Annual change in net material product in select COMECON countries 1970-1990
Poland
The reason for Poland's dramatic decline between 1978 and 1981 was due to the foreign debt accumulated by Poland under the Gierek regime (1970-1980), as the government attempted to modernize Poland's industry and establish trade links outside of the COMECON. As the West prospered, so too did Poland. However, the Recession of 1973-1975 hit the West much harder than the Eastern Bloc. This recession had a knock-on effect on Poland, causing the price of western imports to increase, the demand for Polish exports to drop, and creditors began to demand repayment, which led to further borrowing.Economic hardship then exposed the instability and ineffectiveness of Poland's industrial sector, and the relatively progressive policies of the Gierek administration allowed trade unions to emerge in ways that were not possible in other Eastern Bloc countries. Solidarity emerged as the most powerful of these trade unions in 1980, with ten million members (of a total population of 35 million) at its peak; the government's implementation of martial law in an attempt to subdue Solidarity's influence then led to further sanctions from the West. As restrictions eased and economic aid arrived from the Soviet Union, Poland's net material product then grew from 1983 onwards. However, it fluctuated on a downward trend until communism's end in June 1989.