Transition of Polish countryside in the years 1918–1989

Abstract

In the pre-war period problems of the Polish countryside were fragmentation and overpopulation. In spite of the land reform, the farms were mainly smaller than 5 hectares and the peasants practiced the extensive farming. Only some bigger farms, mainly in Western and Middle Poland, were modern. The Great Depression led to agricultural goods prices drop by 66%, which lasted until 1945. The Polish countryside during World War II suffered enormous material and demographic losses. After the end of the war the radical land reform was introduced, which deepened agricultural fragmentation. Some part of the land remained in the government’s possession and was transformed into State Agricultural Farm (Pl. Państwowe Gospodarstwo Rolne, PGR) The area taken up by those farms was extended systematically, particularly in the western and northern parts of Poland. In 1948 the government started to collectivize the countryside. Farmers were forced with restrain and repression to join the cooperative farms. After 1956 most cooperative farms fell apart and the policy became less strict, e.g. by reducing compulsory deliveries. The deepening depression of the 1970s led to the drop in prices and the collapse in the agricultural industry, which caused the breakdown of food supply. The bad condition of agriculture lasted until the last days of the People’s Republic of Poland.

The paper was originally published as Przemiany polskiej wsi w latach 1918–1989, “Klio” 2013, vol. 26 (3), pp. 55–80; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/KLIO.2013.033.