oland was the one European country in his Empire. If he lost Poland, he would lose his foothold in Europe and Russia would easily be classified as simply an Asiatic empire. At first, Nicholas' attempts to squelch the rebellion were disastrous-- his general was not effective at all in battle strategy and many of his men were being killed by cholera. In fact, his brother Konstantin was killed by the same disease. Finally, after switching generals, Nicholas was able to regain Poland. However, his Polish policies made him unpopular with France and England. Public opinion was decidedly on the side of the Polish insurgents. Furthermore, Russia experienced a cholera epidemic in 1830-1, a potential cause for disorder. Nicholas retreated to his summer residence in Peterhof to avoid the plague. The populace was left in the care of an inefficient administration and started to grow restless. Rumors started going around that there was no real cholera problem, but rather people had been hired to go around poisoning food and drink. Mobs were formed and on July 3, there was serious rioting in the capital of St. Petersburg. The mobs invaded hospitals, broke the windows, threw medical supplies into the street, and attacked the doctors.After all this rioting, Nicholas returned to the capital to confront his people. In a typical flourish of drama, he rode into the Haymarket, rose from his seat, threw off his cloak, pointed to the Church of the Savior, and in a booming voice yelled, "Hats off, and down on your knees!" The thousands of people did so. Then he raked them over the coals: "What did you do yesterday?... You have shamed me before the whole world! How could you believe that cholera is not here, when my brother has just died of it? You have killed some of the doctors, is that worthy of a Russian? Are you Frenchmen or Poles? You have sinned before God, how can I be responsible for you? My oath makes me responsible for your actions. Ask pard...
