In 1849, Kossuth stood in a church in Debrecen and declared his break with the dynasty. Amid the cheers, he believed that a nation could finally decide its own fate. In St. Petersburg, meanwhile, Nicholas I prepared to send in troops to defend the faltering monarchic order.
Over the next seventy years, four tsars would take the stage in succession. Some tried to win loyalty through reform; others believed an iron fist could preserve the empire. Yet Polish insurgents, Balkan nation-builders, peasants waiting for land, and soldiers longing to return home each had hopes they refused to abandon.
Promises turned to disappointment, allies became adversaries, and even victory came at a price that was difficult to repay. When the Russian throne finally collapsed in 1917, those who had shed blood for the empire and struggled for freedom still had to keep searching for a place to call their own.
