Riot police in the Polish capital of Warsaw used truncheons and rubber bullets today (November 11, 2012) to break up a crowd of right-wing extremists who pelted them with firecrackers and lumps of concrete at a parade to mark the national holiday, according to the Reuters website.
It was the second consecutive year that independence day celebrations have degenerated into violence, underlining the gulf between the government and hardline nationalists who think liberal values imported from Europe are ruining Poland's Catholic traditions.
Police said that 132 people were detained following the violence, which took place in central Warsaw. Five policemen sustained injuries that needed hospital treatment.
The day started with thousands of police in riot gear lining the streets trying to stop trouble erupting between right-wing groups, left-wing radicals, and government supporters -- all holding their own independence day parades to push their competing visions of what sort of country Poland should be.
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