The Ministry of Motorization or the Central Office for Motor Vehicles? – Polish Motorization at the Crossroads. Plans, Opportunities, Institutions (1944–1948)

The Ministry of Motorization or the Central Office for Motor Vehicles? – Polish motorization at a crossroads. Plans, opportunities, institutions (1944–1948) The end of World War II meant the beginning of a new chapter in nearly all areas of life. One of them was motorization which, as a result of the unfavourable policy of the authorities of the Second Polish Republic and the war damage inflicted by both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, in fact ceased to exist. In that situation, the years 1945–1949 were the period in history in which many concepts of its development originated. People connected with the prewar Polish Automobile Club became eagerly involved in this; after the end of World War II, they played an active role in the process of restoration of Polish motorization. During the five years mentioned, several institutions were founded whose objective was to develop a national plan for the development of motorization, which would take advantage of the potential of the automobile industry. Such documents were prepared by: the State Motor Vehicle Office, the Committee for National Motorization or the Motorization Sub-Committee. Nearly all the plans being discussed had one point in common – the establishment of an institution at the central level (perhaps a ministry), which would control all decisions connected with widely understood motorization. Before that, the competencies of individual offices had overlapped in many cases, resulting in disputes. Unfortunately, nearly all of these plans remained ‘on paper’ only, as they were not approved by decision-makers