6533b82afe1ef96bd128bac6

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Polityka regionalna państwa po październiku 1956 r. na Śląsku Opolskim wobec regionalizmu

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The article is a continuation of considerations on the functioning of Polish regionalism in Silesia in the period of Polish People’s Republic, that is in a totalitarian State, after the end of Stalinism. The state authorities in Warsaw came to face the ąuestion how to halt the autochthonic population’s rapid willingness to emigrate to the FRG, which was fueled by the action of ”joining families”. Corrections introduced into the social policy were not of much help in this respect, since the deepening differences in the ąuality of life and the encouraging attitude represented by the authorities in Bonn, ready to accept repatriates and refugees, aided by practically stagnant economy and ”crude socialism” offered by Władysław Gomułka, exerted a strong ”push-out” influence on the Silesian population. Owing to the establishment of the first college of higher education - Wyższa Szkoła Pedagogiczna (Teacher Training College) and Instytut Śląski (State Silesian Institute) in Opole, the basis for conducting regional studies improved greatly. The inclusion of the autochthonous subject matter in the studies made it possible to present the contribution of representatives of this population to the economic development of the region in a fuller light. That was favourable from the point of view of the development of scientific studies, but did not prove effective in weakening the emigration trend, which - in a decisive way - changed the demographic and political situation of the autochthonous people.