Three-Year Plan
The Plan of Reconstructing the Economy (
Development and goals
Poland suffered
The Three-Year Plan was developed and monitored by the Central Planning Office (Centralny Urząd Planowania), a body of the government tasked with creation of economic policy, and in the early years dominated by a more liberal Polish Socialist Party (PPS) faction.[3] Among the economists involved in its development was the then CUP director, Czesław Bobrowski.[3] CUP centralized planning for the entire Polish economy was previously broken into separate bodies working on planning for separate branches.
The plan, significantly influenced by the PPS,
On 21 September 1946 the
The plan as described by the above bodies was designed to develop industry and service sectors, foreign trade and ensure the supply of basic consumer items. The plan specified the size of industrial and agricultural production to be achieved in the following years. In 1949 both the industrial and agricultural productions were to be above the pre-war levels. The industrial output was also to be higher than agricultural output. The plan did not involve creation of new industrial centers, only the rebuilding of the old ones (unless they were over 50% destroyed).[3]
Results and assessment
Due to the dedication of substantial resources to industrial rebuilding, and the successful adoption of the
The battle for trade, pushed for by
Already in 1949 the stress was moved from
Rebuilding of the Polish economy was also slowed in 1947, as Soviet influence caused the Polish government to reject the American-sponsored Marshall Plan, designed to aid European economies in post-war rebuilding.[3][5]
With the simultaneous rebuilding of the cities, substantial migration from rural areas to urban centers occurred, increasing urbanization. Warsaw and other ruined cities were cleared of rubble and rebuilt with great speed during those years.[6] In 1939, 60% of Poles worked in agriculture and 13% in industry; in 1949, the figures were 47% and 21%, respectively.
The three-year plan is widely considered a success and the only efficient economic plan in the history of
See also
- The Fourth and Fifth Plans of USSRwhich were aimed at rebuilding USSR after World War II
- Eastern Bloc economies
Notes
- ^ US Department of State, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Background Note: Poland (March 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-07
- ISBN 0-7864-0371-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "MIĘDZY MODERNIZACJĄ A MARNOTRAWSTWEM" (in Polish). Institute of National Remembrance. Archived from the original on 2005-03-21. See also other copy online Archived 2007-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c (in Polish) Polska. Gospodarka. Przemysł.. Encyklopedia PWN
- ^ A brief history of Poland. Chapter 13: "The Post-War Years, 1945-1990." Polonia Today Online. Retrieved on 28 March 2007.
Further reading
- Stanley J. Zyzniewski, The Soviet Economic Impact on Poland, American Slavic and East European Review, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Apr., 1959), pp. 205–225, JSTOR
- Werner Stark, The Political Element in the Development of Economic Theory:, Routledge, 1998,