Page:The Slavs among the nations by T G Masaryk.djvu/41

 later, after completely establishing her control over Austria, she occupied Serbia and Montenegro. These tactics clearly demonstrate that the “Drang nach Osten” of the Germans means, in sober truth, the complete absorption of the smaller nations, above all, of the Slav nations.

It is therefore natural that, when the Russians understood the German manœuvres, they should take up arms to defend the Serbians, and it is equally natural that the Serbians, the Czechs, and the Poles should appeal to Russia for aid.

This war, dividing all Europe, and indeed the whole world, into two camps, clearly demonstrates that if there is a common danger which threatens all the peoples of Europe and the whole of mankind, it is Pangermanism and not Panslavism.

Bethmann-Hollweg himself, in one of his prewar speeches, set himself to prove to the world that a powerful Germany was the surest protection against the Panslavist danger. But facts, such as the alliance of the Slavs with France, and of England with Japan, the sym-