Central Industrial Region (Poland)

Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy (Polish for Central Industrial Region, abbreviated COP) was one of the biggest economic projects of the Second Polish Republic. The 5-year long project was initiated by famous Polish economist, vice Prime Minister and Minister of the Trasury, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski. Its goal was to create a heavy industrial center in the middle of the country, far from any borders, strengthen the Polish economy and reduce unemployment. The four year plan of development of COP was scheduled from 1 September of 1936 until 30 July 1940 and was interrupted by the outbreak of Second World War and German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. Nonetheless, the COP project has succeeded in vastly expanding Polish industry, and after the end of the war in 1945 COP was rebuild and expanded under the People's Republic of Poland.

The plan history

Since 1928 there were recurring attempts to create the triangle of security, an industrial region in the middle of the country, secured from any aggression by Germany or Soviet Russia. The plan was finally approved in 1936 by the Polish government. By April 1938 the plan, already set in motion in some parts of the country, was expanded to the territories beyond the early plan for the most secure 'triangle'.

Polish voivodships 1922-1939

COP was localised on the territories of the following former voivodships: eastern parts of Kielce Voivodship and Kraków Voivodship, southern part of the Lublin Voivodship and the western part of Lwów Voivodship, or in other terms, 46 powiats, constituting 15,4% of the territory of Poland and inhabited by 17% of Poland's population. Urbanisation factor of those territories was 17% (94 cities), compared to the Poland's average of 30%. The arguments for such localisation of COP were:

a) military - long distance from western border (Poland was expecting the German aggression), protected from south by the Carpathian Mountains.

b) demographic - fairly high density of population (100 people per square km) with high unemployment (400-700,000)

c) economic - strengthening a mostly agricultural market of the Eastern Poland, creating a market for Western Poland industrial products, and a energy market for Southern Poland. In addition, this region had a some undeveloped natural resources (stone, iron, clay, plus some energy resources).

d) social - reducing the unemployment, still high in the mostly agricutlural regions of Eastern Poland, still feeling the aftershocks of the Great Depression

The COP required gigantic financial investment - only the development of infrastructure and military industry was estimated for 3mld zł. As the expectations of war grew, the private investment in Europe in the late 30s was small, and thus the Polish government carried most of the burden of financing the project: in the years 1937-1939 COP had consumed approximately 60% of all Polish investment funds.

The plan achievements

Steel mill and electric plant were constructed in the city of Stalowa Wola. Factories were constructed in: rubber factory in Dębica, automobile factory in Lublin, aircraft factory in Mielec, aircraft engine and artillery factory in Rzeszów, hydroelectric power plant in Rożnów and Myszkowice, expansion of the Zakłady Azotowe in Mościce. Military industry in the Staropolski Okręg Przemysłowy was expanded in the towns of Radom, Skarżysko-Kamienna, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Starachowice, Kielce. Most of those investments were localised in regions with high unemployment, and their construction succeeded in reducing social tensions and began to strengthen the Polish economy.

The development of COP and similar projects, like the construction of seaport Gdynia, were the most outstanding achievements of the Second Polish Republic, marking the beginning of the new era of the recently independend Poland. The COP project was continued by the communist government of Poland after the Second World War.

However, as the end date for the plan was end of July 1940, and Poland did not have sufficient capital to carry out entire plan on its own, few of the planned investitons were completly operational by the war, and many others were not started at all. German blitzkrieg tactics in the Second World War proved that the COP region failed in being a secure haven for Polish industry.

See also

• Bielski Okręg Przemysłowy
• Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy
• Gdynia

References

• Wiesław Samecki, Ekonomia 3: Centralny Okręg Przemysłowy 1936-1939, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego, 1998, ISBN 8322916345