Polish Environmental History 1945–56: To Stalinism and Back (an Outline of Selected Aspects of Human–Nature Relations)

Abstract

The article focuses primarily on several problems in the broadly understood environmental history of Poland during the Stalinist period. First and foremost, it points to the category of man’s attempts to master the environment. This primarily involves plans to transform nature and implement an economic development model based on industrialisation, devised without accounting for its costs. At the opposite end of the scale came attempts to rule over the environment, which brought Poland some devastating climatic anomalies, notably floods and extreme Siberiantype winters. They had a decisive impact on human behavioural strategies, the organisation of everyday life, and even on politics. The final theme of this study examines human–animal relations from the perspective of Polish environmental history during 1945–56. The aim is to illustrate the character of these relations, the oppressive treatment of animals by humans, and the attempts to change existing practices.