The New York Times Current History: the European War, February, 1915 | Page 5

the pale cast of thought." Instead of that they were confronted
with soldiers of the same type as those whom Frederick the Great and
Napoleon admired, led at last by chiefs worthy of their men. And
behind these soldiers they discovered a nation. Do they realize now
what a force they have awakened? Do they understand that a steadfast,
indomitable resolution, despising all theatrical display, is moving
Russia's hosts? Even if the Russian Generals had proved mediocre,
even if many disappointing days had been in store, the nation would
not belie its history. It has seen more than one conquering army go
down before it--the Tartars and the Poles, the Swedes of Charles XII.,
the Prussians of Frederick the Great, the Grand Army of Napoleon
were not less formidable than the Kaiser's army, but the task of
mastering a united Russia proved too much for each one of them. The
Germans counted on the fratricidal feud between Poles and Russians,
on the resentment of the Jews, on the Mohammedan sympathies with
Turkey, and so forth. They had to learn too late that the Jews had
rallied around the country of their hearths, and that the best of them
cannot believe that Russia will continue to deny them the measure of
justice and humanity which the leaders of Russian thought have long
acknowledged to be due to them. More important still, the Germans
have read the Grand Duke's appeal to the Poles and must have heard of
the manner in which it was received in Poland, of the enthusiastic
support offered to the Russian cause. If nothing else came of this great
historical upheaval but the reconciliation of the Russians and their
noble kinsmen the Poles, the sacrifices which this crisis demands
would not be too great a price to pay for the result.
But the hour of trial has revealed other things. It has appealed to the
best feelings and the best elements of the Russian Nation. It has
brought out in a striking manner the fundamental tendency of Russian
political life and the essence of Russian culture, which so many people
have been unable to perceive on account of the chaff on the surface.
Russia has been going through a painful crisis. In the words of the
Manifesto of Oct. 17, (30,) 1905, the outward casing of her
administration had become too narrow and oppressive for the

development of society with its growing needs, its altered perceptions
of rights and duties, its changed relations between Government and
people. The result was that deep-seated political malaise which made
itself felt during the Japanese war, when society at large refused to take
any interest in the fate of the army; the feverish rush for "liberties" after
the defeat; the subsequent reign of reaction and repression, which has
cast such a gloom over Russian life during these last years. But the
effort of the national struggle had dwarfed all these misunderstandings
and misfortunes as in Great Britain the call of the common fatherland
has dwarfed the dispute between Unionists and Home Rulers. Russian
parties have not renounced their aspirations; Russian Liberals in
particular believe in self-government and the rule of law as firmly as
ever. But they have realized as one man that this war is not an
adventure engineered by unscrupulous ambition, but a decisive struggle
for independence and existence; and they are glad to be arrayed in close
ranks with their opponents from the Conservative side. A friend, a
Liberal like myself, writes to me from Moscow: "It is a great,
unforgettable time; we are happy to be all at one!" And from the ranks
of the most unfortunate of Russia's children, from the haunts of the
political exiles in Paris, comes the news that Bourtzeff, one of the most
prominent among the revolutionary leaders, has addressed an appeal to
his comrades urging them to stand by their country to the utmost of
their power.
I may add that whatever may have been the shortcomings and the
blunders of the Russian Government, it is a blessing in this decisive
crisis that Russians should have a firmly knit organization and a
traditional centre of authority in the power of the Czar. The present
Emperor stands as the national leader, not in the histrionic attitude of a
war lord but in the quiet dignity of his office. He has said and done the
right thing, and his subjects will follow him to a man. We are sure he
will remember in the hour of victory the unstinted devotion and
sacrifices of all the nationalities and parties of his vast empire. It is our
firm conviction that the sad tale of reaction and oppression is at an end
in Russia, and that our country will issue from this momentous crisis
with the insight and