Page:The Russian Review Volume 1.djvu/87

Rh Empire in its incipiency, and the sovereignty and freedom of separate nationalities. It was this verdict that settled all internal differences in Russia, led the various movements of independent political thought into one channel, and determined their relation to the War. Germany must be defeated at all costs, as her victory will mean political and economic slavery for the world. The so-called German "kultur" represents merely an iron rod, which forces the people to be of a certain opinion considered necessary by the ruling power. It is truly the bitter irony of fate which compelled the reactionary forces in Russia to fight such a proposition, which must have had their hearty approval and support. And the position of Russia is especially dangerous because of this, as the peculiar selfish interests of her reactionary forces would necessarily compel them to join the German oppressors and to make this slavery unbearable. But of this later on.

The internal history of Russia since the time of Peter the Great represents, in its international and domestic affairs, a continual struggle between the native population and German domination. Western civilization and culture were grafted upon Muscovite life by force and in fragments, instead of growing into it by the normal and peaceful influences of science, art, and commerce. Peter the Great was the most cruel and violent reformer known in history, and the hosts of foreigners whom he invited to help him civilize his subjects took their cue from him, treating the people of Russia harshly and offensively. The large majority of these foreigners were Germans, and, while some of them were educated and useful people, the greater number belonged to the class of the adventurer who roams over the world seeking to acquire riches by any and every means at the expense of the native. Their objects was not to make for themselves and their posterity a permanent home in Russia, but to amass wealth quickly and return to their Vaterland. The best way to convey some understanding to the American mind of the real character of these intruders is to compare them to the prevailing type of the "carpet bagger" in the South during the reconstruction period following the Civil War of 1861-65. This policy has remained unchanged up to the present day. For two centuries the Germans have been coming to Russia in a constant stream, until they have come to dominate her State service, her industries, and her commerce. The world-renowned Russian bureaucracy is of their creation. The personnel of the ministry of the Imperial Court is composed mostly of them. So is the Russian diplomatic service abroad, as well as the Department of State Police and the Gendarmerie. In addition to this innumerable horde of state employees in the most influential and lucrative positions, the War for the first time revealed the full meaning of the fact that there were many hundreds of thousands of Germans scattered all over the Russian Empire, partly nominal Russian citizens of the "hyphenated type," but mostly German subjects, although living in Russia for generations. About thirty