sympathetic, but
the governments, rejoicing at seeing a revolutionary movement
suppressed, refused to interfere.

In February, 1831, a Russian army of 130,000 men invaded Poland. (p. 211)
The Poles showed a heroism which appealed to the people of Europe, but
more than sympathy was needed to arrest the irresistible Russian
advance upon Warsaw. Constantine and the Russian commander-in-chief
fell the victims of cholera, but an epidemic of discord struck Poland
and sealed its fate. On the 6th of September, Warsaw was invested. The
capital was forced to surrender. "Warsaw is at your feet," wrote the
commander-in-chief to the czar, who lost no time in trampling upon the
conquered. The constitution was abrogated, the Diet, a thing of the
past. Poland was no more. Where it had stood, was a Russian province.
Russian officials introduced Russian taxes, Russian coinage, and
Russian justice such as it was. The Poles saw samples of it when
thousands were arrested without process of law, and were sent to
prison or to Siberia, while other thousands lost their property by
confiscation. In White Russia and Lithuania the use of the Polish
language was prohibited and the Catholic Clergy were forced to "ask"
admittance to the bosom of the Greek Church. It must be admitted that
the Polish peasants benefited by the change. With a view of reducing
the influence of the nobles, the government issued regulations
protecting the laborer against the landowner.

The Polish revolution caused the reorganization of European policies.
Austria and Prussia, each in possession of territory that formerly
belonged to Poland, entered into friendly relations with Russia,
whereas England and France, where public opinion could not be ignored,
drew more closely together. Nicholas was posing as the arbiter of (p. 212)
Europe and the champion of kings. He assumed the right to command, but
would soon find his will contested.

This was brought home to him in 1832, when trouble broke out between
Turkey and Egypt. The Egyptian army was victorious and threatened
Constantinople, when the sultan appealed to the powers. Russia
responded at once by sending two armies, but a strong protest from
England and France caused the withdrawal of the troops of Russia as
well as those of Egypt. Baffled, Nicholas on June 3, 1833, entered
into an offensive-defensive alliance with the sultan, which really
placed Turkey and with it Constantinople in Russia's power. Another
sharp p