▁infrastr ucture ▁and ▁techn ological ▁development ▁fell ▁rapidly , ▁ens uring ▁that ▁the ▁country ▁lost ▁whatever ▁ground ▁it ▁had ▁gained ▁relative ▁to ▁Western ▁European ▁econom ies ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 7 0 s . ▁To ▁escape ▁the ▁constant ▁economic ▁and ▁political ▁press ures ▁during ▁these ▁years , ▁and ▁the ▁general ▁sense ▁of ▁hop eless ness , ▁many ▁family ▁income ▁prov iders ▁tra ve led ▁for ▁work ▁in ▁Western ▁Europe , ▁particularly ▁West ▁Germany ▁( W yj az d ▁na ▁s aks y ). ▁During ▁the ▁era , ▁hundreds ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁Pol es ▁left ▁the ▁country ▁perman ently ▁and ▁settled ▁in ▁the ▁West , ▁few ▁of ▁them ▁returning ▁to ▁Poland ▁even ▁after ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁social ism ▁in ▁Poland . ▁T ens ▁of ▁thousands ▁of ▁others ▁went ▁to ▁work ▁in ▁countries ▁that ▁could ▁offer ▁them ▁sal aries ▁in ▁hard ▁currency , ▁not ably ▁Lib ya ▁and ▁Ira q . ▁ ▁After ▁several ▁years ▁of ▁the ▁situation ▁continu ing ▁to ▁w ors en , ▁during ▁which ▁time ▁the ▁social ist ▁government ▁un success fully ▁tried ▁various ▁exped ients ▁to ▁improve ▁the ▁performance ▁of ▁the ▁economy — at ▁one ▁point ▁resort ing ▁to ▁placing ▁military ▁comm iss ars ▁to ▁direct ▁work ▁in ▁the ▁fact ories ▁— ▁it ▁grud ging ly ▁accepted ▁press ures ▁to ▁liberal ize ▁the ▁economy . ▁The ▁government ▁introduced ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁small - scale ▁re forms , ▁such ▁as ▁allowing ▁more ▁small - scale ▁private ▁enter pr ises ▁to ▁function . ▁However , ▁the ▁government ▁also ▁realized ▁that ▁it ▁lack