Excerpt from The Cambridge Modern History, Vol. 8: The French Revolution But while this main drama absorbs our main attention, and dominates one-half of the European continent, a secondary plot unfolds itself in the east. The preoccupation of the central Powers leaves room for the ambition and intrigue of Russia; and the fate of Poland is decided in accordance with Catharine's wishes. Meanwhile the jealousy of Austria and Prussia and their disputes over the Polish spoils leave to France a breathing-space; the revolutionary government has leisure to establish itself; and before Poland is finally dismembered the gravest crisis has passed. Here and there moreover we see indications of a new and imperious problem, the Eastern question, which will occupy the energies and attract the ambitions of statesmen and diplomatists for more than a century to come. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.