French Capital, the Warsaw Power Plant, and the Birth of Economic Nationalism in Interwar Poland

Abstract

Poland, like other new states of Central and Eastern Europe in the interwar period, faced challenges to its economic sovereignty. These were both due to imperial legacies, and to the postwar spread of Western capital. As capital importers, how could the Poles convince foreigners to provide the capital needed for reconstruction and development without undermining Warsaw's ability to pursue independent policies? The article analyzes the changing Polish attitudes to foreign capital through the lens of the 20-year-long conflict between the country's central and city authorities and the French owners of the Warsaw power plant. It is based on the study of diplomatic sources, press commentary, and company financial results. It shows that the conflict had a crucial role in Poland's move towards economic nationalism in relation to foreign direct investment. Moreover, it argues that the country's intransigent attitude toward the power plant owners and international arbitration in the 1930s was a reassertion of economic sovereignty. The latter had been eroded by French political and financial expansion in the previous decade.