| Abstrakt: |
After World War II land reforms, which were implemented in the Central and Eastern European countries had profound impacts on the structure of estates. With the expropriation of estates over 50 hectares, the share of latifundium ceased to exist in all countries of the region, while farms between 2 and 5 hectares comprised 20-30 per cent of the whole arable land. Land reforms strengthened the role of small farmers in the agricultural production and abolished the dominance of landlords both economically and socially. Despite the introduced measures in the agriculture there were many problems that remained in the region, such as the low level of domestic capital accumulation and technical-technological backwardness. As a result of the Two- and Three-Year plans, which were carried out in Central and Eastern Europe in the second half of the 1940s, 70% of investments rendered to the reconstruction of industry and transport sector. Taking into account the difficult circumstances of the agriculture (war damages, lack of domestic accumulation and finally, low level of mechanisation) it was very difficult to reorganise it after the period of war. The objective of my paper is to analyse the consequences of land reforms in the Central and Eastern European countries, which were implemented after 1945. Besides the changes in the structure of estates, it is necessary to highlight the factors that determined the development of agriculture in the region. Because of length constraints, I will not evaluate the collectivization of the agrarian sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
