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Geography
The republic of Poland is located in north-eastern
Europe. It is bordered by Germany to the
west, Czecho and Slovakia to the south, the
Russian Federation and Lithuania to the north
and Byelorussia and Ukraine to the east.
To the north there is a 520-km coastline
along the Baltic sea. Following the Second
World War Poland lost a considerable amount
of territory to the USSR, but gained the
former German provinces of Pomerania and
Silesia in the west, and part of East Prussia
in the east. The country has an area of 312,683
suquare kilometres.
Demography
The total population in 1992 was approximately
38.3 million. The major cities are the capital
Warsaw (1.7 million inhabitants), Lodoz (852,000),
a major industrial centre, and Krakow (748,000),
an important centre of culture and learning.
In 1990, 62% of the population lived in urban
areas compared with 32% in 1946.
The educational level of the population continued
to improve during the 1970s and 1980s. The
proportion of the population aged 15 or over
with higher education was 2.7% in 1970 and
6.5% in 1988.
At the end of 1991 the economically active
population amounted to 16.5 million of which
the state sector accounted for 46%. 27.6%
of the working population was engaged in
agriculture, 28% in industry, 7.5% in construction,
8.4% in trade and 5.9% in transport and communication.
History and Political Situation
Present day Poland traces its origins to
the unification, in the second half of the
10th century, when their King, Mieszko, introduced
Christianity, ensuring that henceforth Poland's
cultural development would be linked to that
of Western Europe. In 1386 the Polish Queen,
Jadwiga married Jagiello, the Grand-Duke
of Lithuania. This alliance eventually paved
the way for full political union which was
to last until the late 18th century.
In 1572 the last of the Jagiellons died,
leaving no heir. For the next 200 years Poland
experienced a period of elective monarchy.
It was an era marked by numerous wars and
military campaigns (against Muscoviets, Turks,
Tatars, Cossacks and Swedes) but little economic
progress. After this Polish territory was
partitioned by Russia, Prussia and Austria,
until 1918 when the First World War ended.
Inter-war Poland was restored to statehood
at the Treaty of Versailles and became a
parliamentary republic. However, Pilsudski
staged a coup d'騁at in 1926 and became virtually
a dictator. He died in 1935, but his followers
continued to rule in his name. In 1939, with
the outbreak of the Second World War, Poland
was partitioned again, this time between
Nazi Germany and the USSR. Germany launched
an invasion deep into USSR territory, capturing
the whole of Poland as it went, in 1941.
Poland was liberated by the Red army in July
1944 and a Committee of National Liberation
(PKWN) was established at Lublin. They took
over the administration of the territory
liberated by the Soviet advance and became
a de facto Government.
The new Poland had a different shape to that
of the pre-war republics. At the conference
of Teheran and Yalta, the Great Power leaders
had agreed that Poland should lose almost
one-half of its territory to the USSR, but
should receive compensation in the north
and west at the expense of Germany. In 1947
when the first election was held the Communist
Polish Worker's Party won through manipulation
of the results.
The first tentative move towards political
pluralism was the birth, in 1980, of Solidarity,
the first independent trade union in the
Soviet bloc headed by Lech Walesa, which
claimed 10 million members. Soon after its
emergence this movement was supressed by
the declaration of martial law by General
Jaruzelski in 1981. However, the deteriorating
economic situation and the accession to power
of Gorbachov in the USSR brought the "round
table" talks between the communists
and opposition leaders, led by Walesa, in
1989. In these talks many agreements were
made including the legalisation of Solidarity,
the creation of an upper chamber, the restoration
of the presidency, a gradual return to multi-party,
competitive elections and freedom of the
press.
Following the "round table" talks
it was agreed to hold, in June 1989, the
first partially contested election which
resulted in a strong expression of support
for Solidarity. However as only 35% of seats
in the lower house of Parliament were open
for election, those associated with the Communist
party continued to hold power and the Polish
President General Jarulzelski was the man
who in 1991 had declared martial law. This
precarious balance of power could hardly
be expected to last however given the mounting
pressure for fundamental change. By July
1990 Mazowiecki's reshuffles had led to the
dismissal of all but one communist minister
and the demand for entirely free elections
grew louder.
The first genuinely free election in post-war
Poland was the presidential election in November
1990 which Lech Walesa won. President Walesa
appointed Krzytof Bielecki as prime minister
until a free general election, held on October
1991, which proved highly inconclusive, with
many political groupings represented in Parliament.
After the election a centre-right coalition
was formed headed by Jan Olsewski, but his
government lasted only six months (December
1991 to May 1992). A new centre-left administration
led by Hanna Suchocka took over Olszewski's
government. It is based on a coalition of
political interests apparently strong enough
to return steady parliamentary support and
which has a good relationship with the President.
Economy
Since the Second World War Poland has become
an industrialised economy, though agriculture
remains relatively important in employment
terms. Compared with Western European countries,
however, Poland is still poor. As in other
Eastern European countries, central planning
was installed by the late 1940s a commitment
was made to rapid industrialisation with
central planning as the instrument to mobilise
and allocate resources. Undoubtedly this
contributed to high growth rates in the 1950s,
but consumption and real living standards
lagged, fuelling discontent and forcing the
first reconsideration of the merits of central
economic planning. However, reforms legislated
in the late 1950s were not properly implemented.
Economic disorganisation deepened until,
in 1981, the economy recorded its worst ever
disaster with a 12% slump in output. Economic
chaos went alongside a political stalemate
between Solidarity and the state. After martial
law was declared on December 1981, economic
decentralisation was partially introduced
from January 1982. Meanwhile the authorities
developed a three year "stabilisation"
plan for 1983-85. A trade surplus with the
West emerged in 1982 and was maintained throughout
the three year plan, but this owed more to
the curbing of imports than to an export
drive and was not sufficient to cover the
interest payments on Poland's debt.
By the end of 1989 Polish foreign debt had
reached US$ 40 billion and monthly inflation
rates climbed in excess of 50%. A radical
package of measures was introduced by Finance
Minister Balcerowicz in January 1990, with
IMF approval. A key aim was to free prices
from government influence by removing subsidies
and cutting defence spending. At the same
time wages would be restrained, in an attempt
to ease inflation. This plan had two "anchors",
a fixed exchange rate and a tough tax-based
income policy. These anchors held firm throughout
1991 and only began to shift in 1991, especially
following the May devaluation.
The package dampened inflation and stabilised
the zloty. The shops are stocked with goods
and queues are a thing of the past. However,
with the rapid production shift from state-owned
to private enterprise, came a sharp rise
in the number of unemployed. Encouragingly,
1992 was also a year in which the economy
responded to the stimuli of reforms helped
by a more competitive zloty and a modest
export-led recovery. This has continued into
1993 and Poland now appears to have been
one of the most successful of the former
Soviet bloc nations at handling the transition
towards a free market economy.
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