Russian+Nationalism

Contents

 * 1) The Russo-Japanese War
 * 2) The Anglo-Russian Entente
 * 3) Russian Rivalries
 * 4) Germany
 * 5) Austria-Hungary
 * 6) The Serbian Problem
 * 7) Selfish Ambition?

The Battle of Yalu River, Russo-Japanese War

The Russo-Japanese War
Until 1904, Russia had pursued a continual policy of imperial expansion, with two key goals. The first of these was to dominate the Bosporus; the second, to control as much of Northeast Asia as possible. This imperialism, however, led Russia to folly. Russia had never managed to quite make it to Constantinople. The closest it came was in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 (Gleason 1134). In 1904, Russia rushed to war with Japan. Russia thought that it would be assured an easy victory. Nationalistic attitudes had succeeded in convincing Russians that there was no way a nonwhite military could defeat them. However, Japan was becoming a mighty colonial power in its own right. Russia and Japan clashed in Manchuria, Sakhalin Island, and the Kurils. The Battle of Tsushima obliterated the Russian fleet at the hands of the Japanese, and turned the war into a complete disaster for Russia. (Russo-Japanese War Research Society) The Portsmouth Conference of 1905 managed to settle the conflict in Japan’s favor, and marked a great defeat and embarrassment for the Russian Empire and its leader, the Czar Nikolai II. Russia was forced out of Korea and Manchuria, and lost territory in areas like the island of Sakhalin. The country stood with its tail between its legs. (Brigham Young University)

The Anglo-Russian Entente
The Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 marked a halt to what had been one of the major imperial rivalries of the past several decades. While the two nations had come to blows during the Crimean War from 1853 to 1856, they had since pursued it without directly fighting one another (World Almanac Books). Britain continually sought to build and expand its empire and colonies around the world, relying on the strength of its navy to carry the flag and conquer new lands. Among Britain’s greatest jewels was India. For Britain, India included the modern Indian Republic, as well as Burma, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Britain saw Russia as a direct threat to India from the north, and had played “The Great Game” with the Russian Empire for control and influence in Central Asia. The Anglo-Russian accord set an agreement where Britain and Russia would each have separate spheres of influence in Asia, with a neutral zone running through Iran. This would become important later on, in the days of the Cold War. Additionally, Russia and Britain came to an understanding that they would, for the time being, support each other’s colonial interests. (Brigham Young University) With that opportunity, Russia decided to devote itself to rebuilding and preparing for its next great imperial campaign. To do so, it received heavy French investment, strengthening its relations with the Third Republic (Jones 1676). A cartoon depicting the Great Game rivalry between Russia and the United Kingdom

Germany


Japan, Britain, and France were not the only powers with interests in East Asia. Germany, in the throes of //Weltpolitik//, had made moves at Papua New Guinea, and closer to Russian holdings, the port of Qingdao (Jing). While, in retrospect, it is clear that Germany’s //Weltpolitik// efforts amounted to little, at the time, Russia had every reason to believe that Germany posed a serious threat. Germany was not merely an Asian presence, however. Half of Russia’s western frontier lay with Germany, and Germany’s expansionism and aggression towards France and Britain upset Russia. As Germany acted aggressively towards Russia’s ally France in Africa, Russia became ever more concerned over German militancy. This drove Russia to continue to build its army and develop plans against Germany, with the sense that a war to protect Russia might one day be necessary. In response, the Germans kept building up their army and navy, and the arms race continued. While Russia recognized Germany as a rising challenger, it had no immediate quarrels with the country. Nikolai and Wilhelm were close cousins, and the two leaders addressed each other with pet names (Duffy). Russia recognized Germany's threat to the European balance of power, however. For this reason, the old Franco-Russian Alliance helped those countries offset Germany and its ally, Austria-Hungary.

Austria-Hungary
Russia perceived the Hapsburg Empire as a much more immediate threat than Germany. Russian grand strategy had looked to take eventual control of Constantinople and the Bosporus when the Ottoman Empire eventually collapsed. Austria-Hungary did not necessarily have these same imperial ambitions. Domestic politics in that country prevented any large scale expansion in the direction of Turkey. However, Austria-Hungary did want to move into Bosnia-Herzegovina and towards Serbia. This created a dual threat for Russia. First, Russia perceived it as a challenge to eventual Russian domination of the Straits, and second, it threatened the independence and sovereignty of Slavic nations in the Balkans.

Russia, however, initially managed to work this situation to its advantage. Russian diplomats met with their Austro-Hungarian counterparts to work out an agreement whereby Austria could have Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Russia could lay uncontested claim to the Straits. However, when the agreement was announced, the other Entente Powers, Britain in particular, pointed this out as a violation of the Congress of Berlin. For that reason, they forced Russia to back down from its end of the bargain. Russia was now in a position of having lost not only a war in Japan, but a diplomatic maneuver in Europe. This alone would have been reason to make an attempt back at the glory days of the Seventeenth Century (Grenville 59-60).

The Bosnian Crisis created further problems for Russia. Many Serbs and other Slavic groups were unhappy with the new arrangement of Austrian dominance. This only became compounded with the Balkan Wars. As those transpired, political order in the Balkans broke down further, with Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia all taking on Turkey before turning in on Bulgaria. The new arrangement left an unstable peninsula and enlarged Serbia. Austria-Hungary rightly saw this new Serbia as a serious threat to the loyalty of its Slavic population. Unsurprisingly, resistance and terrorist movements arose in the region. Eventually, Serbia would provide the support necessary for the Black Hand to assassinate Franz Ferdinand, which lit the fuse of the First World War (Stone 155-157).

The Serbian Problem
At the same time nationalism brought Russia towards trying to gain strategic advantages in Southern Europe, Russia also was swept by nationalism in another form: Pan-Slavism. In Russia, Pan-Slavism was the belief in the unity of Slavic nations, states, and peoples. Russians saw themselves as the protectors and guardians not only of Russia, but also all Slavs. Thus, the independence of Slavic states became important to Russian policy (Gleason 1135). As the Bosnian Crisis unfolded, and the other powers found themselves opposed to Russia, Russia became closer with one particular ally: Serbia. Serbia stood as the most powerful Slavic state, and Russia’s natural friend. This other Slavic state proved to be Russia’s truest and most constant ally. That arrangement would become disastrous.

In 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Russia still saw itself as the protector of all Slavic nations and peoples, as per pan-Slavism. It would therefore be necessary for Russia to mobilize against Austria-Hungary in order to protect Serbia. The Russian General Staff had considered this possibility. They, however, had not planned for the possibility of a limited war in Europe. For Russia, the best war was general war, for it would prevent any country from gaining an upper hand against Russia while Russia was occupied in conflict. Thus, Russia prepared itself not for a limited war with Austria, but a general conflict with the Triple Alliance. The same idea had laid the foundations for the second clause of the Franco-Russian Alliance, where any Triple Alliance mobilization would bring both France and Russia to war. Given that these were the only plans in place, Russia’s generals convinced the politically feeble czar to support mobilization against both Austria-Hungary and Germany (Kissinger 203-207). With this being the case, Germany declared war on Russia, and the Eastern Front opened.

Selfish Ambition?
Nikolai II It was this nationalism which served as the main driving force behind Russia’s World War I. There was little in the way of personal, selfish ambition in Russia during the run-up to war. Rather, Russia’s major personalities were either inwardly focused (in the case of the Russian royal court under Rasputin’s thumb) or apathetic (in the case of Nikolai). Either way, it was the general staff who proved more powerful as the idea of war developed, and the “Wily-Nicky” telegrams demonstrate the fact that Nikolai did not much assert his own power, and lived at the pressures and mercies of his generals. It was this weak leadership which kept selfish ambition out of Russian motivation for conflict, and in general restricted it to nationalism.