  Analysis of demographic catastrophes shows that, with the exception of
perhaps only two critical events, they were too weak to influence the growth of
human population. These results reinforce the conclusion that the concept of
the Epoch of Malthusian Stagnation, the alleged first stage of growth claimed
by the Demographic Transition Theory, is not supported by empirical evidence.
They show that even if we assume that Malthusian positive checks are capable of
suppressing the growth of population their impact was too weak to create the
Epoch of Malthusian Stagnation.
