Adam Mickiewicz (1798-1855) left Russia on the grounds of ill health in 1829. He traveled throughout Germany but missed participating in the unsuccessful Polish insurrection of 1830. In the third part of Dziady (1833; Dziady III), which he completed in 1832, Mickiewicz views Poland as fulfilling a messianic role among the nations of western Europe by its national embodiment of the Christian themes of self-sacrifice and eventual redemption.--"Mickiewicz, Adam (Bernard)" Encyclopaedia Britannica Online <http://www.eb.com:180/bol/topic?eu=53803&sctn=1>

This historical drama is based on a play written by Stanisław Wyspiański (1869-1907) in 1904. On November 29,1830 Polish secret society of infantry cadets under leadership of Piotr Wysocki started in Warsaw the uprising to overthrow Russian rule in the Congress Kingdom of Poland. The cadets and their supporters failed to assassinate the Grand Duke Constantine but the movement started November Insurrection (1830-1831).