Page:The Spirit of Russia by T G Masaryk, volume 1.pdf/143

Rh We must never forget that in the west Rousseau as well as de Maistre had passed sentence of death upon western civilisation. Rousseau's hostility to civilisation had gained wide acceptance. It was not surprising that the Russians should adopt these ideas also from their teachers and masters. For this reason not reactionaries alone, but men of progressive inclinations as well, sermonised about the "corruption" of the west.

To a certain degree, Russian national sentiment was intensified by the awakening national feeling of the western and southern Slavs. Slavism or panslavism struck roots in Russia as elsewhere—not in official Russia, but to some extent among the intelligentsia and among the common people. As far as the last were concerned, this arose solely from religious sympathy with the Orthodox southern Slavs, struggling for liberation from Turkish dominion.

Alexander I aimed at the partition of Turkey. Constantinople, the cradle of Russian Christendom, was to become Russian. This design, however, was frustrated by Napoleon.

But Napoleon, in his turn, was shattered against Russia, against the third Rome. In the political field, as well as in the domain of civilisation, Russian sentiment turned against France as the home of the revolution, and Alexander became leader of the holy alliance.

This strengthening of national sentiment must be taken into account by those who wish to understand, not merely the origin of the reaction under Alexander and Nicholas, but also the wide diffusion, the intensity, and the duration of the movement. We shall see, on the other hand, how love for the peasantry became associated with this Russism. The true Russian essence was discovered in the peasant, in the man of the common people, and a distinction came to be drawn between the folk and the nation. Democratic and socialistic influences were here at work, for the people were contrasted with the upper classes, with the aristocracy, the intelligentsia, the bourgeoisie, and even with the state.

ESPITE the reactionary increase of chauvinism and exclusivism in the economic field, Alexander and Nicholas were compelled to promote the Europeanisation