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Lodz
KNOWLEDGE OF Lodz
Å?ódź, the second-largest city (population 776,297 in 2004) of Poland, lies in the centre of the country. It serves as the capital of the Å?ódź Voivodship. In Polish, the word also means 'boat'.
Å?ódź first appears in the written record in a document giving the village of Å?odzia to the bishops of WÅ‚ocÅ‚awek in 1332. In 1423 King WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw JagieÅ‚Å‚o granted city rights to the village of Å?ódź. From then until the 18th century the town remained a small settlement on a trade route between Masovia and Silesia. In the 16th century the town had fewer than 800 inhabitants, mostly working on the nearby grain farms.
With the second partition of Poland in 1793 Å?ódź came under Prussian administration under its new Prussian name of Lodsch. In 1798 the Prussians nationalized the town and it lost its status as a town of the bishops of Kuyavia. In 1806 it joined the Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland.
In 1820 StanisÅ‚aw Staszic started a movement to turn the small town into a modern centre of industry. A constant influx of workers, businessmen and craftsmen from all over the continent turned Å?ódź into the main textile producton centre of the whole Russian Empire. The first cotton mill opened in 1825, and 14 years later the first steam-powered factory in both Poland and Russia commenced operations.
The immigrants came to the Promised Land (Polish Ziemia obiecana, the city's nickname) from all over Europe. Mostly they arrived from Southern Germany and Bohemia, but also from countries as far as Portugal, England, France or Ireland. However, three groups dominated the city's population and contributed the most to the city's development: Poles, Germans and Jews.
In 1850 Russia abolished the customs barrier between Congress Poland and Russia proper; industry in Å?ódź could now develop freely with a huge Russian market not far away. Soon the city became the second-largest city of Congress Poland. In 1865 the first railroad line opened (to Koluszki) opened, and soon the city had rail links with Warsaw and BiaÅ‚ystok. In the 1823 - 1873 period, the city's population doubled every ten years. The years 1870 - 1890 marked the period of most intense industrial development in the city's history.
Å?ódź soon became a major centre of the socialist movement. In 1892 a huge strike paralyzed most of the factories. During the 1905 Revolution Tsarist police killed more than 300 workers. Despite the air of impending crisis preceding World War I, the city grew constantly until 1914. By that year it had become one of the most densely-populated industrial cities in the world (13 280 people per square kilometre).
In 1915 the city came under German occupation, but with Polish independence restored in November 1918 the local population liberated the city and disarmed the German troops. In the aftermath of World War I, Å?ódź lost approximately 40% of its inhabitants, mostly owing to draft, diseases and the fact that after 1918 a huge part of the German population moved to Germany.
In 1922 Å?ódź became the capital of the Å?ódź Voivodship, but the period of rapid growth had ceased. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Customs War with Germany closed western markets to Polish textiles while the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the Civil War in Russia (1918 - 1922) put an end to the most profitable trade with the East. The city became a scene of a series of huge workers' protests and riots in the interbellum. On 13 September 1925 a new airport, Lublinek Airport, started operations near the city of Å?ódź.
Å?ódź first appears in the written record in a document giving the village of Å?odzia to the bishops of WÅ‚ocÅ‚awek in 1332. In 1423 King WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw JagieÅ‚Å‚o granted city rights to the village of Å?ódź. From then until the 18th century the town remained a small settlement on a trade route between Masovia and Silesia. In the 16th century the town had fewer than 800 inhabitants, mostly working on the nearby grain farms.
With the second partition of Poland in 1793 Å?ódź came under Prussian administration under its new Prussian name of Lodsch. In 1798 the Prussians nationalized the town and it lost its status as a town of the bishops of Kuyavia. In 1806 it joined the Duchy of Warsaw and in 1815 became part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland.
In 1820 StanisÅ‚aw Staszic started a movement to turn the small town into a modern centre of industry. A constant influx of workers, businessmen and craftsmen from all over the continent turned Å?ódź into the main textile producton centre of the whole Russian Empire. The first cotton mill opened in 1825, and 14 years later the first steam-powered factory in both Poland and Russia commenced operations.
The immigrants came to the Promised Land (Polish Ziemia obiecana, the city's nickname) from all over Europe. Mostly they arrived from Southern Germany and Bohemia, but also from countries as far as Portugal, England, France or Ireland. However, three groups dominated the city's population and contributed the most to the city's development: Poles, Germans and Jews.
In 1850 Russia abolished the customs barrier between Congress Poland and Russia proper; industry in Å?ódź could now develop freely with a huge Russian market not far away. Soon the city became the second-largest city of Congress Poland. In 1865 the first railroad line opened (to Koluszki) opened, and soon the city had rail links with Warsaw and BiaÅ‚ystok. In the 1823 - 1873 period, the city's population doubled every ten years. The years 1870 - 1890 marked the period of most intense industrial development in the city's history.
Å?ódź soon became a major centre of the socialist movement. In 1892 a huge strike paralyzed most of the factories. During the 1905 Revolution Tsarist police killed more than 300 workers. Despite the air of impending crisis preceding World War I, the city grew constantly until 1914. By that year it had become one of the most densely-populated industrial cities in the world (13 280 people per square kilometre).
In 1915 the city came under German occupation, but with Polish independence restored in November 1918 the local population liberated the city and disarmed the German troops. In the aftermath of World War I, Å?ódź lost approximately 40% of its inhabitants, mostly owing to draft, diseases and the fact that after 1918 a huge part of the German population moved to Germany.
In 1922 Å?ódź became the capital of the Å?ódź Voivodship, but the period of rapid growth had ceased. The Great Depression of the 1930s and the Customs War with Germany closed western markets to Polish textiles while the Bolshevik Revolution (1917) and the Civil War in Russia (1918 - 1922) put an end to the most profitable trade with the East. The city became a scene of a series of huge workers' protests and riots in the interbellum. On 13 September 1925 a new airport, Lublinek Airport, started operations near the city of Å?ódź.
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