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Nach der Westverschiebung Polens 1945 stand die Volksrepublik vor der gewaltigen Aufgabe, eine fremde Industrieregion, deren Bevölkerung bis 1947 nahezu vollständig vertrieben wurde und die ein Drittel des Staatsgebiets bildete, zu inkorporieren und wirtschaftlich zu nutzen. Yaman Kouli untersucht am Beispiel des Gebiets Niederschlesien, wie effektiv das gelang.Die materiellen Voraussetzungen für den Wiederaufbau waren überraschend gut. Das Produktionspotenzial der früheren Ostprovinz war zu Kriegsende 50 Prozent höher als 1936, und die Kriegszerstörungen waren überschaubar. Einzig die Demonta

Few European countries have gone through as much as Poland during the twentieth century. Even among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which during the 'Age of Extremes' experienced the substantial losses and movement of tens of millions of people, Poland's history is somewhat unique, as most of these expulsions affected the Polish border regions. Although not the only culprit, one can make a strong case that the border changes were a primary factor, having – for better or worse – a strong effect on the economy, the society and the general development of Poland. Poland has, nevertheless, been economically successful since the 1990s. It is thus with good reason that two questions have played a major role in the historiography of economic and social trends in twentieth-century Poland. The first one was whether the 'border changes' were a burden, or if Poland was able to profit from them. The second question asks whether Poland was able to modernise because of them. At the same time, few authors recognised that both issues are closely intertwined. Emphasising their interconnection is the main purpose of this review.

Nach der Westverschiebung Polens 1945 stand die Volksrepublik vor der gewaltigen Aufgabe, eine fremde Industrieregion, deren Bevölkerung bis 1947 nahezu vollständig vertrieben wurde und die ein Drittel des Staatsgebiets bildete, zu inkorporieren und wirtschaftlich zu nutzen. Yaman Kouli untersucht am Beispiel des Gebiets Niederschlesien, wie effektiv das gelang.Die materiellen Voraussetzungen für den Wiederaufbau waren überraschend gut. Das Produktionspotenzial der früheren Ostprovinz war zu Kriegsende 50 Prozent höher als 1936, und die Kriegszerstörungen waren überschaubar. Einzig die Demonta

"Since the 1990s, the economic development of Central and Eastern Europe has maintained high economic growth rates, seemingly leading to an era of prosperity. This very positive vision of future economic success, linked to current political backlash and a long history of economic adversity, is a thin veil of the economic "way west" for so-called transition countries. The Middle-Income Trap in Central and Eastern Europe examines the reality of the diminishing marginal utility of further international investments alongside the pitfalls of higher government spending to cultivate innovation which ultimately makes foreign capital less attractive. In this volume authors from diverse disciplinary perspectives reflect on current debates surrounding the developmental bottlenecks in East-Central Europe. Their common goal is to analyze the manner of socio-economic transformation, question of the relevance and impact of the "middle-income trap" and identify possible ways to escape it."

Intro -- Preface and Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 Introduction: European Economic Integration and International Coordination in the First Globalisation Era, 1850-1914 -- The Transnational Making of the Modern State -- The Politics of European Economic Integration -- Structure and Aim of the Book -- References -- 2 European Economic Integration before 1914-A Closer Look -- International Economy or European Economy? -- Measuring Economic Integration -- Conclusion -- References -- 3 The European Making of National Public Services-Posts and Telegraphs -- State-run Public Services -- Negotiating Interdependence -- The International Telegraph Union -- The Universal Postal Union -- The Politics of Technocratic Internationalism -- Cross-Subsidies: The Transnational Funding of National Networks -- Imperialism and International Cooperation Made Compatible-Administrative Sovereignty -- Private Companies -- Europe, a Technological Zone Apart -- Conclusion -- References -- 4 Inventing Foreign Patents in Globalising Europe -- Patents during the Second Industrial Revolution -- Knowledge-based Economy -- The State as the Guarantor -- Patents and International Trade -- The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) -- Drivers of National Patent Laws-A Coproduction of National and International Incentives -- Patent as a Natural, Individual Right? -- Patents in the Globalised World: International Participation and Pressure -- Patents and Knowledge Distribution -- Conclusion -- References -- 5 Keeping International Order in Good Health: Plant Protection -- Fighting Potato Late Blight -- Fighting the Great Wine Blight -- Protecting Plants: Certificates vs. Quarantine -- Conclusion -- References -- 6 Social Policy-From a Prisoner's Dilemma to a European Cartel.

This book asks anew whether there really was European integration before 1914. By focussing on quantitative (economic indicators) and qualitative data (the international regulation of patents, communication networks, social policy and plant protection), the authors re-evaluate European integration of the time and address the politics of seemingly apolitical cooperation. The authors show that European integration was multifaceted and cooperation less the result of intent, than of incentives. National polities and international regimes co-shaped each other. The result is a book that achieves two things: offer stand-alone chapters that shed light on specific developments and - these read altogether - develop a bigger picture. It will be of interest to researchers and students of economic history, as well as those interested in the history of internationalism and globalisation. Yaman Kouli is a researcher at the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf. He has held numerous other positions, including as research assistant at the Chemnitz University of Technology and an A.SK-fellow at the Berlin Social Science Centre. From 2018 to 2020, he was Feodor-Lynen fellow and received a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation. His fields of expertise are Poland's economic history during the 20th century, the knowledge-based economy and European integration. Léonard Laborie has been a research fellow at the CNRS, UMR Sirice in Paris since 2010. He received his PhD in contemporary history from Sorbonne University. His research deals with the interactions between science, technology and diplomacy in the making of Europe since the 1850s. He was chairman of the Tensions of Europe Research Network on History, Technology and Europe from 2019 to 2022.

This article introduces a partially special issue exploring the ways in which diverse political, economic, military, and technical actors in both camps perceived the techno-economic integration and disintegration of Europe during and after the First World War. How to deal with the severing of ties forged over the previous decades? How to go about re-establishing new ties, and with whom? To what extent did wartime reflection and experience relating to these issues shape post-war responses? Research focusing on war aims and peace negotiations shows that in terms of international cooperation and the organisation of Europe, these years were neither the polar opposite nor a simple pause of pre-1914 integration. Our aim is to use specific case studies to document how this disintegration unfolded or was contained, as well as to examine why and how new integration was implemented during the war and subsequently called into question when peace returned, before often re-emerging in Europeanist movements and expert networks linked to state foreign policy after Locarno. We will especially focus on transport (rail and road) and patents, two of the most hotly debated issues on both sides, albeit asymmetrically.

Historiography on European integration before 1914 has acknowledged that the level of entanglements between the European nation-states was quite advanced. Indeed, historians were able to confirm a high level of cooperation on the legal, social, technical and even political level. And yet, the exact level of economic integration has hitherto been unknown. In this paper, we quantitatively analyse the level of economic integration in Europe. We develop a comprehensive economic integration index for the period 1880-1913. By exploiting existing as well as newly available databases, we quantitatively analyse the longterm development of European economic integration for 15 European countries. Subindices are developed to measure for each country and each year the extent of European market integration, economic homogeneity and cyclical symmetry. We exploit the data using principal-component-analysis (PCA). Moreover, we test for country-specific characteristics via regression analysis and cluster analysis. With our findings, we are able to show that European economic integration actually declined during the years between 1880 and 1913 and got more fragmentated. Even though the exact picture depends on the country, the tendency is still undeniable: during the "first wave of globalisation", European economic integration levels moved downwards.