{SPEECH AT THE MEETING HELD TO COMMEMORATE
THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE POLISH UPRISING
OF 1863)!”

Citizens! The role of Poland in the history of Europe’s
revolutions is a role that stands apart. Any revolution in the West
which does not succeed in involving Poland and ensuring its
independence and liberty is doomed to defeat. Let us take the
revolution of 1848 as an example. It covered an area more
extensive than any previous revolution; it swept along in its
current Austria, Hungary, Prussia. But it came to a halt at the
borders of Poland occupied by the armies of Russia. When Tsar
Nicholas received the news of the February Revolution, he said to
his entourage: Gentlemen, we shall mount our horses.’”’ At this he
promptly mobilised his troops and concentrated them in Poland,
in order to let them overrun rebellious Europe at the opportune
moment. For their part, the revolutionaries knew perfectly well
that the ground where the decisive battle would be fought was
Poland. On May 15 the people of Paris, to cries of “Long Live
Poland!”, invaded the National Assembly to force it to go to war
for Polish independence. At the same time, in the Neue Rheinische
Zeitung, Marx and I demanded that Prussia should immediately
declare war on Russia in order to set Poland free, and we were
supported by all advanced democrats in Germany.’ Thus in
France and Germany they knew perfectly well where the decisive
point was: with Poland, revolution was assured; without Poland, it
was bound to fail. But in France M. Lamartine, in Prussia
Frederick William IV, the Tsar’s* brother-in-law, and _ his
bourgeois minister Mr. Camphausen, had no intention whatever of
themselves breaking the power of Russia, in which they saw quite

a Nicholas I.— Ed.

rightly their last safeguard against the revolutionary tide. Nicholas
was able to do without getting on his horse; his troops, for the
time being, could confine themselves to containing Poland and
threatening Prussia, Austria and Hungary until the moment when
the progress of the Hungarian insurgents threatened Austrian
reaction, victorious in Vienna. This was when the Russian armies
overran Hungary, and by crushing the Hungarian revolution
ensured the victory of reaction throughout the West. Europe was
at the Tsar’s feet because Europe had abandoned Poland. In
truth, Poland is not like any other country. As far as revolution is
concerned, it is the keystone of the European edifice; whichever is
able to hold its ground in Poland, revolution or reaction, will end
up by dominating the whole of Europe. And it is this quite special
character which gives to Poland the importance which it has for all
revolutionaries and which elicits from us, to this day, the cry:
“Long Live Poland!”

script, verified with the news