ABSTRACT
Many Poles might have felt that their problem was that, although they had not merely a constitution but also a quite well-developed political system, they did not have a ruler who was willing to implement the former, let alone to allow adaptations in the latter. Their clash with Tsarist Russia was often explained as a reaction to the way their grievances were ignored and they were denied the constitutional privileges which were rightfully theirs. In fact it seems that they rather misinterpreted the nature and purpose of the constitutional Charter enunciated by Alexander I in 1815. The reason that they did so lay in their deep-rooted and fiercely held patriotism, which made them insistent on what they believed to be their rights. If maladministration had been the cause of revolt in the far east of Europe, it should surely have led to one in Russia which, at the time, was much less generously treated than Poland.
