38 Reformation BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
The pope condemned Luther’s
teachings. But Luther’s message spread
quickly. Huldrych Zwingli called for
even greater changes in Christian
worship. He converted many people in
Switzerland to Protestantism. John
Calvin helped bring the Reformation to
France and made Geneva (now in
Switzerland) into a Protestant city-state.
In 1534 King Henry VIII established
the Church of England, with himself as
leader. Influenced by Calvin, John
Knox helped found the Presbyterian
church in Scotland. By the mid-1600s
Europe was mostly divided into
Protestant and Catholic regions. Most
of these divisions have remained in
place. In the 1600s the settlers of the
British colonies brought Protestantism
to North America.
Counter-Reformation
The Roman Catholic church tried to
stop the spread of Protestantism with its
own movement, the Counter-
Reformation. Members of a religious
order known as the Jesuits spread
Catholicism through their teaching and
missionary work. A Catholic court system
called the Inquisition punished
Catholics who disobeyed church teachings.
From 1545 to 1563 a Catholic
body known as the Council of Trent
made many changes to the Catholic
church in an attempt to correct its problems.
The Counter-Reformation won
back many people who had left the
Catholic church.
#More to explore
Calvin, John • Henry VIII • Luther,
Martin • Protestantism • Roman
Catholicism
Refugee
When people leave their country to seek
refuge, or protection, in another country,
they are called refugees. Sometimes
governments force people to leave their
country. Other people leave their coun-
An illustration shows Martin Luther (right)
meeting with Roman Catholic leaders.
Luther was a major figure in the Reformation.
A refugee camp in Kyrgyzstan houses
people who escaped violence in their home
country of Uzbekistan. Many refugees must
live in temporary homes, such as tents.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Refugee 39
try because they belong to a group that
is being mistreated. Still others leave
their country to escape wartime conditions
or starvation.
Even though they seek shelter in a new
country, refugees often continue to
think of the old country as their home.
They may want to move back if conditions
change. This makes refugees different
from other migrants, who want to
change their homes permanently. Refugees
are also different from displaced
persons. These are people who are forced
from their homes but not out of their
country.
Refugees Before the 1900s
Before the 1900s, many refugees were
people who disagreed with their country’s
religion. In the 1400s a Roman
Catholic court called the Inquisition
forced the Jews out of Spain. Beginning
in 1685, French Catholics expelled
French Protestants called Huguenots
from France.
These refugees often moved to new
countries with few problems. There were
not many rules about movement from
one country to another. This situation
changed when modern nations developed
in the 1800s. Refugees from modern
nations needed to ask permission to
enter another country. The new country
then decided whether to offer asylum, or
protection, to the refugees. (Asylum
prevents refugees from being handed
back to the country that mistreated
them.)
Refugees in the Early 1900s
The battles ofWorldWar I (1914–18)
forced many refugees from Belgium,
France, Italy, and Romania. These refugees
resettled in their homelands after
the war. However, the Russian Revolution
of 1917 forced more than 1.5 million
out of Russia permanently.
Meanwhile, Turkey forced more than 1
million Armenians to move to Syria and
Palestine between 1915 and 1923.
The new international organization
called the League of Nations decided to
deal with the growing problem of refugees.
It appointed a Norwegian explorer
named Fridtjof Nansen to help refugees.
Nansen created a League of Nations
Passport to allow refugees to move freely
across national boundaries. He won the
Nobel peace prize (an important international
award) in 1922 for his work.
WorldWar II and Its
Aftermath
WorldWar II (1939–45) created more
than 60 million refugees. Jews fleeing
the Nazi leaders of Germany made up a
large portion of them. Many entered the
United States, and others moved to
South America and other places. Hundreds
of thousands of people left Poland
for the Soviet Union. In Asia, Japanese
attacks forced more than 30 million
Chinese people from their homes.
In Europe, many events that followed
the war created still more refugees. Millions
of Germans had to move out of a
region called East Prussia when it
became a part of Poland. In addition,
One goal of
the
organization
called
Amnesty
International
is to help
refugees find
asylum.
40 Refugee BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
the Soviet Union began setting up Communist
governments in eastern European
countries. People left those
countries because they were afraid of
losing their freedom.
The United Nations (UN) replaced the
League of Nations in 1945. In 1950 the
UN created an office to help refugees.
The office, called the Office of the High
Commissioner for Refugees, won the
Nobel peace prize in 1954 and 1981.
Refugees SinceWorldWar II
