On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 11:09:57 AM UTC-6, Alan Grayson wrote: > > > > On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 7:28:18 AM UTC-6, Lawrence Crowell wrote: >> >> 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 >> > > I really appreciate having access to your command of history. One other > thing while we're on the subject of European history. What exactly is a > "Slav"? I once looked it up on Wiki and the definition or concept seemed > unintelligible; vague at best. AG >
Offhand, I think a "Slav" is likely defined on religious grounds; that is, differentiated from other Christians as Roman Catholicism is differentiated from Greek, Ukrainian, and Russian Orthodoxy. But what is *that* difference if my basic assumption is sound? AG > >> 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/1b272e55-d02b-480d-9775-5024f835f5a1%40googlegroups.com.
