The role of national minorities in the economic growth of the city of Łódź until the Second World War

Abstract

The creation of multicultural Łódź was a complex and longlasting process. It is commonly known that Łódź had grown into to a large city in the 19th century owing to the textile industry. The economic and demographic growth of this city was extremelly dynamic, comparable only with the development of the so called ‘mushroom-cities’ in the USA. This development was considerably (in some respects essentially) influenced by representatives of other nationalities who, beside Polish people, largely defined its specific character. The history of Łódź, for more than 100 years the second largest city in Poland and until the 1890s the largest industry centre in Poland, can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th century. However, until the 1820s, Łódź was a small town living by agriculture, trade and handicraft. Its industrial carrier had begun from the resolution of Kingdom of Poland governor on the 18th of September 1820, in which Łódź was nominated – among many other cities – for the textile settlement. This event had determined its unusual carrier and a very dynamic development in the 19th and early 20th centuries.