In Greece, the government of Capodistrias was beset with such difficulties that it was decided to invite some European prince to set up a constitutional monarchy. The throne was offered to Prince Leopold of Coburg, the husband of the late Princess Charlotte of England. Leopold accepted, but when he learned that the Powers would not grant complete independence to Greece, without restoring AEtolia, Thessaly and the fertile islands of Samos and Candia to the Sultan, he withdrew his acceptance. [Sidenote: Revolution in Poland] [Sidenote: War declared on Russia] Peace had scarcely been restored in the Netherlands when the spirit of revolt, travelling northward, seized the ardent people of Poland. Alexander's recognition of home rule in Poland had given the Poles a parliament and army of their own. After the Polish conspiracies at the outset of Nicholas's reign, Alexander's successor would no longer invoke the Polish Diet, and Russian troops and officers were sent into Poland. Of course this was bitterly resented. Plans for an uprising had already been made in 1828 during the Turkish war. The example of the successful risings in Paris and Brussels now brought matters to a head. On November 29, the revolt broke out in Warsaw. The Polish regiments of the garrison joined the insurgents. The Russian troops, finding the odds against them, withdrew. Grandduke Constantine narrowly escaped with his life. A provisional Polish Diet was convoked. Prince Czartoryski was elected President. The Poles, in remembrance of the late Czar's kindly attitude toward them, flattered themselves that the fruits of their revolution might be left to them. Lubecki, the former chief of the Imperial Council in Poland, with two associates, set out for St. Petersburg to voice the Polish demands for constitutional government before the Czar. It was even proposed that constitutional government should be conceded to those Russian provinces that had formerly belonged to Poland. On the way to St. Petersburg the eyes of the envoys were opened as they met the formidable columns of Russian troops marching to the Polish frontier. Forthwith, Lubecki forsook the cause of Poland. His colleagues found difficulty in obtaining a hearing from the Czar. When they were finally admitted to the imperial palace, Nicholas gave them clearly to understand that Poland had but two alternatives, unconditional submission or complete subjugation. When this answer reached Warsaw it was too late to swing the outside Polish provinces and Lithuania into the movement. Yet the Polish Diet, in a spirit of patriotic frenzy amounting to national suicide, passed a resolution declaring that the House of Romanoff had forfeited the Polish crown. Feverish preparations were made for a life and death struggle with Russia. [Sidenote: Revolt in Spain]