ABSTRACT
Although there is only limited information on this potentially vast topic, it is self-evident that Romania and Yugoslavia benefited from annexing relatively advanced territories to the north while Poland had to cope with the east-west extremes. Relatively large efforts were made in education and health. Education needed great improvement at the more basic level although the new nations also sought better provision for higher education in leading provincial towns like Timiş oara, which gained its polytechnic in 1920 to complement the existing university catering for the humanities. But development in education ‘did not suffice to generate a major economic improvement’ (Hauner 1985 p. 93) owing to conflict between consumer service and long-term investment which meant there was no planning of graduate output until after 1945. Regarding the challenge of peasant illiteracy, compulsory education was enacted before the war (except in Albania and parts of Yugoslavia) but full school attendance was still not achieved because ‘most countries were in a vicious circle of low public outlay, inadequate availability of teachers, school buildings, textbooks and adequate communications, and above all, demand for skilled labour’ (ibid. p. 94). Public health improved through progress in hospitals and the provision of doctors (with Hungary, Poland, Romania and Yugoslavia finding themselves with fewer doctors than in 1914) while epidemic diseases were tackled through vaccination and better hygiene and water. Bulgaria and Poland were unusual in seeking comprehensive provision against sickness, old age and unemployment. Progress was not even because Hungary and Romania did well over literacy but less so with health while Yugoslavia did better on health. There was limited intervention in housing except in the northern cities and the new capitals, although there were major regional and urban-rural differences. In the northern countries and even more in the Balkans ‘the low capital accumulating capacity of the economies disfavoured projects of high capital intensity and infrastructural components giving slow returns. However, the further growth at Gdynia during 1930-6 was supported by state through subsidised building costs and tax concessions. It was labour-intensive types of infrastructure which developed relatively rapidly’ (Ehrlich 1985 p. 366). In transport and communications there is a detailed review below, but it should be noted that national airlines were coming into existence, while telephones lagged with only 8.3 phones per 1,000 people in 1937 compared with 70.6 in Western Europe. There were also great variations within the region: 11.5 in the three northern states; 3.9 in Bulgaria, Romania and Yugoslavia; and 1.9 in Albania. This was the most backward infrastructure, with transport the next weakest, despite all the progress that was made everywhere.
