Economic History in Poland as an Academic Discipline

Abstract

This study examines the emergence of economic history as an academic discipline in Poland during the critical period from 1905/06 to 1921/22, marked by the country’s regaining of independence. The primary aim of the research is to analyze the institutional structuring of economic history within Polish universities, as well as the formation of a distinct scholarly approach to the discipline.
The analysis is based on university archival sources, course syllabi, academic correspondence, and published works by pioneers of the field such as Franciszek Bujak, Ignacy Baranowski, Jan Rutkowski, Roman Grodecki, and Natalia Gąsiorowska.
The results show that economic history gradually gained autonomy in the academic setting through the establishment of seminars, dedicated chairs, and the implementation of specialized research programs. This development was accompanied by methodological reflection on the subject, sources, and methods of the discipline. Major initiatives such as the creation of general syntheses, the drafting of textbooks, and the planning of source publication projects were undertaken already in this early period.
This phase also witnessed the emergence of lasting scientific collaboration, particularly between Bujak and Rutkowski, who played a central role in legitimizing economic history within the academic landscape in Poland.
In conclusion, the period between 1905 and 1922 was a formative phase in which economic history became not only a field of university instruction but also an autonomous area of research within the historical and social sciences in Poland.