AN OUTSIDE PERSPECTIVE ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF POLAND (Second Half of the Nineteenth – Early Twentieth Centuries)

Abstract

In historical sources we find numerous positive reviews about the industrial development of the Kingdom of Poland in the second half of the 19th century, even from those persons whose origin and social status predetermined their critical attitude towards Poland. The ever-increasing competition of Polish goods in relation to Russian in the second half of the 19th century, as well as the growth of German land ownership in Polish lands, once again increased the interest of the imperial government in the “Polish question”. To study the current situation in 1886, by order of the Minister of Finance, Nikolai Bunge, a special “Commission for the study of border factories” was created on the territory of the Kingdom of Poland. In the conclusions of this commission, in particular the factory inspector of the Moscow district, prof. Ivan Yanzhul, as well as in the scientific works of the Warsaw University professor Gregori Simonenko, the reports of the economist Sergei Sharapov, we meet a high assessment of the industrial development of the Kingdom of Poland. In all compared processes and phenomena, such as the rate of industrial growth, the technical equipment of enterprises, the qualifications of workers, wages, working hours, medicine and insurance at enterprises, success was on the side of Poland, and not the Moscow region. The Commission, as well as representatives of Russian scientific thought, considered the effective economic policy of the Russian Empire to be the main reason for the development of the Kingdom of Poland. According to prof. Yanzhul, problems such as German land ownership in Polish territories, smuggling of German goods to the market of the Russian Empire, more favorable conditions for the development of Polish industry than the Moscow economic region should be radically resolved, namely: to provide Poland with full political independence.