Pilsudski's Coup d'etat or May putsch - 100 years

 Salvete Omnes,

100 years ago, between 12th through 15th of May 1926 Polish former military commander and political influencer marshal Jozef Pilsudski rebelled against the lawful goverment of Polish Republic and led thousands of troops faithful to his person against the lawful government's troops in Warsaw, then the capital of the republic. Pilsudski was one of the heroes and leaders during the crucial period of Polish history 1918-21, but once the country finalized wars and conflicts the political leadership of the state, mostly nationalistic democratic leadership, pushed Pilsudski to the curb, so to speak, and he went de facto into a self-imposed retirement. On May 12 Pilsudski  came out swinging. 

7th Uhlan cavalry regiment , 11th Uhlan cavalry regiment,  1st Mounted Rifle cavalry regiment, 1st Light Cavalry regiment etc  went over to Pilsudski's side and participated in the putsch on the 12th of May. More regiments would arrive during the 13th and onward. 

After 3 days of hard fighting between Polish soldiers and many shenanigans inflicted upon the governmental forces by various  socialist & communist organizations and parties supporting Pisludski (like delaying pro-goverment troops transports from Poznan ) Pilsudski and his colonels broke the will to fight of the president Wojciechowski  and the  Witos goverment.  Circa 150 pro-goverment officers and soldiers and circa 400 civilians were killed by the putschists. 

Finally, Poland would change during the next 13 years of her existence.  Pilsudski was not like Franco of Spain, Pinochet in Chile, or Mussolini in Italy. He had no precise ideology nor concept for his realm.
Until his death in 1935 marshal Pilsudski ruled Poland as the de facto dictator, as the lord and master of life and death of the citizens. He was idealized by the media and any criticism was brutally punished by state (from courts to police and  the officer corps - all fanatically obedient to their commander-in-chief).
In 1931 Polish author Tadeusz Dolega-Mostowicz described the political elites of that post-1926 'colonel' state in his immortal novel -Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy . 

In 1939 Pilsudski's colonels and their Sanacja aka 2nd Republic all came to a crashing end when the territory of Polish Republic was violated and borders invaded by Nazi Germany (and Slovakia) on September 1, and by USSR on September 17. Poland was completely conquered and partitioned between Germany, USSR & Lithuania by October 10th 1939. 

Valete