Paul Vinogradoff

“ When the great crisis broke out in 1914, after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Tsar and Sazonov found themselves heavily handicapped by events. Both had tried to avoid the outbreak of war: but it was impossible for Russia to look on while Serbia was being delivered to the tender mercies of an Austrian inquisition, or to allow Germany to mobilize under the protection of specious formulas without herself taking any steps as regards the slow mobilization of the Russian army. ”

“ Sazonov saw clearly that war had been decided upon in Berlin, and he helped to make it clear to the Tsar that the German talk about the ancient tie between the two Empires and the services rendered to Russia during the Japanese war was mere manoeuvring for position. The precise sequence of events is narrated elsewhere. Suffice it to say that the early course of the war itself showed how the Balkan situation had been irremediably jeopardized by preceding diplomatic mistakes and mishaps. Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece fell away one after the other. ”

“ The backing of Austria and Turkey by Germany meant necessarily the crushing of the Slavonic Balkan States and a conflict with Russia. Sazonov was the most appropriate person to oppose this aggressive tendency with firmness and dexterity, but without chauvinism. He managed to strengthen the ties of mutual confidence between Russia and Great Britain by avoiding all kind of provocation in Central Asia or in Persia; as to France, the solidity of the alliance was beyond question. The treatment of the Balkan nationalities was a much more complicated problem. ”