INDUSTRY OF DRY DISTILLATION OF WOOD IN SLOVAKIA IN THE YEARS 1934 – 1938 (PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES AND EMPLOYMENT)

During the interwar period in Czechoslovakia, the chemical industry ranked among the relatively smaller industries in terms of the number of workers. Its importance lay in the production of strategic products and semi-finished products, which were necessary for the functioning and defence of the state. The main aim of the presented study is to analyse developments in the industry of dry distillation of wood (part of the chemical industry) during the post-crisis depression (1934 to 1935) and during the period of economic recovery (1936 to 1938). The effect of the Munich Agreement on the investigated production is not the subject of this study. The dry distillation of wood in Slovakia was mainly comprised of two industrial entities in the subject period: the Jozef Pálffy Chemical Factory in Smolenice (a plant in Dobrá Voda was part of it) and a modern plant in Likier belonging to the Dr. Blasberg Company. In conclusion, it can be stated that the crisis and economic depression that followed had a fundamental impact on their employment, supply, production and sales opportunities. Both entities, however, survived the examined period, albeit with relatively great difficulties, which were manifested until 1938.