History
For much of the medieval and early modern period, Poland was one of the largest states in Europe, although generally cut off from the mainstream of European life. By the 18th century, however, the combination of an antiquated social structure, the emergence of powerful neighbors, a king with no real power and a parliament that was able to veto any legislation if so much as one member voted against it (the Liberum Veto) had reduced Poland to the role of little more than a confused buffer state between Austria, Prussia and Russia. One observer commented on how the Polish state had ‘legalized anarchy and called it a constitution.’The situation was finally resolved between 1772 and 1795, when – as a result of three partition treaties signed by Austria, Prussia and Russia – the country was carved up. A small area around Warsaw briefly enjoyed a form of independence between 1807 and 1831 – as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Congress Poland – but subsequently became a province of Russia. Poland did not re-acquire independence until 1918. In 1926, a military regime ousted the civilian administration and governed Poland until the country was once again dismembered by its powerful neighbors, Germany and the Soviet Union, after the 1939 Anti-Aggression Pact between the two. Prior commitments by Britain to defend Polish sovereignty led the former to declare war on Germany and initiate World War II.In 1941, Germany drove the USSR out of Poland, to be ejected, in turn, by the Soviets four years later. At the end of World War II, the Soviet-backed Polish Workers’ Party formed a coalition government under Wladyslaw Gomulka, until he was dismissed for ‘deviationism’ in 1948. In the same year, the Polish Workers’ Party merged with the Polish Socialist Party to form Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (Polish United Workers’ Party, PZPR). In 1956, three years after Stalin’s death, Gomulka returned amid growing unrest to implement a plan of gradual liberalization of society and the economy. Following disturbances in the industrial port of Gdansk, Gomulka was replaced as First Secretary of the party by Edward Gierek. Opposition to the regime was, significantly, led by elements of the industrial work force – in contrast to movements elsewhere in Eastern Europe which were led by intellectuals, such as Charter 77 – and supported by the Catholic Church, a major political force in Poland that the communists had never been able to fully suppress. This was a vital factor in the rapid growth of the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) labor movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The PZPR’s initial response to this challenge was confused. Neither Gierek nor his successor, Stanislav Kania, proved able to stop the growth of Solidarnosc or the declining of the PZPR. In 1981, with the backing of Moscow, the former army chief-of-staff, General Wojciech Jaruzelski, replaced Kania and imposed martial law. Solidarnosc was banned and its senior figures detained, including its leader, shipyard electrician Lech Walesa.
The early 1980s saw a tense stand-off between the state and the unions. Ultimately, the advent of the Gorbachev era in the Soviet Union made an accommodation between the two sides practicable. In 1988, following the virtual collapse of the economy, the PZPR government resigned and opened genuine negotiations with Solidarnosc on economic and constitutional reforms. Solidarnosc was legalized in 1989, paving the way for elections to the new bicameral National Assembly (see below) in June of that year. Not surprisingly, Solidarnosc swept the board in the one-third of seats it was allowed to contest. Tadeusz Mazowiecki became the first non-communist prime minister of a Warsaw Pact country. General Jaruzelski was re-elected as president. This was the high-water mark for Solidarnosc: over the next few years the whole of eastern Europe shed its communist governments, the collapse of the Soviet Union itself followed shortly after. Poland now found itself in a completely new political and economic environment and this brought about the implosion of Solidarnosc in the form of a deep split - mainly over economic policy - between supporters of Walesa and of Mazowiecki. Both stood at the first wholly free presidential election in November 1990. Walesa won, and Mazowiecki was replaced as prime minister by Jan Krysztof Bielecki. Elections to the National Assembly took place in October 1991. In all, 29 parties, including the Friends of Beer, gained representation in the Sejm (lower house of the national assembly). Since then, the number of parties has been made more manageable - and stable government a more feasible proposition - by the introduction of a 5 per cent threshold. The bitter and closely fought 1995 presidential campaign pitted Walesa against the ex-communist and government negotiator with Solidarnosc, Alexander Kwasniewski, standing for the Democratic Left Alliance. Against most predictions, Kwasniewski was victorious in the head-to-head run-off against the former trade union leader. Walesa’s defeat surprised many in the West who failed to appreciate how unpopular he had become at home. Kwasniewski also comfortably won the most recent presidential poll in 2000. In 2001, the DLA also regained control of the Sejm from a coalition of center-right parties which had formed the government since 1997. The election also brought an ominous development in the rise of a new far-right party, Samoobrona (Self Defence), which espouses a populist, xenophobic platform. Throughout the 1990s, and since, there has been little difference in the principal policies of the main political blocs: securing entry into both NATO and the European Union. As the largest of the former Eastern European states, Poland’s position is crucial. Both objectives have now been achieved. Poland joined NATO in July 1997 and the European Union in May 2004. Despite that, there are some outstanding issues which have been left for resolution at a later date and may have a major bearing on Polish politics. These include subsidies for Poland’s substantial agricultural sector, which is relatively underdeveloped, free labor movement and the country’s poor record on pollution. Elections to both the presidency and the Sejm are due in 2005. The Democratic Left Alliance has been steadily losing popularity, especially in its rural heartlands to Samoobrona, and is unlikely to be involved in the next government.
Government
Under the new constitution, which came into force in October 1997, legislative power in Poland is vested in a bicameral national assembly. The 460-seat lower house is the Sejm, while a new 100-seat Upper Chamber has been created with the power of veto over all legislation put forward by the Sejm. Elections are by proportional representation.
Economy
As the largest economy in ex-Soviet eastern Europe, the fate of Poland was, and still is, central to that of the whole region. The economic contribution of the agricultural sector declined steadily throughout the 1990s and now accounts for just 3 per cent of the GDP, but still employs one-quarter of the workforce. Livestock and meat are major export earners; rye, wheat, oats, sugar beet and potatoes are the main crops. In the industrial sector, Poland’s once substantial coal mining industry – like its counterparts elsewhere in Europe – has been scaled down in recent years. Other important industries are shipbuilding, textiles, steel, cement, chemicals and food processing. Again following the trend across the continent, industry’s contribution to the GDP has declined to below 30 per cent, while the service sector has seen rapid growth.With the collapse of the communist system at the end of the 1980s, Poland adopted the ‘big bang’ strategy of rapid transition to a market economy: price controls (including subsidies) were removed at a stroke; production, distribution and trade were deregulated; large parts of the economy were privatized using a voucher system; the tax and fiscal systems were overhauled; and the national currency (the Zloty) was made fully convertible. The shock of these measures and the collapse of the Comecon trading system threw the economy into temporary crisis, but it recovered quickly and by the mid-1990s was growing strongly. Many of those parts of the economy still under state ownership – including several important industrial enterprises – were privatized, albeit at a more leisurely pace. By 2000 the private sector accounted for 70 per cent of GDP. Over the next two years the economy suffered mild recession, but by the end of 2003 growth had reached 3.4 per cent and is still rising. Inflation is currently just below 3 per cent. Unemployment, however, has risen consistently since 2000 to its current level of 20.2 per cent, which is one of the highest levels in Europe. This, in turn, has led to the growth of a large informal or ‘grey’ economy, in which as many as 2 million people may be engaged.
Poland became a full member of the European Union on May 1 2004 as one of 10 new entrants. The decision to join was endorsed by 77 per cent of the electorate in a June 2003 national referendum. Within the EU, Poland may be expected to work with its fellow members of the ‘Visegrad Group’ – Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Republics – who are also joining the EU. Where necessary, they will seek to protect their regional interests against the larger and more powerful Western European economies. Poland’s main trading partners are Germany and the ‘Visegrad Group’ countries. Trade with other members of the EU, including the UK, has already grown substantially during the last decade and is set to increase further. |
