The Zloty A Polish Odyssey 1924–2024

The Zloty draws on recently available Polish archival material from central banks and international institutions to show how long-lived debates about inflation have been central in Polish political history. It offers surprising revelations about the drama of the evacuation and legal treatment of the central bank's gold after the German invasion of 1939 and the long struggle for economic and monetary reform while Poland was part of the Soviet system, going back to the late 1950s. It includes interwar and post-1990 sections that give an exemplary case of how a country on the periphery of the international economic system tried hard to integrate, ultimately failing in the first instance, while succeeding with dramatic success over the past thirty-five years. Written in gripping and non-technical language, this book offers a scholarly yet accessible account of Poland's struggles with inflation, foreign debt, and Nazi and communist rule.