How Democracies break: Poland’s May coup and Europe today | How We Got Here
In May 1926, Józef Piłsudski – the revered and reviled hero of Poland’s struggle for independence – led a military coup against Poland’s elected government, claiming to rescue the state from political chaos. Nearly a century later, as Europe faces war, extremist politics, uncertainty over America’s role, and a renewed crisis of democratic confidence, the May Coup feels less like distant history and more like a warning.
A very Polish coup. What’s the historians’ verdict on its impact and the subsequent military-dominated regime?
Join Jan Darasz and his guest, Marcin Zaborowski, TVP World’s Europe Editor, in the latest episode of How We Got Here.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: The May 1926 coup & “Sanation” regime
04:21 Parallels between interwar and contemporary Europe
08:32 Why interwar democracy struggled: Comparing Poland & Czechoslovakia
13:22 Was the coup restoring order or undermining democracy?
15:14 Piłsudski’s path to power and ideological vision
19:06 The contested legacy of Piłsudski
21:12 The nature and costs of “Sanation” rule
24:10 Enduring vulnerabilities of democracy
🔴 Watch our 24/7 livestream – https://youtube.com/live/9RY46AUtIl4
Bringing you all the latest daily news and updates, TVP World is Poland’s first English-language channel where you can find world news as seen from the Polish perspective and the latest news from the CEE region. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.
https://tvpworld.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tvpworldcom
https://twitter.com/TVPWorld_com
https://www.instagram.com/tvp_world/
https://www.threads.net/@tvp_world
https://bsky.app/profile/tvpworld.bsky.social
https://www.tiktok.com/@tvpworld.com
https://t.me/tvp_world
#europe #democracy #poland
