First Steps in Emigration and the Treaty of Münchengrätz 1833

After his arrival to London, Czartoryski continued in his argumentation that the Polish question is, in fact, a European problem and should not be viewed merely as a local issue or subject to the arbitrary decisions of the partitioning powers was a recurring theme in the activities that the prince pursued in exile after 1831. Building on this idea and emphasizing Russian violations of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna, Czartoryski spent the initial months of his emigration endeavouring to persuade British politicians to intervene on behalf of the Poles. He also regularly communicated with Talleyrand, the French ambassador to the United Kingdom at the time, while General Karol Kniaziewicz, Karol and Ludwik Plater, Ludwik (instructed by Czartoryski) had been communicating with the French authorities in Paris. Over the course of several years, he envisioned this approach culminating in the restoration of the Polish state. Such a path, he argued, would incur the least cost not only to the Poles but also to the partitioning countries. Czartoryski also concluded that even though the current situation does not appear so, circumstances may arise that will change the minds of the partitioning countries. Through active and purposeful action, it may be possible to revive the contradictions or mistrust between the three countries and thus undermine their alliance.