Page:Sarolea - Great Russia.djvu/94

78 III. has not only defended the rights of small nationalities, she has also consistently followed a disinterested foreign policy. According to his lights, the Russian statesman has been a good European; he has waged war not in pursuance of national ends, but of general ends. There is even a great deal to be said in favour of the theories which the Slavophil Danilewski expounded in his famous book "Russia and Europe." For the Russian policy has been frequently Quixotic and regardless of Russian interests. At the beginning of the nineteenth century the one end of Russian policy was to liberate the world from the tyranny of Napoleon. The Tsar might have divided the spoils with his ally of Tilsit. Russia resisted the arch-tempter and persistently saved an ungrateful Prussia from annihilation. But even more wonderful than the disinterestedness of Russia has been her restraint and moderation in victory. After the invasion of France, Blücher insisted on continuing the war to the bitter end. What Russia considered as a war of liberation Prussia considered as a