The Tzar’s Proclamation consigned the whole system to the limbo of the past. One of the conspirators had realised the errors of his ways, and was determined to make reparation. Of course, the decision to issue the Proclamation was to a large extent dictated by material considerations. But whatever the reasons, there can be no doubt as to the excellence of the results. And by thus breaking the bond of generations Russia proved that she realised that this war was to be fought to the death. After this solemn pledge on the part of Russia, both Germany and Austria must not only be beaten, but conquered. A free Poland would mean the loss to Prussia of the whole province of Posen, and the setting back of her frontiers to Pomerania. Austria would lose all her territories beyond the Carpathians from Silesia to the borders of Roumania. Both countries can be relied upon to resist such a wholesale shrinkage of their boundaries to the utmost of their power. It would be more than a defeat; it would be humiliation, such as no first-class Power has yet been called upon to undergo. The effects of the Proclamation were anxiously awaited, not only in Russia, but in Germany and Austria as well. It was addressed to the most sacred emotions of the Poles, to that fierce patriotism which no violence has been able to crush. It solemnly promised them all that they have been struggling for so bitterly. But would they forget the past? The treatment they have received would hardly be likely to encourage trust. Massacres and repression are not usually associated with the “dawn of a new life.” The Polish Deputies immediately hailed the Proclamation with joy. But the people hesitated. It was too sudden a change to be grasped at once. Then the leaders set the example, first one and then another came forward. Sienkiewicz addressed a stirring appeal to his compatriots. The people realised that the promise was genuine, that Poland was really to be free again. Scenes of indescribable enthusiasm followed. The Poles are the most emotional nation in Europe, and from Kalisz to Biala and from Mlava to Stopnika they abandoned themselves to their joy. Thereafter the Polish enthusiasm for the war vied with that of the Russians themselves. The effect was immediately felt in the army. In one of the early dispatches received at Petrograd from the front, mention was made of the furious heroism of the Polish regiments. In Russia, therefore, the results of the Proclamation were to remove the last shreds of apathy and to weld both the subjects and the armies of the Tzar into one pulsating whole.