Alison Fleig Frank

Call this a case study of the failure of extraction wealth to transform a backward economy, as the fragmented nature of the Hapsburg state negated the careful management that the oil fields of the Polish-dominated province of Galicia required. This is not to say that the province's Polish elite and Ukrainian base were looking for careful management if it only meant exploitation by outside economic elements; one of the few things a population in constant conflict could agree upon. Be that as it may, the other reality is that by the time Vienna realized the prize they truly had, the time for efficient exploitation had largely passed, as production was slipping; a reality that became particularly clear in the Interwar era when while the area was firmly under Polish control, but mostly dominated by French finance. These days the author finds the Galician oil industry to be mostly a memory.… (altro)