The Role of Immigrants in the 'Take-Offs' of Eastern European 'Manchesters'. Comparative Case Studies of Three Cities: Lodz, Tampere and Ivanovo

In: Journal of migration history, Band 6, Heft 3, S. 269-299

Abstract

Abstract
In this article, we identify the institutional offers for emigrants and evaluate the role of immigrants during the industrial revolution in the nineteenth-century history of three cities (once labelled 'Manchesters') from different parts of the Russian Empire. The dynamic growth of these cities was based on the textile industry but also depended largely on newcomers and highly mobile and entrepreneurial citizens. We show the key institutional factors that accelerated the immigrants' mobility to these Eastern European 'Manchesters' and made their role in urban development crucial. We claim the textile industry and institutional conditions for newcomers were prerequisites, but the entrepreneurship of a large number of immigrants proved crucial in these cities.