The Russians had a pan-Slavic ideology, where all the Slavic regions of the world would be under the tutelage of Russia, This included much of the Austro-Hungarian empire, where this was a sore point. Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, Slovakia and areas formerly within Yugoslavia and prior to that within the Austro-Hungarian empire were intended to be a part of a greater pan-Slavic domain. This required by geography influence over Romania and Hungary. This was finally achieved by the USSR in the end of WWII.
There was also something called the "Great Game," where Afghanistan the Hindu Kush and that general region was contested by Russia and the British Empire. The current problems with Kashmir is a carry over from this, where a Muslim majority region is a part of Hindustan India. This is an elevated region that in a sense looks over India, and was the staging area for the Mogul invasion of India. The UK was loathe to having Russia perched in that position over the "Jewel in the Crown" that was the British Raj in India. Then finally there is the middle east or the Ottoman Empire and Persia. Tsarist Russia hovered over these archaic and declining regions. Russia coveted the straits and a return of the "Truth Faith" of Orthodox Christianity to Constantinople, and this would give Russia more naval access. The Ottoman Empire was called the sick man of Europe, and the Crimean war was fought to keep Russia out of the straits of Dardanelles and Anatolia, and Russia worked to foster the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Russia also sought increased influence in Persia. LC On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 2:17:01 AM UTC-5, Alan Grayson wrote: > > As you probably know, Barbara Tuchman was awarded a Pulitzer prize for The > Guns of August (1962). In a later work, The Proud Tower (1966), focused on > European history in the two decades preceding WW1, she writes the following > in chapter 5 (emphasis mine); > > JOY, HOPE, SUSPICION—above all, astonishment—were the world’s prevailing > emotions when it learned on August 29, 1898, that the young Czar of Russia, > Nicholas II, had issued a call to the nations to join in a conference for > the limitation of armaments. All the capitals were taken by surprise by > what Le Temps called “this flash of lightning out of the North.” That the > call should come from the mighty and *ever expanding power* whom the > other nations feared and who was still regarded, despite its two hundred > years of European veneer, as semi-barbaric, was cause for dazed wonderment > liberally laced with distrust. *The pressure of Russian expansion had > been felt from Alaska to India, from Turkey to Poland.* “The Czar with an > olive branch,” it was said in Vienna, “that’s something new in history.” > But his invitation touched a chord aching to respond. > > What expansion is she referring to? TIA, AG > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/601c6e52-69ab-43ab-a2d6-0bda3de6899a%40googlegroups.com.
