On Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 12:54:20 PM UTC-5, Alan Grayson wrote: > > > > 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 >
The Eastern Orthodox Church includes a lot of Slavs, but Greeks who are Orthodox are not Slavs, and Poles, Czechians, Slovenians and Croatians are Catholic for the most part. Saint Cyril went from Constantinople to Christianize the Rus, which were largely tribal people living in what is now Russia. The Rus were a mixture of Vikings, Goths, Tartars and other ethnic groups. The term Slav is connected to the word slave, and the Vikings did a sort of slave trade with people there. The Viking network was extensive and they traded all the way south and east with the Persians. The Viking sword was very strong based on Persian steel that was hardened with phosphorus. Cyril developed the Cyrillic alphabet based on Greek letters for the language largely spoken by the Rus. This lead to modern Russian, which is related to the language then in a way English today is related to pre-1066 ancient English. LC > >>> 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 everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/8dbc813f-c2c5-420b-bc6f-fc5bbff64dc2%40googlegroups.com.
