The period of large-scale European emigration faltered with the outbreak of the First World War, which brought European emigration to an abrupt halt and ushered in a four-decade period of limited migration. Although emigration revived somewhat during the early 1920s, by then several important receiving countries (most notably the USA) had passed restrictive immigration laws. The onset of the Great Depression stopped virtually all international movement in 1929, and except for a small amount of return migration, there was little movement during the 1930s. During the 1940s, international migration was checked by the Second World War. What mobility there was consisted largely of refugees and displaced persons and was not tied strongly to the rhythms of economic growth and development a pattern that persisted well into the subsequent decade.