ABSTRACT
The protectionist character of interwar East-Central Europe's economic policy proved to be the outcome of all sorts of elements: of decisions whose effects were included in the reckoning and of measures unintended or even contrary to their initiators' original intentions. The primary reason behind the clearing system at the time of economic depression was the desire to reduce to a minimum the outflow of foreign exchange and to maintain in the country the foreign-currency reserves indispensable to the functioning of the economy. Poland's principal aim, particularly in the years 1930-1935, was to keep the zloty stable. Her other priorities remain vague. In Hungary the situation resembled that of Poland, at least at the time of Great Depression. Bulgaria seems to have wanted both to stabilize its currency and to protect its production, predominantly industrial production. The examples of Poland and Bulgaria indicate that the differentiation of degrees of protectionism was not a rare occurrence in the region.
