1935 Polish coup d'etat (1918-1919: Germany's Last Stand)

the **1935 Polish coup d'etat** was a coup by the Liberalna Demokratyczna Armia Polska (Liberal Democratic Army of Poland), a pro-west democratic militia opposing the pro-Nazi regime. It was performed over the course of 4 days, from December 31, 1934 through January 3, 1935. The intent of the coup was the oust Niecisław Krawczak from power after 12 and a half years of uncontested rule. They would ultimately bring Konstanty Bienkowski to power for the remainder of the FRWP's independence. The coup gained the support of external nations such as France, Republican Spain, The British Empire, Canada, United States and Greece, with some support coming from Yugoslavia, Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the days after the coup.

## Timeline

### Precursor events

In 1922, the Polish National Party, at the time a moderate-conservative party was voted into office. After winning again in 1924, the PNP started to shift it's politics into a far-right leaning field, it just barely won the 1926 elections, and in 1927, Polish president Krawczak would perform a coup, instating a military junta under the control of the PNP, making it the second fascist government in Europe.

A failed coup by Bienkowski in 1928 led to him just barely escaping across the Czechoslovak border. After being pushed by the public to allow Bienkowski to return to Poland, in 1930 he was removed from exile, but was under house arrest.

In 1931, his house arrest would be released, meanwhile the governments of Spain, UK, and France had designated Poland as a "fascist" and "rogue" state in Eastern Europe. Krawczak would declare martial law after a attempted coup in 1932 by Bienkowski, Bienskowski would go into hiding in the following days.

Mass executions occurred all over Poland, with the number of defectors increasing almost tenfold between 1932 and 1933, several villages with left-leaning views were burned in eastern Poland, with their occupants massacred. The LDAP would begin to gain traction in the underground Polish community in the Spring of 1933, with Bienkowski becoming it's first elected leader in 1934.

The LDAP would begin to arm itself during 1934, leading to a insurrection near the Soviet border called the "Spring Insurrection". The insurrection would be crushed in late May 1934, as the Polish army gained some weaponry from the young Third Reich and Italian Empire.

Eventually, the Polish government would designate the LDAP a threat to the "Free Polish Empire reign"

### December 31, 1934 (Day 1)

On the morning of December 31, 1934...several protests occurred in Krakow and Warsaw, the protests were crushed, with protesters either escaping the ensuing gunfire at 11:27AM or being killed. The international governments of France and the United Kingdom immediately responded by closing or evacuating their Warsaw embassies. Protests would grow into riots all over Poland, demanding the end of the military junta after 8 years. Eventually Polish order had collapsed, Bienkowski had then came out and announced to the rioters, who had taken control of Polish government buildings in Krakow, that "democracy shall be restored to Poland!".

Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini responded with enacting martial law, fearing that this could the start of a wave of revolutions.

Through the night, violence would spread through Poland, with the Krakow Police eventually joining the militia in their takedown of Krawczak.

### January 1 and 2, 1935 (Days 2 and 3)

International response besides from fascist nations (such as Franco's Spain, Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy and de-facto Hirohito's Japan), as well as the USSR, had been mainly positive. Violence would continue through Poland, but no major events would occur.

### January 3, 1935 (Day 4)

By the morning of January 3, 1935...Krawczak had been barricaded in his office with roaring protesters and even his own military trying to get in, as the Polish Military had defected that morning, at 3:19PM, one of his guards had defected, and shot his other guards. He opened the door to the protesters and military, Krawczak would announce his resignation of power at 3:22PM, ending the 8-year long military junta/fascist government in Poland.

However, his resignation would not be so peaceful, with Germany seeing this as a casus belli to declare war, however, the declaration of war never went anywhere, and was never sent out to anyone other than Hitler, who didn't sign it.

Violence from the few remaining Polish National Party royalists would continue through the rest of January 1935, at exactly midnight on January 4, 1935...after 8 hours with no de-facto government, Bienkowski had arrived in Warsaw by car, and officially took the Oath of Office at 1:35AM Warsaw time on January 4, 1935. Poland would leave it's embassies in Berlin and Rome, and Germany and Italy would do the same with Poland.

Krawczak would be taken in as a PoW (Prisoner of War), and would be sentenced to death on February 1, 1935 due to high treason.

## Aftermath

For the last 1 year of it's existence, West Poland would be a de-jure democracy, it had a election scheduled for September 1936, however, just a month before the planned 1936 election, the USSR and Germany would finalize a partition of Poland.

It would hold elections in exile, in which Bienkowski would win in a landslide against Władysław Stepniak. Bienkowski would pass away in office in 1938 in London, leading to a constitutional crisis, ultimately leading to the Polish government-in exile collapsing in 1939.

Krawczak was scheduled for execution on September 13, 1935, however, following a murder of his cellmate on August 9, 1935...he was beaten to death by prison guards as he attempted to kill several other prisoners.