 During the first period, after the May 1926 coup, the colonels (and Sanation generally) consolidated their control over the government.The second period, following the 1930 "Brest elections", saw the colonels' regime under Piłsudski's guidance, with power exercised by his allies and friends such as Walery Slawek and Aleksander Prystor (both of whom had known Piłsudski since 1905 and had served in his paramilitary units before World War I).After Piłsudski's death (1935), the hardliner "colonels", led by Walery Sławek, lost influence to the Castle faction of Ignacy Mościcki and Edward Rydz-Śmigły.