Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/303

Rh in the peasantry, but in the other classes of the population as well.

The events of 1908, when the annexation by Austria of Bosnia and Herzegovina took place, constituting in itself a threat for an independent existence of Serbia, aroused Russia from one end to the other. During the Winter of 1908 and the Spring of 1909, the author of this article visited many cities of Russia, where he was invited by different organizations to speak on the Austro-Serbian question, and he can testify to the warm sympathies that all classes of the Russian people entertained towards Serbia. This sympathy and interest were based not only on a realization of Russia's historic attitude towards the Balkan Slavs, but also upon a widespread recognition of the fact that the affairs in the Balkans are of vital concern to Russia. At that time we still believed that Bulgaria would not prove to be such a traitor to Russia as she has shown herself to be, that she would not prove herself unworthy of that liberty which was won for her by Russia at the price of bloody sacrifices. We knew that Russia's diplomacy in Bulgaria was not always what it should have been and that our diplomatic mistakes were utilized to utmost advantage by the representatives of Berlin and Vienna in order to represent Russia as an enemy of Bulgaria. But we also knew that Russia's policy in Poland was infinitely more mistaken, that, while the Poles had ample ground for a possible antagonism to Russia, the Bulgars had to imagine and invent their grievances. And yet, the Poles have remained loyal to Russia and to the Slavs in this historic crisis; their sense of state wisdom told them that it is only in a renovated Russia that they will find a solution of their historic problems. The Bulgars did not realize this, and perpetrated the deed of Cain, prompted by a mirage of the conquest of Macedonia, and an opportunity of wreaking bloody and cruel vengeance upon half-crushed Serbia.

Russia is not seeking any territorial aggrandizement in the Balkans, in the kingdoms of Serbia, Roumania, Bulgaria, or Greece. Any extension of her territory would detract from, rather than add to, her strength, for it would require additional expenditure of those forces which are needed for constructive work within the country itself. Russia is not interested primarily in converting the Balkans into her market, as Germany and Austria have so often asserted. Russia's own, home market is so enormous and so undeveloped as to require the whole attention of her industrial and commercial classes for many years