A ‘great change’, or, the Poles’ unfulfiled daydream about having a car (1956-7)

Kochanowski, Jerzy (1960– )

doi:0001-6829

- ris
- BibTeX
- EndNote
- Csv

A ‘great change’, or, the Poles’ unfulfiled daydream about having a car (1956-7) Kochanowski, Jerzy (1960– )

Object structure

A ‘great change’, or, the Poles’ unfulfiled daydream about having a car (1956-7)

Acta Poloniae Historica T. 115 (2017)

Kochanowski, Jerzy (1960– )

Korecki, Tristan : Trans. ; Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences ; Polish National Historical Committee

Instytut Historii PAN

Poland ; socialist countries ; Thaw of 1956 ; motorisation ; automobiles - Poland - 1945-1970 ; consumption

The political ‘Thaw’ of 1956-7 was in Poland a period of thorough political as well as cultural and social change. While the political liberalisation came to an end rather soon, the team of Władysław Gomułka, the newly-appointed First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party [PZPR], in power since October 1956, cared much for maintaining and reinforcing their pro-social and reformatory image. The leadership team’s assent for a more sophisticated consumption, part of which was owning a car, helped alleviate social tensions. The models were drawn from the West of Europe and from the United States, which for the Polish society were the major points of reference, as well as from the other socialist countries - particularly, East Germany (the GDR) and Czechoslovakia, where the political and societal significance of motorisation had already been appreciated. On the other hand, offering private individuals an opportunity to purchase a car was meant to be a remarkable tool used to draw the ‘hot money’ down from the market, thus preventing inflation. Cars, imported or Polish-made, began being (relatively) freely traded, at very high prices. This did not limit the demand, as acquiescence for private business operations contributed to the growing of the group of affluent people. While this incited the citizens to develop their own strategies of acquiring cars - not infrequently colliding with the law; the authorities began gradually reinstating the rationing. All the same, the number of private cars quickly increased, to 58,600 as of 1958, up from some 24,750 in 1956. Public discussion started around popular low-capacity (small-engine) cars - whether licensed (Renault, Simca, Fiat) or (to be) made in Poland. However, in spite of the raised expectations the authorities decided that it was still too early for a mass motorisation: this was made possible only in the early 1970s.

Gatejel Luminita, Warten, hoffen und endlich fahren. Auto und Sozialismus in der Sowjetunion, in Rumänien und der DDR (1956-1989/91) (Frankfurt am Main and New York, 2014).
Haustein Sabine, Vom Mangel zum Massenkonsum. Deutschland, Frankreich und Großbritannien im Vergleich, 1945-1970 (Frankfurt am Main and New York, 2007).
Kaelble Hartmut, Sozialgeschichte Europas: 1945 bis zur Gegenwart (München, 2007).
Kochanowski Jerzy and Puttkamer Joachim von (eds.),1956. (Nieco) inne spojrzenie. Eine (etwas) andere Perspektive (Warszawa, 2016).
Kuhr-Korolev Corinna and Grieger Manfred (eds.), Towards Mobility. Varieties of Automobilism in East and West (Wolfsburg, 2009).
Mezer Jerzy de, Cywilizacja motocyklowa. Motoryzacja motocyklowa w Polsce 1945-1965 (Warszawa, 2011) [e-book].
Mórawski Karol J., Syrena. Samochód PRL (Warszawa, 2005).
Reid Susan E. and Crowley David (eds.), Style and Socialism. Modernity and Material Culture in Post-War Eastern Europe (Oxford and New York, 2000).
Ruppert Wolfgang (ed.), Fahrrad, Auto, Fernsehschrank. Zur Kulturgeschichte der Alltagsdinge (Frankfurt am Main, 1993).
Schildt Axel, Moderne Zeiten: Freizeit, Massenmedien und “Zeitgeist” in der Bundesrepublik der 50er Jahre (Hamburg, 1995).
Siegelbaum Lewis H. (ed.), The Socialist Car: Automobility in the Eastern Bloc (Ithaca, NY, 2011).
Siegelbaum Lewis H., Cars for Comrades. The Life of the Soviet Automobile (Ithaca, NY, 2008).
Wildt Michael, Am Beginn der “Konsumgesellschaft”. Mangelerfahrung, Lebenshaltung, Wohlstandshoffnung in Westdeutschland in den fünfziger Jahren (Hamburg, 1995).
Wilk Hubert, ‘“Nawet samochodów nie ma, zostały graty po Niemcach” - motoryzacyjny punkt startu - Polska 1944-1949’, Polska 1944/45-1989. Studia i Materiały, xii (2014), 301-30.
Wilk Hubert, ‘Samochód dla towarzysza Wiesława. Dyskusje nad kierunkiem rozwoju motoryzacji indywidualnej w Polsce 1955-1970’, Polska 1944/45-1989. Studia i Materiały, xi (2013), 277-96.