Historical Population Displacement is Associated with Faster Life History in Czechia

A recent study has found that Polish territories with history of forced population displacement exhibit a faster life history compared to other Polish territories. Whether the spatial overlap between historical forced population displacement and faster life history represents a common pattern or merely an isolated phenomenon remains to be seen. Czechia provides an avenue to test this, since its borderlands (specifically the so-called Sudetenland) were mainly inhabited by a German-speaking population who were forcefully displaced post-WWII.

Differences in life history speed amongst Czech districts were estimated based on multiple life history indicators via a factor analysis.

Faster life history for Sudetenland is confirmed, a pattern consistent across numerous life history indicators.

The spatial overlap between fast life history and population displacement (herein dubbed the r-displacement distribution) might be contingent on stable socioeconomic environment, potentially limiting its generality beyond socioeconomically developed societies. Further replications of r-displacement distribution might be needed to confirm its generality.