Economy of Silesia under the Rule of German Capitalists

Abstract

The economic development of Silesia in the German interwar period has been studied mainly with regard to Upper Silesia and heavy industry. The Opole administrative district (Regierungsbezirk Opole) has remained in the background, although it exemplifies the consequences of monopoly capitalism, the Polish-German customs war, and the economic disadvantaging of the German eastern territories.
This article examines the economy of Silesia - in particular the Regierungsbezirk Opole - under the domination of German capital in the interwar period, analyzing its share in the German national income and industrial production, the development of unemployment, and the character of capital investments and armament investments in the Opole district.
The study draws on official German production statistics (Deutsche Industrie, Berlin 1939), data of the Statistical Office of the Silesian Provincial Associations, census data, and the author's earlier joint monograph with Ryszka on the heavy industry of Upper Silesia (Opole 1959), supplemented by Kokot's monograph on the Opole Land.
The analysis shows that national income per capita in Silesia was more than 20% below the German average, and Silesia's share in German industrial production in 1936 was only 4.2% - although the Silesian population accounted for 7.2% of the total German population. Monopoly capitalism regarded Silesia as an unsafe capital investment and limited itself to exploiting existing natural resources while making unlimited use of the cheap labour of the area. Unemployment remained extraordinarily high throughout the interwar period. New investments were essentially confined to armament enterprises - I.G. Farbenindustrie plants in Kedzierzyn and Zdzieszowice - directly serving the Nazi war preparations. The economic backwardness of Silesia was thus not accidental but the result of a deliberate policy of German monopoly capital.