Ideas of building fast roads - highways as a factor determining the development of Central and Eastern European countries in the first half of the 20th century
ORCID: Stanisław M. Koziarski: 0000-0002-2059-8041
Pages: 209-230
Edition: Lublin 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36874/RIESW.2023.4.10
Citation method: S. M. Koziarski, Idee budowy szybkich dróg – autostrady jako czynnik determinujący rozwój państw Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej w pierwszej połowie XX w., „Rocznik Instytutu Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej” Rok 21(2023), z. 4, s. 209-230, DOI: https://doi.org/10.36874/RIESW.2023.4.10
Keywords: Germany in 1933-1943, highway construction in the first half of the 20th century, Reichsautobahnen
Abstract: The article presents the development of the idea of building fast roads in Central and Eastern Europe in the first half of the 20th century. In Europe, until 1945, highways were built in: Germany, the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Netherlands and Italy. In other countries, including Poland, the construction of this type of roads in the interwar period remained only in the planning and project phase. The concept of building highways was implemented by fascist countries, including: Italy (474 km of routes opened) in 1922-1942, Germany (3,896 km) in 1933-1943, and the dependent Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939-1942 (188 km under construction), mainly to achieve a propaganda effect the agency of the totalitarian system in counteracting unemployment and the planned increase in motorization, which proves the wealth of workers.