Volume 36 (2018): Issue 1 (December 2018)
ECONOMIC TRANSFERS

The article focuses on problems related to capital in Katowicka Spółka Akcyjna dla Górnictwa i Hutnictwa SA (Katowice Mining and Metallurgy Joint Stock Company) and Górnośląskie Zjednoczone Huty “Królewska” i “Laura” (Upper Silesian United Metallurgical Plants “Królewska” and “Laura”) in the years 1918–1939. The article examines particular issues of the Upper Silesian industry after the Great War, namely: concentration of foreign capital in the mining and metallurgical industries; great mining and metallurgical enterprises in the periods of both industrial prosperity and crisis; attempts to limit the influence of foreign capital following the introduction of judicial supervision over Katowicka Spółka Akcyjna dla Górnictwa i Hutnictwa SA and Górnośląskie Zjednoczone Huty “Królewska” i “Laura” SA; the emergence of Wspólnota Interesów Górniczo– Hutniczych SA (Mining and Metallurgy Community of Interests Joint Stock Company) in the final years of the Second Polish Republic.

The article analyzes the position and the positioning strategy of East Central Europe in the so-called “first globalization (1850-1914)”. The focus is on foreign trade and the transfer of the two most important production factors, i.e. capital and labor. East Central Europe included in this period the territories of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Kingdom of Poland as a part of the Russian Empire, and the eastern provinces of the Kingdom of Prussia which were from 1871 onwards part of the German Reich. The article combines the theories and methods of economic history and transnational history. It sees itself as a contribution to a trans-regional history of East Central Europe by analyzing first the main “flows” and then the influence of “controls”.

The article analyzes to what extent and in what way East Central Europe was involved in the globalization processes of the late 19^th century. It discusses whether East Central Europe was only the object of global developments or even shaped them. In this context it asks about the role of the empires (Habsburg monarchy, German Reich, Russia) for the position of East Central European economies in the world economy. It shows that the economic elites in the centers but also on the edges of the empires developed different strategies for how to respond to the challenges of globalization.

A drastic decrease in the European pond turtle population occurred at the end of 18th century and during the first half of 19th century. The exploitation of this species, as a source of food and drug substances, is nowadays almost forgotten. The present paper aimed at, firstly, underlining some historical sources concerning the exploitation of the European pond turtle. Secondly, its goal is to answer the following question: to what extent did the exploitation of the species contribute to the decline of the population? The author concludes with the importance and necessity of historical and economic analysis in order to understand the phenomenon of the decline of the European pond turtle population. This research, which must be continued by historians, will help the naturalists in action to protect and reintroduce the species into its former geographical range.

The article concerns the transfer of ownership of forest property, nationalized after World War II. It covers the subject matter of the process of property acquisition by way of nationalization decrees, in particular in the area of the so-called Regained Territories and dilemmas related to the issue of reprivatization. The work includes issues proposed over the years and existing statutory solutions, as well as case law affecting the interpretation of legal norms.

Throughout the existence of the Polish People’s Republic (PPR), its scientific and technical intelligence (S&TI) supported Polish mining, energy, metallurgy, and machine industries. Cooperation with companies and research and development centers intensified in the first half of the 1970s, as a natural consequence of the experience accumulated by the intelligence service in the previous fifteen years.

The most crucial issues related to the improvement of secret methods of acquiring technologies for the Polish economy were defining the scope of the tasks, i.e. the types of technologies which can be acquired by intelligence or purchased in the black market, selecting objects, (i.e. institutions and organizations with the required knowledge), and recruiting personal sources of information in western facilities.

Apart from acquiring specific solutions S&TI also developed analyses related to specific countries, as well as to specific technologies in the global aspect or to international corporations that possessed the technologies. Furthermore, S&TI was engaged by the Polish government to provide information to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of International Trade during trade negotiations with foreign contractors.

Author draws the history of Polish S&TI during the 70s and 80s, showcasing its operations, explaining its modus operandi and discussing the question about the efficiency of illicit transfer of know-how from OECD for the purposes technical progress in communist Poland. Article bases on recently declassified documents of Polish intelligence service from the pre-1990 period. There are moreover other archival records as well as secondary sources explored.