May Coup (Poland)
| The May Coup d'État Przewrót majowy 1926 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Józef Piłsudski and other coup leaders on Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw. |
|||||||
|
|||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Sanation-loyal army | Government-loyal army | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Marshal Józef Piłsudski |
President Stanisław Wojciechowski, Prime Minister Wincenty Witos |
||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 12,000 | 6,000-8,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Military killed: 215 Civilians killed: 164 Military and civilian wounded: 920 Total: 1,299 |
|||||||
The May Coup d'État (Polish: Przewrót majowy or zamach majowy) was a coup d'état carried out in Poland by Marshal Józef Piłsudski between 12 and 14 May 1926. The coup overthrew the government of President Stanisław Wojciechowski and Prime Minister Wincenty Witos. A new government was installed, headed by Lwów Polytechnic Professor Kazimierz Bartel. The events were partly inspired by the need for extraordinary measures in the face of newly emerging threats to stability of Poland's independence by Piłsudski's own assessment of the foreign treaties signed by Weimar Germany with France in 1925 (fundamentally abandoning Poland) and with the Soviet Russia in April 1926, to which Poland's representatives had not been invited.
Initially Piłsudski was offered the presidency, but he declined in favor of Ignacy Mościcki. Piłsudski, however, remained the most influential politician in Poland, and became the power behind the throne until his death in 1935.
In November 1925 the government of Prime Minister Władysław Grabski was replaced by the government of Prime Minister Aleksander Skrzyński, which had received support from the National Democracy and the Polish Socialist Party (PPS). General Lucjan Żeligowski became the new government's minister of military affairs. However, after the PPS withdrew its support, this government also fell and was replaced by that of Prime Minister Wincenty Witos, formed by Polish People's Party "Piast" and Chrześcijański Związek Jedności Narodowej (Chjeno-Piast). However, the new government had even less popular support than the previous ones, and pronouncements from Józef Piłsudski, who viewed the constant power shifts in the Sejm (Polish parliament) as chaotic and damaging, set the stage for a coup d'état.
...
Wikipedia