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By Maluch Through Wrocław. A Ride Through Time and Space The year 1973 in Poland was not full of events of the magnitude described in today’s history books. It was the third year of the rule of Edward Gierek, under whose leadership a ‘second Poland’ was being built. The standard of living in the country […]
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CITY OF WROCŁAW CALENDAR 1 January 1973 Wrocław is expanded by the areas of the villages of Jarnołtów, Jerzmanowo, Osiniec, Strachowice, Kłokoczyce, Lipa Piotrowska, Polanowice, Rędzin, Świniary and Widawa (from Wrocław Poviat) and Marszowice, Mokra and Żar (from Średzki Poviat) 10 December 1973Marian Czuliński, former chairman of the Presidium of the Municipal National Council of the […]
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The people’s car Mass motorisation played a major role in the social and economic changes of the 20th century. Between the two world wars, the automobile became widespread in the United States, making it possible to travel quickly across the country’s vast expanses. After the Second World War, it also became popular in Western Europe, […]
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Motorisation in Poland between 1945 and 1970 Before 1939, Poland was one of the last countries in Europe in terms of the number of cars per thousand inhabitants. As a result of the war, the fledgling car industry, infrastructure and almost all machinery were destroyed. The Communists, put in power in post-war Poland by their […]
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The decade of Gierek The small Fiat is one of the symbols of Edward Gierek’s decade in power. In the first half of the decade, thanks to loans from the West, Poland experienced a real investment boom and the standard of living of the average citizen rose rapidly. Despite the fact that only a few […]
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License Many of the flagship investments of the Gierek era were based on Western licences to be paid for in finished products, and the income from their export was intended by the economic managers to provide Poland with a much-needed influx of foreign currency. A model and probably the most successful example of such a […]
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Fiat 126 In October 1971, when a Polish delegation signed an agreement with FIAT executives for the licenced production of a small-engine car, work was underway in Turin on a successor to the Fiat 500, which had been in production since 1957. The new model was called the ‘126’. Photo 1, 2, 3. The first […]
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Fiat 126 Photo 1. ‘Młody Technik’ 1973, No. 1, pp. 66–67 (collections of the Ossolineum Library / Periodicals Department) Photo 2, 3. In Poland, the French magazine’s revelations were first reprinted by the Warsaw-based ‘Express Wieczorny’. ‘Express Wieczorny’ of 12 May 1972, No. 113, p. 1 (collections of the Ossolineum Library / Periodicals Department) ‘Express […]
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Small-Engine Car Factory (Fabryka Samochodów Małolitrażowych) It is no coincidence that the Polish people’s car was manufactured in Upper Silesia, as the patron of the whole project, Edward Gierek, who was First Secretary of the Voivodeship Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party in Katowice from 1956 to 1970, came from this region. Photo 1. […]
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Wrocław premiere The world premiere of the Fiat 126 took place in October 1972 at the Turin Motor Show, and on 9 November of the same year the car was unveiled with a bang in Warsaw’s Parade Square. Soon the Italian Fiat 126 cars were on their way to Poland. Photo 1. Presentation of the […]