The following industrial projects were part of the plan: a
steel mill (
Huta Stalowa Wola) and
power plant in a brand new city of
Stalowa Wola, a rubber factory in
Dębica, an automobile factory in
Lublin, an aircraft factory in
Mielec, an aircraft engine and
artillery factory in
Rzeszów,
hydroelectric power plants in
Rożnów and
Myczkowce, and the expansion of Zakłady Azotowe in
Mościce. The military industry in the
Staropolski Okręg Przemysłowy was expanded in the towns of
Radom,
Skarżysko-Kamienna,
Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski,
Starachowice, and
Kielce. Most of those investments were located in regions with high unemployment, and their construction succeeded in reducing social tensions and began to strengthen the Polish economy. The development of the COP and similar projects, like the construction of the seaport in
Gdynia, were the most outstanding achievements of the Second Polish Republic, marking the beginning of the new era of recently regained independence. The COP plan was continued by the
communist government of Poland after the Second World War. However, as the end date for the plan was the end of July 1940, and Poland did not have sufficient capital to carry out the entire plan on its own, few of the intended projects were completely operational before the war broke out, and many other ones were not launched at all. Consequently, their contribution to the equipment of the Polish Army in the run-up to the war was relatively insignificant, and did little to offset the crushing material superiority of the German armed forces. German encirclement and annihilation tactics in the Second World War, with their rapid advances by extremely well-equipped infantry (better than even their British and French counterparts) and fast motorized forces (heavy losses suffered by Panzer divisions were one of the reasons, the Germans created, what became known after World War II was over, as
blitzkrieg tactics) and long-range air attacks, ensured that the COP region apparently failed to provide a secure haven for Polish industry. The idea of the safe triangle came from the thinking of the Polish military strategists during World War I and the Polish—Russian War in 1919–1920. This idea was upgraded during the late 1930s and many of the factories crucial to the war effort got distributed across the country. Moreover, the
PZL.37 Łoś, a medium bomber, the factory was successfully moved and reassembled in the easternmost Poland that fell to the Soviet advance after September 17, 1939. In any event, the German dismemberment of
Czechoslovakia outflanked Poland from the south and put the majority of COP factories in the direct path of German advance from Slovakia. During the German occupation, most of the factories were converted to contribute to the German war effort. After the war, the COP-initiated industrial enterprises were further expanded and for the most part, continue to function until today.
Melchior Wańkowicz, in his 1939 book
Sztafeta, emphasized the fact that the quick growth of the COP's towns and cities was not followed by necessary investments in infrastructure, especially schools and housing. As
Ilustrowany Kurier Codzienny announced on January 10, 1939, in the first half of 1938, the population of
Rzeszów grew by 24%, that of
Sandomierz by 29%,
Tarnobrzeg by 49%, and
Mielec by 58%. Altogether, in the first half of 1938, the total population of all the COP's towns and cities grew by 20%. According to a press release from January 1939, out of 33 towns and cities located at the confluence of the San and the Vistula rivers, as many as 23 needed new schools. == See also ==