had increased to a massive 401 million. Obviously population growth in broad terms is due to an increase in births and/or a decline in deaths, most likely a combination of the two. But there are many underlying factors that influenced not only the reduction in deaths but also the increase in births in some European states in the 19th century. However, it would appear when looking at statistics from this period, that although birth rates rose in some states, overall they actually didn't increase greatly throughout Europe, meaning that death rates must have decreased considerably in order for the population to have grown as it did. (Open university Economy 2003) There were many factors that affected the decrease in mortalities; perhaps one of the most significant in the ...

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