HISTORIE Yearbook of the Center for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin Volume 6 2012/2013 Economic History

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HISTORIE Yearbook of the Center for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin Volume 6 2012/2013 Economic History HISTORIE Yearbook of the Center for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin Volume 6 2012/2013 Economic history English abstracts: Wolf Lepenies East and West. North and South. The European cardinal points controversy (pp. 13-24) In his lecture Wolf Lepenies examines the relation between Germany, Poland and France in comparison to the conflict between Northern and Southern Europe in current European affairs. He explains how the tension between the Eastern and Western bloc during the Cold War could transform into this new – in geographical respects – vertically oriented dispute. Lepenies shows that the North-South-conflict has deeper historical causes and proposes the formation of a new ”Weimar triangle” (ger. ”Weimarer Dreieck”) to solve current and future challenges in European policy. Maciej Salamon The Second International Congress of Polish History in Cracow, 2012 (pp. 27-33) The Second International Congress of Polish History took place in Cracow from September 12th to 15th, 2012. It was organized by the Polish Historical Society (pl. Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne) and other historical societies of the Visegrád Group. Over 1000 researchers from Europe, Asia and both Americas attended the event. In contrary to the first congress, which focused on the current state of foreign research on Polish History, the lectures during the second congress addressed predominantly the problem of Poland’s role in Central Europe. Michał Galas Award of the prize Pro Historia Polonorum to Prof. Antony Polonsky (pp. 34-38) During the Second International Congress of Polish History in 2012, Antony Polonsky was honoured with the Pro Historia Polonorum Prize for his work The Jews in Poland and Russia, consisting of three volumes. Being an expert in this field of research for many years, his highly acclaimed work – covering the history of Jews in Poland and Russia from the Middle Ages to the year 2008 – will help English-speaking readers to learn about the history of Poland and Polish Jews as well as the history of Polish-Jewish relations. Kornelia Kończal Genealogies and Regions of Memory. Some Reflections on a Warsaw based Approach to Memory Studies (pp. 39-51) In 2011, a network of various Polish and German institutions launched the project ”Genealogies of Memory”. Up to now, two large-scale research conferences – the first on ”Genealogies of Memory” (2011), the second on ”Regions of Memory” (2012) – and some smaller events have been organized. Further events will take place in the coming months and years. The article summarizes both symposia and presents the overall project. The goal of the project is to facilitate the exchange of ideas between scholars coming from different countries, disciplines and research traditions. Since there were no platforms for discussion or effective exchange of ideas between students of memory studies in Poland, memory-related research projects carried out by Polish scholars were rather dispersed and the dialogue between students of memory studies was fragmented, often casual and limited. The approach of ”Genealogies of Memory” contrasts sharply with the hitherto prevailing forms of communication and offers a great opportunity to discuss projects carried out in Poland, Central Europe and other regions of the world in a truly international context as well as to present less known (not only) local research traditions. Marek Kornat The problem of the resettlement of the German population from the territories incorporated into Poland after World War II from the perspective of the Polish government in exile (1942—1945) (pp. 52-88) The territorial program of the Polish government in exile was based on the assumption that the Western border of Poland must be reconstructed. Between 1939 and 1941, Polish diplomacy in exile postulated the incorporation of the Free City of Danzig (Gdańsk), Eastern Prussia, Upper Silesia and the district of Oppeln (Opole) into Poland. In October 1942, the idea of a future delimitation between post-war Poland and post-war Germany along the rivers Oder and the Lusatian Neisse appeared. On October 7, 1942, this program was adopted by the Council of Ministry under General Sikorski just before his journey to the United States in December of that year. The Polish conditions for the future peace agreement were the subject of studies in a special Ministry for the Works for Peace Congress. Studies were coordinated by Dr. Marian Seyda, a right-wing politician and former Polish Minister for Foreign Affairs. In June 1944, the Ministry adopted the ”Theses on the resettlement of Germans from Poland.” This memorandum was a basic document for the creation of the Polish resettlement planning. The arguments of the authors of this text were centered on three general assumptions: (1) the security of Poland requires a new ”strategic” border; (2) the coexistence of the Polish nation and the large German population in a common state is absolutely impossible; (3) the coming total defeat of German Reich created an unique opportunity for Poland to achieve a new ”comfortable” settlement of the territorial problems between both nations. Cecylia Leszczyńska Polish economic history. State of the art (pp. 91-120) The study presents the development of research in the field of Polish economic history as well as the most important research centers. Polish economic historiography began at the beginning of the 20th century and improved in the period between the wars thanks to two prominent scholars, Franciszek Bujak (Lviv) and Jan Rutkowki (Poznań). They established the methodological and institutional foundations for the modern economic historiography. In the period of the Polish People’s Republic, economic historiography was in a difficult position due to political and ideological reasons. At the same time, a strong increase of interest in social-economic aspects was observed. In the 1960s Polish economic historiography linked itself to the world historiography; collaboration with the ”Annales” school was especially important. The flourishing period of the Polish historiography lasted until the 1980s. Nowadays, it is fragmented and divided into a number of different institutes. Many historians left the economic history field in favour of social-cultural issues. Strict historical-economic publications mostly concern the 19th and 20th century. Studies on the economy of the Middle Ages and early modern times, which built the core of the polish economic historiography in the second half of the 20th century, are rare. Participation of Polish historians at international congresses of economic history is also low. The yearly conferences with the name ”Wrocław meeting with economic history” and the Polish Association of Economic History should lead to an improvement of the situation. Anna Sosnowska Dependent on or unable to catch up with Western Europe? Post-1945 Polish historians’ debate on Eastern European backwardness (pp. 121-142) The paper analyzes the most important voices in the Polish post-war historical debate on the origins of and the ways to conceptualize Eastern European backwardness since the times of the rise of the West in the 16th century. It discusses in detail four models of Eastern European backwardness and its relation to the Western European developmental path. The two opposite interpretations of Eastern European backwardness were created by Marian Małowist’s model of dependent, quasi-colonial development, and Andrzej Wyczański’s model of catching up with the West. Witold Kula’s model of hybrid development and Jerzy Topolski’s model of unhappy coincidence represent the intermediate interpretations. The paper also briefly discusses the ways in which the Polish debate was influenced by Marxism and influenced Western historical research on the rise of the West, especially by Fernand Braudel and Immanuel Wallerstein. Finally, the paper argues that the debate, with its emphasis on common historical traits in Eastern Europe and serfdom as one of the central social institutions, is relevant not only for history of ideas, but also for sociology of Central Eastern European societies. Michał Kopczyński Body height as a measure for the standard of living in the Polish territories from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 20th century (pp. 143-161) The matter under consideration is the body height of the inhabitants of the Polish territories within the past thousand years. The body height is taken as a variable depicting the standard of living, mainly the quantity and quality of the available nutrition. Anthropological studies of skeletons from the cemeteries located in Polish territories (from the 10th to the 17th century) showed that the highest body height was achieved in the late Middle Ages. The early modern age brought an average decrease of about 1 cm. This can be linked with the worsening of the diet, above all the reduction of animal protein in the nutrition. In the 19th century a significant growth trend in the Polish territories loomed from the 1860s which is consistent with the knowledge on changes in food consumption during this period. The trends, which are described above are comparable to the ongoing changes in Europe, i.e. the period after 1945 brought an increase of the average body height of around 7 cm over the course of 36 years. Jacek Kochanowicz Migration and economic development in the Polish territories (pp. 162-179) The article presents the role of migration for the economic development in the Polish territories located in the developmental periphery of Europe from the medieval ages to the present. In the preindustrial period, people mainly moved from the territories in the centre (Western Europe) in the direction of the sparsely populated and poorly developed peripheries. In the case of the Polish territories, this immigration became an essential mechanism for the transfer of technical and institutional improvements which then contributed to its economic development. In the ages of industrialisation and – despite some disruptions – progressive globalisation since the second half of the 19th century, the migratory flows changed their direction.
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