From the collection of the Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw (AAN)

May 17, 1926, Wilanów, the Branicki Palace
An account by officers loyal to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland and to President Stanislaw Wojciechowski, presenting the circumstances in which he surrendered his office before the Sejm Marshal (Speaker) Maciej Rataj, including the text of the President’s last address to the army.

Comments: Before the military coup staged by Marshal Jozef Pilsudski between May 12-15, 1926, an attempt had been made to justify the use of extraordinary measures by creating an impression in the media that the country itself was under threat. Since mid-April, Polish troops loyal to Marshal Pilsudski had concentrated at the Rembertow firing ground under the pretext of a garrison drill. On May 8, General Lucjan Zeligowski (Minister of Military Affairs) appointed Pilsudski to command the army drill. After Aleksander Skrzynski’s government collapsed and a coalition government was formed on May 10 with Wincenty Witos as Prime Minister, the  new Minister of Military Affairs, General Juliusz Malczewski, cancelled the Rembertów concentration orders. However, most troops refused to recognize his authority. On May 11, adherents of Pilsudski organized anti-government protests in Warsaw. In Sulejowek, Pilsudski’s place of residence after his retirement from the public life, officers were briefed to take action.

In the afternoon of May 12, Piłsudski led his troops from the Rembertow firing ground on a march to Warsaw. The government introduced a state of martial law, blocked the Vistula bridges, and appointed a defence headquarters under General Tadeusz Rozwadowski and Colonel Wladysław Anders as Chief of Staff. After a conversation held in the middle of the Poniatowski Bridge, President Stanislaw Wojciechowski rejected Pilsudski’s demands. The demonstration of power escalated into a coup d’état. The “Warszawa” Group commanded by General Gustaw Orlicz-Dreszer and his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Jozef Beck, attacked the defenders of the Kierbedz Bridge and reached Krakowskie Przedmiescie. At the same time, Pilsudski’s adherents began to take over different military organizations from inside, capturing the Ministry of Military Affairs in Nowowiejska Street, and taking over the State communications system. The government managed to hold on to the Pola Mokotowskie airfield. Troops from the Riflemen Union and the Polish Socialist Party took action, and the Railwaymen Trade Union went on general strike in support of Pilsudski. In the evening, the fighting reached the Trzech Krzyzy Square and other locations. The President, the government, and the commanders of the loyalist troops all remained in the Belweder palace further south. Both sides called in reinforcements, which trickled in over the next days. Only Wielkopolska, Pomorze and part of Malopolska remained loyal to the lawful government.

On May 13, the fighting continued in the city as the government troops arrested the enemy progress and pushed the attackers back beyond Aleje Jerozolimskie Avenue, however losing the Cytadela in the process. In the morning of May 14, the “Warszawa” group received reinforcements and went on to storm the Belweder and the Pola Mokotowskie airfield, gradually gaining the upper hand. The regiments coming to the government’s relief (mainly from Wielkopolska and Pomorze) were stopped by the railwaymen’s strike as well as by orders from certain military authorities, incl. the District Command of the Lodz Corps. Most of them reached Warsaw too late, taking no part in the fighting. The Polish Socialist Party declared a general strike. In the afternoon of May 14, the authorities of the Republic of Poland  left the Belweder and reached Wilanów on foot. In the evening, the decision was reached that the president would step down from his office, and the government would resign. At night, the Sejm Marshal (Speaker) assumed his duties as Head of State. An armistice was agreed.
The account of loyalist officers presenting the circumstances of the President’s deposition from office before the Sejm Marshal Rataj (including the text of his last address to the army) was recorded by the officers themselves and confirmed with numerous signatures, including that of General Tadeusz Rozwadowski, who was in Wilanów at that time, “to preserve the true picture of [those events] in the Wilanow Archive” (now held by the AGAD, Zbior Anny Branickiej, catalogue no. 250).

On May 15, a new government was formed with Kazimierz Bartel as Premier and Pilsudski as Minister of Military Affairs. The coup was formally legalized. On May 31, the National Assembly elected Pilsudski President, and when he refused to take office, on June 1 Ignacy Moscicki became Head of State. Some 18,000 Polish Army soldiers fought in Warsaw during the May Coup (6,000 in the loyalist ranks). The total number of persons killed in the fighting was 379 (164 civilians), and 920 persons were wounded. (Rafal Jankowski)

Description: Original, Polish Language, paper bifolium sized 220 x 355 mm.

Collection: The Archives of Modern Records in Warsaw, Prezydium Rady Ministrow, catalogue no. 33, p. 330.

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