Models of East European Backwardness in Post-1945 Polish Historiography

Abstract

The article discusses the ideas of four Polish historians: Marian Małowist, Witold Kula, Jerzy Topolski, and Andrzej Wyczański on the nature, causes and effects of the economic backwardness in early modern Poland. The main stress is laid on the debate on the so-called second serfdom. While Małowist and Kula were close to some sort of dependency theory, Topolski and Wyczański presented the Polish economic development as belated but not necessarily dependent. The concepts developed by the above authors can still be useful as analytical tools for historians and social scientists.

European regions and boundaries: a conceptual history

“…Signifi cantly, they gradually moved toward the notion of "East Central Europe." The work of the P olish Marian Małowist and Witold Kula was in many ways comparable, focusing on the global distribution of labor and pointing to the historical roots of the backwardness of Eastern Europe (see Sosnowska 2005). From a diff erent perspective, focusing on the comparative history of national movements, the Hungarian Emil Niederhauser (1977; also framed his object of analysis in terms of a "broad" Eastern Europe, which also encompassed Southeastern Europe.…”