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"Jan Sobieski, the Polish monarch who came to the rescue of Vienna in 1683 and who was key in defeating the Ottoman Turks, is a revered figure in the Western European psyche. Another very important feature in our history is of course the refusal of the Ottoman Turks to accept the partition of Poland in 1790. From 1790 until the end of World War I the various Ottoman Sultans never accepted Poland’s partition. The Ottoman refusal was manifested in the following way: During the annual reception for foreign ambassadors at the Ottoman Court the court officials would ask loudly “where is the Polish ambassador?” in front of all ambassadors. The reply from Ottoman bureaucrats would be that the Polish ambassador “was on his way but is late because of adverse road conditions."