Poland's History

       Poland has a very rough history. From the mid 17th century it has been in a middle of many devastating wars which led to the deterioration of it's system of government. It has never been a rich or strong country and that's why it at one point disappeared from the map, Russia conquered it and it became a part of the Russian Empire. Later through series of invasions and partitions it became Prussia and later claimed it's own independence in the early 1800's. In the early to mid 1900's, during World War II, Poland was the home of the many Nazi Jewish concentration camps. After WWII Poland's geographic location was shifted to the west and because of that Poland largely lost its traditional multi-ethnic character and the communist system was imposed. By the late 1980s Solidarity, a Polish reform movement, became crucial in causing a peaceful transition from a communist state to the capitalist system and parliamentary democracy. This process resulted in the creation of the modern Polish state.
        In the late 1980's and 1990's Poland had a mainly agriculture driven economy. The country had a lot of history but no where near economical success. Although many things have changed in the past 30 years it is still felt today. To this day the country is divided into 4 sectors: A,B,C and D. Sector A is the country's agricultural region with many farms. B is a small factory region with few European companies' factories. C is the suburban region where 70% of the population lives. And D is the country's business district where many of the corporations reside. Over the past years with the introduction of technology sectors C and D greatly changed and expended for the better.Technology has not effected A and B so much however, but they still continue to produce goods.
       There are many reasons why the technological growth is so slow and digital divide continues to exist. I think there are two main reasons that stand out the most. Firstly, because the agricultural sector A is so big and at one point everyone would have been considered to be a part of it, the people in that sector are resistant and hesitant to change. They don't want change, they are afraid of it and like how things used to be back in the day. Second big reason are the prices. 99% of all of the technologies and electronics come from the United States and have to be imported and sold with the American price tags. 1 Dollar is roughly equal to 3 zlotys. So everything that is purchased in Poland costs 3 times as much and usually has a big mark up in the price itself. The big difference in the price has slightly diminished over the years but it is still existent and noticeable today.

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