On the anniversary of the November Uprising Jan Ledóchowski shall be telling the story of two distant cousins who ended up in the middle of one of Poland’s greatest dramas: Dethroning the Tsar and commanding Poland’s Last Stand.

On the 29th, “November Night”, 1830, Poland rose in another struggle for independence against the mighty Russian Empire. Two months later, Jan Ledóchowski led the crowd of MPs in Parliament shouting “Precz z Mikołajem”, “Nie ma Mikołaja!” – Down with Nicholas! The Emperor Nicholas I, the King of Poland, and the Tsar of all the Russias, was officially dethroned. But someone had to do the fighting, and the one-legged General Ignacy Ledóchowski ended up commanding Poland’s last stand at the Fortress of Modlin, which briefly became the capital before finally being crushed by overwhelming forces.