ABSTRACT
The scholars studying Pilsudski's coup d'etat agree that there existed a Pilsudskiist conspiracy; although they are uncertain about both its scope and the time it was formed. Marshal Pilsudski himself contributed to the psychological preparation of the coup by granting an interview on May 10, 1926, to Kurier Poranny, a strongly pro-Pilsudski daily. On May 12 the forces of the coup d'etat moved to Warsaw, occupying the right bank of the Vistula River. The armed forces became an enclave beyond effective control of the civilian authorities. The president, who previously had left Warsaw for his countryside residence in Spala, returned to the city and agreed to meet Pilsudski on the Poniatowski Bridge. The crucial factor in preventing Pilsudski from winning by military demonstration was President Wojciechowski, a man whom practically everybody had underestimated. Rejecting the pressure from the left, Pilsudski decided neither to dissolve the parliament nor to call a new election.
