[5][1][2] Sanation, which advocated authoritarian rule, rested on a circle of Piłsudski's close associates, including Walery Sławek, Aleksander Prystor, Kazimierz Świtalski, Janusz Jędrzejewicz, Adam Koc, Józef Beck, Tadeusz Hołówko, Bogusław Miedziński, and Edward Śmigły-Rydz.

[5][1][2][3] Named after the Latin word for "healing" ("sanatio"),[6] the Sanation movement mainly comprised former military officers who were disgusted with the perceived corruption in Polish politics.

Instead, in 1928 Sanation members created a Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem (BBWR, "Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government"), a pro-government grouping that denied being a political party.

[citation needed][3] A distinguishing feature of the regime was that, unlike the situation in most of non-democratic Europe, it never transformed itself into a full-blown dictatorship.

Freedom of press, speech, and political parties was never legally abolished, and opponents were usually dealt with via "unidentified perpetrators" rather than court sentences.

Sanation's ideology never went beyond populist calls to clean up the country's politics and economy; it did not occupy itself with society, as was the case with contemporary fascist regimes.

[8] Using anti-government demonstrations as a pretext, 20 opposition-party members,[7] including most of the leaders of the Centrolew alliance (Socialist, Polish People's Party "Piast", and Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" leaders) were arrested[9] in September 1930 without warrants, on the mere order of Piłsudski and the Minister of Internal Security, Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski, and accused of plotting an anti-government coup.

[11] Eventually, Sanation devolved into three major factions: Walery Sławek's supporters lost ground after his resignation from the post of prime minister at the end of 1935, after the dissolution of the BBWR as well as the appointment of the Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski cabinet on October 13, 1935, which ousted the orthodox Piłsudskiites, so-called Colonels, from power.

The other two emerging groups in December 1935 reached an agreement and shared power, resulting in the formation of the Felicjan Slawoj-Składkowski's cabinet on 15 May 1936, consisting of representatives of the President and the General Inspector of the Armed Forces.

On November 10, 1936, President Moscicki appointed him General of the branch and at the same time Marshal of Poland and decorated him with the Order of the White Eagle.

[14] Also, the creation of the Camp of National Unity (OZN) on Śmigły's order and working under his auspices increased his influence, as a result of which it was he who decided the ideological direction of Sanation in 1937-1939.

After World War II, Poland's Soviet-installed communist autocracy branded Sanationists as enemies of the state and executed or forced many into exile.