The Sanation (after the Latin word ‘sanatio’- healing): political movement inspired by the group of Piłsudski’s associates which gained strength in 1926-1939. The name come from the idea they preached – of conducting a moral ‘healing’ of the public life. In May 12, 1926 Józef Piłsudski led the Coup d'État in Poland and overthrew the ruling government of the Prime Minister Wincenty Witos and the President Stanisław Wojciechowski.

The May 1926 Coup d'État received a substantial support from the public due to the crisis of democracy, instability of the government and the ineptitude of the authorities to solve social problems (for instance, police shooting at the workers on strike in Cracow). The cult of Piłsudski was not insignificant; he was commonly considered the creator of the independent Polish state, and in the post-war period – the man standing beyond the political divides. Piłsudski won the democratic presidential election, carried out in May 1926, but refused the office and handed over the presidency to his close associate Ignacy Mościcki. The legal basis that allowed the regime of Sanation were constitutional amendments, introduced in August 1926, which specified that the president could dissolve the Seym and Senate, and issue decrees with the force of statutes.

The sanation of the public life entailed curtailment of the Seym for the benefit of the President, denying the Parliament the command over the military forces and subjugating social movements to the state. Dictatorship was not present in Poland. There were the Parliament, political parties and the opposition up to the end of the Second Polish Republic. However, the influence of the political parties on the government was diminishing and the aggressive conduct intensified in the political power struggle. In 1930 leaders of the opposition party were imprisoned before the elections and in 1935 an internment camp was formed in Bereza Kartuska for political opponents. The regime of the Sanation ceased in September 1939, at the defeat with Germans. Some of the Sanation representatives became members of the Polish government-in-exile in London.