Mickiewicz on Bulgarian soil

The outbreak of the Crimean War (November 1, 1853) aroused new hopes among Polish patriots. Feverish excitement also gripped the Polish emigration in Paris and London, as it believed that the war that had broken out would turn into a general war for the liberation of the peoples. All eyes were turned to the East. All political groups believed that the fateful hour had struck and were coming up with their own programs for action. The Polish democrats in London, the so-called Centralization, wanted to provoke an uprising in Poland itself. The "Young Democracy" ("Kolo") in Paris, headed by Mieroslavsky, Wysocki and Elzhanowski, intended to create a Polish legion in Turkey in agreement with Napoleon III. The aristocratic camp of Polish emigrants "Hotel Lambert", whose leader, Prince A. Czartoryski, was recognized by the French and English cabinets, after the declaration of war, as the sole representative of Poland in emigration, was striving for the same goal. French public opinion was favorable to Polish aspirations, and it was said in Paris that Napoleon III had a sincere intention of restoring Poland. Prince Czartoryski conducted lengthy negotiations with the French and English governments to secure certain guarantees in favor of Poland against the proposed participation of Polish troops on the side of the Allies. His first associate and nephew Władysław Zamoyski went to Constantinople in January 1854 to negotiate personally with the Porte about the formation of a Polish legion in the Turkish army. With the same purpose, Vysotsky had already arrived in the Turkish capital (November 2, 1853) as an envoy of the Parisian "Kolo".