Gomułkowskie dylematy modernizacji gospodarki

Abstract

The rule of Władysław Gomułka in the period 1956-1970 began in an atmosphere of hope for change in the economic system and economic policy. And indeed, the end of the 1950s brought a number of activities of the communist authorities, which included limited attempts at modernization. However, pressure from the Soviet Union, implementing the slogan of competition between socialism and capitalism on the economic basis, made Gomułka’s government re-accelerate the so-called socialist industrialization. Only in the late 1960s, despite opposition from conservative groups centered around the raw material, energy and military complex, was it concluded that the central issue would be the selective development of particular industries and groups of products by concentrating investments in selected areas. The political events resulting in the removal of Gomułka from power prevented the implementation of the policy of selective development. As a result, in the 1960s, the Polish economy was characterised by low efficiency and inability to innovate. The bureaucratic manner of attempts at modernization resulted in imitation and substitution. Moreover, in the Gomułka period, the drive towards modernization clashed with the necessity to absorb the baby boom by the economy. The effects were not satisfactory either in the economic or the social area.