It was
treachery in the General Staff which led to the tragic disasters in East
Prussia. The great drive of the Austrian and German armies in 1915, which
led to the loss of Poland, Lithuania, and large parts of Volhynia and
Courland, and almost entirely eliminated Russia from the war, was
unquestionably brought about by co-operation with the German General Staff
on the part of the sinister "occult government," as the Germanophile
reactionary conspiracy in the highest circles came to be known.
No wonder that Plechanov and his friends in their Manifesto to the Russian
workers declared that the reactionaries were defending Russia from
subjugation by Germany in "a half-hearted way," and that "our people will
never forget the failure of the Czar's government to defend Russia." They
were only saying, in very moderate language, what millions were thinking;
what, a few months later, many of the liberal spokesmen of the country were
ready to say in harsher language. As early as January, 1915, the Duma met
and cautiously expressed its alarm. In July it met again, many of the
members coming directly from the front, in uniform. Only the fear that a
revolution would make the continuance of the war impossible prevented a
revolution at that time.
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