Poland

In a caricature printed on Christmas Eve 1934 by the Warsaw daily Express Poranny, ² a man stares surprised at a swarm of cockroaches surrounding a black box on a wall. The title reads: “A French infestation near the electric metre,” a play on Francuz, a Polish word both for Frenchman and cockroach (then written without the capital letter). The caricature was part of a conflict between the city of Warsaw and the local power plant, owned by Compagnie d’Électricite de Varsovie, a joint-stock company based in Paris. ³ After sputtering on for a decade, the dispute became harsher as the Great Depression affected Poland. In 1934, a local court put the power plant under compulsory administration, defying an international arbiter. Two years later, the city took the company over, with talks continuing into 1939. The two dates, 1934 and 1936, also mark turning points in relations between the Polish government and two other companies: a French-owned textile producer Towarzystwo Zakładów Żyrardowskich S. A. (Żyrardów Works), ⁴ and a German-controlled coal and heavy industry trust from Upper Silesia, Wspólnota Interesów Górniczo-Hutniczych (Mining and Metallurgy Community of Interests). ⁵ Like the power plant, they were first put under compulsory administration, then taken over by the state. All three companies were the target of prolonged press campaigns, partially inspired by the authorities. Żyrardów also saw much publicized arrests of its foreign managers. This series of attacks was enough for the German minister in Warsaw to complain to the French ambassador—a rare occurrence. ⁶ During these conflicts, in 1935, Polish military authorities moved against the most successful high-technology foreign investment in their country, taking over most of the Franco-Czechoslovak aviation producer Polskie Zakłady Skody SA (Polish Škoda Works) near Warsaw. ⁷