Whilst France and England had been quarrelling over the Spanish marriages, events of greater importance had been taking place in Central Europe. The Polish nationalists had planned an insurrection which was to break out simultaneously in Prussian and Austrian Poland. At Posen, the authorities obtained early intelligence of the projected rising, and were enabled to suppress it without difficulty. But in Gallicia, in February, 1846, the Austrian military commander was suddenly called upon to deal with a formidable rebellion. Colonel Benedek,[883] however, by allowing the Polish peasants to wreak their hatred upon their landlords, succeeded in dividing the forces opposed to him and in subduing one revolution by another. The free town of Cracow was the scene of severe fighting, and, after the defeat of the insurgents, was occupied by Russian troops. The measure was to be merely temporary, and the town, it was announced, would be evacuated, directly order should be restored. But, when it was evident that the Spanish marriage question had hopelessly divided France and England, the Northern Courts adopted a different attitude. On November 15, 1846, the Austrian, the Prussian and the Russian ministers in London informed Palmerston that the independent existence of Cracow was incompatible with the public tranquillity of Europe, and that, in consequence, it had been decided that the Republic should, in the future, form part of the Austrian Empire.[884] A similar communication was, at the same time, made to the French government. The Republic of Cracow having been constituted by a treaty between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, on May 3, 1815, these three Powers maintained that they had a right to undo what they had done, without consultation with the other Powers which were parties to the general settlement of 1815.[885] Both France and England at once entered a formal protest. M. Guizot, having attained his object in Spain, was now bent upon re-establishing "the cordial understanding," and would gladly have made a joint representation to the three Powers with great Britain.[886] But his hope that the annexation of Cracow would prove the means of reuniting France and England was not realized. Palmerston contented himself with directing Normanby to furnish the French government with a copy of the remonstrance which he addressed to the Court of Vienna.[887]