Geographical and Historical Background of the Transformation: Politics and Society

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to briefly present a historical background of the political, social and economic circumstances that have partially determined processes of transformation in Poland. Poland’s geopolitical location and the actual absence of the Polish state at the time of the rise of capitalism in Europe has had a strong impact on Poland’s social and economic development. For over 120 years, the three partitioning states made decisions about the directions in which Polish territories would develop, including the location and evolution of industry and social progress, following their own policies. After Poland regained independence, the three separate state entities with divergent structures and organisations of society and the economy had to stand united, and a coherent policy of socio-economic growth was required. When the endeavour began to succeed, another war broke out and the forces in Europe were reconfigured. Poland, like other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, became a satellite of the USSR, which involved the elaboration of a centrally planned socialist economy subordinated to the economic policy of the USSR. Thus, for the next half century, Poland stopped making decisions on its own development. The interwar period and the communist era strongly reshaped the social and economic growth of the country. The institutions created and developed during the partitions and the socialist era became strongly rooted in society and the economy. They continue to be visible, even though 100 and sometimes even 200 years have passed since many events. Thus, historical legacy is evident in the processes of transformation, the manner of spatial development and the social and economic practices of Poles.