The anti-war minority was
exceedingly small and had no hold upon the masses. Had the government been
both wise and honestly desirous of presenting a united front to the foe,
and to that end made intelligent and generous concessions to the democratic
movement, it is most unlikely that Russia would have collapsed. As it was,
the government adopted a policy which could not fail to weaken the military
force of the nation--a policy admirably suited to German needs.
Extremes meet. On the one hand there were the Porazhentsi Socialists,
contending that the interests of progress would be best served by a German
victory over Russia, and plotting to weaken and corrupt the morale of the
Russian army and to stir up internal strife to that end. On the other hand,
within the royal court, and throughout the bureaucracy, reactionary
pro-German officials were animated by the belief that the victory of
Germany was essential to the permanence of Absolutism and autocratic
government. They, too, like the Socialist "defeatists," aimed to weaken
and corrupt the morale of the army and to divide the nation.
These Germanophiles in places of power realized that they had unconscious
but exceedingly useful allies in the Socialist intransigents.
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