page_title: Second Polish Republic
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Second Polish Republic / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: National coat of arms of Poland in Polish pavilion at Expo 1937 in Paris. Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, Paris. ("PHOTOS GORSKY FRÈRES") See also Polish pavilion in NYC, 1939: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poland_NYC_1939.jpg Polski: Godło Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej a także herby polskich rodów królewskich na skórzanym i tkanym baldachimie, okapie w formie namiotu umocowanego na lancach kawaleryjskich w polskim pawilonie na Wystawie Międzynarodowej w Paryżu w 1937 roku. Autorzy kamiennej rotundy z piaskowca, architekci: B. Pniewski, St. Brukalski. Autorzy przeszklonego pawilonu ze stali, architekci: B. Lachert i J. Szanajca. W pawilonie prezentowano polską historię, sztukę nowoczesną, artystyczną książkę polską, film w tym pierwszy polski film barwny inżyniera Tadeusza Jankowskiego Wesele księżackie w Złakowie Borowym (Agfacolor) nagrodzony w Paryżu, architekturę wnętrz mieszkalnych, sztukę ludową, rozwój techniki i kolei (nowoczesna aerodynamiczna polska lokomotywa PKP Pm36 prezentowana obok pawilonu i nagrodzona w Paryżu), przemysł, bogatą ofertę turystyczną Polski w tym uzdrowiska, luksusowe artykuły spożywcze na eksport, kawiarnie, czekoladę, polskie malarstwo, rzeźby i neony. Na szczycie rotundy umieszczono rzeźbę Polonia Restituta (Franciszek Masiak), którą później po wojnie przeniesiono na szczyt Gubałówki tak jak i obraz "Uzdrowiska polskie" (Jeremi Kubicki). W środku rotundy wyryto kapitałą rzymską napis będący słowami Józefa Piłsudskiego z symbolicznego pogrzebu Juliusza Słowackiego w Krakowie w 1927: "Są ludzie i są prace ludzkie tak silne i tak potężne, że śmierć przezwyciężają, że żyją i obcują między nami." Budynki były połączone białym perforowanym zadaszeniem z okrągłymi otworami, które jako jeden z dwóch elementów pawilonu razem z kompozycją reliefową z prostokątnych płyt piaskowca pochodzących z rotundy odbudowano po wojnie w 1964 przy wejściu do apartamentowca przy ul. Wiejskiej 20 w Warszawie. Unikatowa fotografia barwna, którą wykonali Gorsky Frères.
context_page_description: The Second Polish Republic, commonly known as interwar Poland, refers to the country of Poland in the period between the two World Wars. Officially known as the Republic of Poland, the Polish state was re-established in 1918, in the aftermath of World War I. The Second Republic ceased to exist in 1939, when Poland was invaded by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and the Slovak Republic, marking the beginning of the European theatre of World War II.
  In 1938, the Second Republic was the sixth largest country in Europe. According to the 1921 census, the number of inhabitants was 27.2 million. By 1939, just before the outbreak of World War II, this had grown to an estimated 35.1 million. Almost a third of the population came from minority groups: 13.9% Ruthenians; 10% Ashkenazi Jews; 3.1% Belarusians; 2.3% Germans and 3.4% Czechs and Lithuanians. At the same time, a significant number of ethnic Poles lived outside the country's borders.
  When, after several regional conflicts, the borders of the state were finalized in 1922, Poland's neighbors were Czechoslovakia, Germany, the Free City of Danzig, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and the Soviet Union.
context_section_description: After regaining its independence, Poland was faced with major economic difficulties. In addition to the devastation wrought by World War I, the exploitation of the Polish economy by the German and Russian occupying powers, and the sabotage performed by retreating armies, the new republic was faced with the task of economically unifying disparate economic regions, which had previously been part of different countries. Within the borders of the Republic were the remnants of three different economic systems, with five different currencies (the German mark, the Russian ruble, the Austrian crown, the Polish marka and the Ostrubel) and with little or no direct infrastructural links. The situation was so bad that neighboring industrial centers as well as major cities lacked direct railroad links, because they had been parts of different nations. For example, there was no direct railroad connection between Warsaw and Kraków until 1934. This situation was described by Melchior Wańkowicz in his book Sztafeta.
  On top of this was the massive destruction left after both World War I and the Polish–Soviet War. There was also a great economic disparity between the eastern (commonly called Poland B) and western (called Poland A) parts of the country, with the western half, especially areas that had belonged to the German Empire being much more developed and prosperous. Frequent border closures and a customs war with Germany also had negative economic impacts on Poland. In 1924 Prime Minister and Economic Minister Władysław Grabski introduced the złoty as a single common currency for Poland (it replaced the Polish marka), which remained a stable currency. The currency helped Poland to control the massive hyperinflation. It was the only country in Europe able to do this without foreign loans or aid. The average annual growth rate (GDP per capita) was 5.24% in 1920–29 and 0.34% in 1929–38.
  Hostile relations with neighbors were a major problem for the economy of interbellum Poland. In the year 1937, foreign trade with all neighbors amounted to only 21% of Poland's total. Trade with Germany, Poland's most important neighbour, accounted for 14.3% of Polish exchange. Foreign trade with the Soviet Union (0.8%) was virtually nonexistent. Czechoslovakia accounted for 3.9%, Latvia for 0.3%, and Romania for 0.8%. By mid-1938, after the Anschluss of Austria, Greater Germany was responsible for as much as 23% of Polish foreign trade.
  The basis of Poland's gradual recovery after the Great Depression was its mass economic development plans (see Four Year Plan), which oversaw the building of three key infrastructural elements. The first was the establishment of the Gdynia seaport, which allowed Poland to completely bypass Gdańsk (which was under heavy German pressure to boycott Polish coal exports). The second was construction of the 500-kilometer rail connection between Upper Silesia and Gdynia, called Polish Coal Trunk-Line, which served freight trains with coal. The third was the creation of a central industrial district, named COP – Central Industrial Region (Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy). Unfortunately, these developments were interrupted and largely destroyed by the German and Soviet invasion and the start of World War II. Other achievements of interbellum Poland included Stalowa Wola (a brand new city, built in a forest around a steel mill), Mościce (now a district of Tarnów, with a large nitrate factory), and the creation of a central bank. There were several trade fairs, with the most popular being Poznań International Fair, Lwów's Targi Wschodnie, and Wilno's Targi Północne. Polish Radio had ten stations (see Radio stations in interwar Poland), with the eleventh one planned to be opened in the autumn of 1939. Furthermore, in 1935 Polish engineers began working on the TV services. By early 1939, experts of the Polish Radio built four TV sets. The first movie broadcast by experimental Polish TV was Barbara Radziwiłłówna, and by 1940, regular TV service was scheduled to begin operation.
  Interbellum Poland was also a country with numerous social pro
caption: Polish pavilion at Expo 1937 in Paris
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