The movement of peoples since 1945: WACE Modern History
“The movement of peoples since 1945, including migration, refugees and displacement, and its causes and consequences”
Since 1945 the movement of peoples has reshaped the world on an enormous scale. War, partition, decolonisation, persecution, poverty and the search for opportunity displaced and relocated hundreds of millions of people. Refugees fled conflict and oppression, labour migrants moved towards prosperous economies, and post-colonial migration transformed former imperial powers. These movements remade societies, generated multiculturalism and new tensions, and created lasting challenges for the international order.
What this dot point is asking
A theme running through several Unit 4 electives is the movement of peoples since 1945. SCSA wants you to understand the great migrations and displacements of the post-war world, why people moved, and what consequences their movement had for the societies that sent and received them and for the international order. This content area connects to decolonisation, the Cold War, the changing world order and Australia's engagement with Asia. It is examined through source analysis and essays.
The immediate post-war years saw vast forced movements. The Second World War left tens of millions displaced across Europe, and the post-war settlement uprooted millions more, including ethnic Germans expelled from Eastern Europe. Partition produced some of the largest movements in history: the partition of India in 1947 displaced around ten to fifteen million people, and the creation of Israel in 1948 displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, creating a refugee population that remains central to the Middle East conflict.
Decolonisation drove further movement. As empires ended, settlers and officials returned to the former colonial powers, and people from the former colonies migrated towards them, drawn by labour shortages and citizenship rights. Migration from the Caribbean, South Asia and Africa transformed Britain; migration from North Africa transformed France. This post-colonial migration remade the populations of the former imperial nations and made questions of race, identity and integration central to their politics.
The scale of post-war displacement created a new international framework for refugees. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees was established in 1950 and the Refugee Convention adopted in 1951, defining who counted as a refugee and what protection they were owed. The post-war world thus developed, for the first time, an international system to respond to mass displacement, though it was repeatedly overwhelmed.
Labour migration reshaped prosperous economies. As Western Europe boomed, it recruited "guest workers" from southern Europe, Turkey and North Africa to fill labour shortages, with many settling permanently. Similar patterns appeared elsewhere as economies grew. These movements brought economic benefits but also social tension, as host societies debated integration, citizenship and identity, debates that intensified as the post-war boom ended.
For Australia, the movement of peoples was transformative, as examined in the engagement with Asia elective. The post-war "populate or perish" immigration program brought large numbers of European migrants, the dismantling of the White Australia Policy by 1973 opened immigration to Asia, and the acceptance of Indochinese refugees after the Vietnam War reshaped Australian society and entrenched multiculturalism. Migration changed who Australians were and how they understood their nation.
The consequences of these movements were profound. Societies became more diverse, generating both the enrichment of multiculturalism and new tensions over identity, race and resources. Diasporas linked distant places and shaped politics across borders. Refugee crises tested the international system and the consciences of nations. By the early 21st century the movement of peoples, driven by conflict, persecution, inequality and globalisation, had become one of the defining and most contested features of the modern world.
A common essay asks you to explain why people moved and with what effect. Use this structured framework.
Step 1: Distinguish the types of movement
Separate forced movement (refugees fleeing war, partition and persecution) from voluntary movement (labour and economic migration), since the causes differ.
Step 2: Analyse forced movement
Show the great displacements: post-war European expulsions, the partition of India in 1947, and the Palestinian displacement of 1948.
Step 3: Analyse voluntary and post-colonial movement
Examine labour "guest workers" in booming Western Europe and post-colonial migration to Britain and France, drawn by labour shortages and citizenship.
Step 4: Analyse the international response
Identify the new framework: the UNHCR in 1950 and the Refugee Convention of 1951, defining and protecting refugees.
Step 5: Assess the consequences
Conclude by weighing the enrichment of multiculturalism against the tensions over identity, race and resources, judging how far societies were transformed.
Do not treat migration as a single uniform phenomenon. The strongest responses distinguish between forced movement (refugees fleeing war, partition and persecution) and voluntary movement (labour and economic migration), analyse the different causes, and weigh both the benefits and the tensions that movement created for societies.
Historiographically, debate surrounds how to understand post-war migration: as a story of economic forces and labour markets, of the legacies of empire, or of human rights and humanitarian obligation. Historians also debate the success and limits of multiculturalism, and how far receiving societies were genuinely transformed by, or resistant to, the peoples who moved into them.
Exam-style questions
Questions in the style of SCSA exam questions on this dot point, each with a worked answer. They are written by ExamExplained unless tagged "Past paper"; the year shows the paper a question is modelled on.
WACE 2021-style6 marksWith reference to its origin and purpose, assess the usefulness of Source 1 (a post-war 'populate or perish' immigration poster) for a historian investigating the movement of peoples.Show worked answer →
A 6 mark usefulness question wants origin and purpose tied to a judgement relative to the inquiry.
Origin and purpose. State that the source is an official Australian immigration poster from the "populate or perish" program, produced to encourage and legitimise mass migration.
Usefulness. Argue it is very useful as evidence of the post-war immigration drive and the official message that justified it. It is less useful as evidence of migrants' own experience or of the White Australia framework within which the program operated, which it conceals.
Markers reward the origin-purpose link, a judgement relative to the question, and the recognition that an official source reveals policy intent.
WACE 2023-style16 marksTo what extent did the movement of peoples since 1945 transform the societies that received them?Show worked answer →
A 16 mark essay needs a thesis on how far receiving societies were transformed.
Thesis. Argue that the movement of peoples profoundly transformed receiving societies through diversity and multiculturalism, though transformation was uneven and met resistance.
Forced movement. Show partition displacing ten to fifteen million in India in 1947, the Palestinian displacement of 1948, and post-war European expulsions.
Labour and post-colonial migration. Weigh "guest workers" reshaping Western Europe and post-colonial migration transforming Britain and France, making race and identity central to their politics.
Australia. Examine "populate or perish", the end of White Australia by 1973, and Indochinese refugees entrenching multiculturalism.
Judgement. Conclude that receiving societies were genuinely transformed but with continuing tension and resistance, distinguishing forced from voluntary movement.
Markers reward a weighed thesis, accurate evidence, and a clear answer to "to what extent".