the close of the year 1831 the Polish patriots were once more under the foot of their Russian master.
It was a hard fate that awaited the unhappy nation. Their constitution was taken away, and Poland was made a province of the Russian empire (1832). Multitudes were banished to Siberia, while thousands more expatriated themselves, seeking an asylum in England, America, and other countries. Of all the peoples that rose for freedom in 1830 none suffered so cruel and complete an extinguishment of their hopes as did the patriot Poles.[1]
The Crimean War (1853–1856).—A celebrated phrase applied to the Ottoman Porte by the Czar Nicholas casts a good deal of light upon the circumstances that led to the Crimean War.
"We have on our hands," said the Czar, " a sick man—a very sick man; I tell you frankly it would be a great misfortune if he should give us the slip some of these days, especially if it happened before all the necessary arrangements were made."
Nicholas had cultivated friendly relations with the English government, and he now proposed that England and Russia, as the parties most directly interested, should divide the estate of the " sick man." England was to be allowed to take Egypt and Crete, while the Turkish provinces in Europe were to be taken under the protection of the Czar, which meant of course the complete absorption, in due time, of all Southeastern Europe into the Russian empire.
A pretence for hastening the dissolution of the sick man was not long wanting. A quarrel between the Greek and Latin Christians at Jerusalem about the holy places was made the ground by Nicholas for demanding of the Sultan the admission and recognition of a Russian protectorate over all Greek Christians in the Ottoman dominions. The demand was rejected, and Nicholas prepared for war.
The Sultan appealed to the Western powers for help. England and France responded to the appeal, and later Sardinia joined her
- ↑ For Russia's part in the affairs of the revolutionary years 1848-49, see p. 702.
