A Political Manoeuvre to Strengthen Poland’s Military and Economic Potential on the Eve of the Outbreak of the Second World War: A Contribution to Decision Analysis

Abstract

The analysis of the situation in Poland in the second half of the 1930s proves the significant activity of Inspector General of the Armed Forces, Edward Śmigły-Rydz, in the area of the economy, especially in the period of its mobilization, which is understood as a broad and accelerated process of activating the war and economic potential to meet the needs of the army in time of danger. Therefore, it is about the implemented military policy, an area of decision-making in which the concepts of politics, governance, and the creativity of state authority converge to develop a program and employ specific methods to achieve the assumed goals. In the face of threats and war, the state must address two types of problems: on the one hand, it must adapt the methods and forms of directing and managing the economy to the new reality; on the other, it must link manufacturing issues to meeting war needs. The basic goal of this article is to take a new look at the role of the military and Edward Śmigły-Rydz in the processes of developing and then implementing decisions in the sphere of strengthening the war and economic potential (decision analysis).