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. Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... Second Polish Republic 1921-1939 The Second Polish Republic is an unofficial name applied to the Republic of Poland between World War I and World War II. When the borders of the state were fixed in 1921, it had an area of 388. ... A prime minister may be either: the chief or leading member of the cabinet of the top-level government in a country having a parliamentary system of government; or the official, in countries with a semi-presidential system of government, appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives... Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski (30 December 1888 - 22 August 1974), was a Polish politician and economist. ... Dorothea Langes Migrant Mother depicts destitute pea pickers in California during the Great Depression. ... September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years). ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Polish September Campaign — also known as Polish-German War of 1939, in Poland often as Wojna obronna 1939 roku (Defensive War of 1939), in Germany as Polish Campaign (Polenfeldzug), codenamed Fall Weiss (Case White) in the German General Staff — was the invasion of Poland by the armies of Nazi... 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Peoples Republic of Poland (Polish: Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989, during its period of rule by the Communist party, officially called the Polish United Workers Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza, or PZPR). ...

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'. 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Soviet Russia is sometimes used as a somewhat sloppy synonym to the Soviet Union — although the term Soviet Russia sometimes refers to Bolshevist Russia from the October Revolution in 1917 to 1922 (Although Russian communists officially formed RSFSR in 1918). ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

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: Download high resolution version (562x614, 14 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Second Polish Republic Voivodships of Poland Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy Categories: GFDL images ... Download high resolution version (562x614, 14 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Second Polish Republic Voivodships of Poland Centralny Okreg Przemyslowy Categories: GFDL images ... Kielce Voivodship (1) (Polish: województwo kieleckie) - a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975-1998, superseded by Swietokrzyskie Voivodship. ... Kraków Voivodship (1) 1975-1998 (Polish: województwo krakowskie) also Kraków Metropolitan Voivodship (województwo miejskie krakowskie) was a unit of administrative division and local government in Poland in years 1975-1998, superseded by Lesser Poland Voivodship. ... Lublin voivodship since 1999 Lublin Voivodship (in Polish województwo lubelskie) is an administrative and local government region or voivodship in the eastern part of Poland. ... Powiat is the Polish name for county, a second-level unit of the administrative division and local government in Poland. ... Urbanization is the degree of or increase in urban character or nature. ...

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. Satellite image of the Carpathians The Carpathian Mountains (Czech, Polish, and Slovak: Karpaty; Serbian: Karpati; Hungarian: Kárpátok; Romanian: CarpaÅ£i; Ukrainian: Карпати, Karpaty) are the eastern wing of the great Central Mountain System of Europe, curving 1500 km (~900 miles) along the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland... The Great Depression was a massive global economic recession (or depression) that ran from 1929 to 1939. ...

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. Steel mills are the industrial plants where pig iron is converted into steel. ... Stalowa Wola is a city in south-eastern Poland, on the river San, with 72,100 inhabitants (2000). ... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. ... Dębica is a town in southeastern Poland with 48,700 inhabitants (as of 1995). ... A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... Lublin (pronounce: [lublin]) is the biggest city in eastern Poland and the capital of Lublin Voivodship with a population of 355,954 (2004). ... An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... Coat of arms of Mielec Flag of Mielec Mielec is a town in south-eastern Poland with 63,300 inhabitants (2003). ... Historically, artillery refers to any engine used for the discharge of projectiles during war. ... Rzeszów (pronounce: [ʒεʃuv]) is a city in south-eastern Poland with a population of 168 705 (2005), granted a town charter in 1354, the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodship (since 1999), previously of Rzeszow Voivodship (1945-1998). ... Hydroelectric dam diagram The waters of Llyn Stwlan, the upper reservoir of the Ffestiniog Pumped-Storage Scheme in north Wales, can just be glimpsed on the right. ... Motto: none Voivodship Masovian Municipal government Rada miejska Radomia Mayor ZdzisÅ‚aw Marcinkowski Area 111,7 km² Population  - city  - urban  - density 228 700 - 2047/km² Founded City rights - - Latitude Longitude 51°24 N 21°10 E Area code +48 48 Car plates WR Twin towns - Municipal Website Radom (pronounce: [rad... Location of Skarzysko-Kamienna Skarżysko-Kamienna - a town in northern Swietokrzyskie Voivodship (Poland) by Kamienna river, to the north of Swietokrzyskie Mountains; one of the voivodships major towns. ... Starachowice is a town in central Poland with 57,500 inhabitants (1995). ... Kielce (pronounce: [ˈkjεlʦε]) is a city in central Poland with 210,311 inhabitants (2004). ...

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. Gdynia (pronounce: [:gdiɲia], Kashubian/Pomeranian: Gdiniô) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdansk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

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. Blitzkrieg relied on close cooperation between infantry and panzers (tanks). ...

See also

• Bielski Okręg Przemysłowy
• Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy
• Gdynia

Gdynia (pronounce: [:gdiɲia], Kashubian/Pomeranian: Gdiniô) is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodship of Poland and an important seaport at Gdansk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea. ...

References

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