Poland's Economy
Poland Under Communism
How Poland's centrally planned economy produced shortages, debt and stagnation, and how the Solidarity movement emerged from worker protests in 1980.
After World War II, Poland became a communist state in the Soviet bloc.
Central planning
- The state owned industry and set prices.
- Heavy industry like coal, steel and shipbuilding was prioritised.
Unusual feature
Unlike most communist countries, much Polish farmland remained private.
Shortages
- Shops often had empty shelves.
- Queues for meat and basic goods.
- Rationing of meat in the 1980s.
Debt
In the 1970s, Poland borrowed heavily from the West to modernise; by the 1980s, it couldn’t repay.
Solidarity
- In 1980, strikes at the Gdańsk shipyard led by Lech Wałęsa created Solidarity, the first independent trade union in the Soviet bloc.
- Martial law in 1981 suppressed it.
End of communism
Round Table talks in 1989 led to partly free elections, which Solidarity won, beginning the transition.
The meat queue
In 1981, a Warsaw family queues for hours with ration coupons, only to find the shop has run out of meat.
Thinking central planning eliminated shortages
Poland's planned economy suffered chronic shortages.
Key takeaways
- Poland was a communist planned economy after WWII.
- Shortages and queues were common.
- Heavy foreign debt built up in the 1970s.
- Solidarity began in 1980; communism ended in 1989.
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