glory.
As in 1855, the consequences of Russian military failure abroad had a major impact on politics at home. Facing mounting opposition from nearly all elements of society, in October 1905 the tsar announced the creation of an elected legislature, the Duma, and broader civil rights. While this concession did not convert the empire into a full parliamentary democracy, it did impose important limitations on the autocracy's prerogatives. More important, Nicholas's October Manifesto appeased many of his critics, thereby bringing his realm much needed domestic quiet.
Over the coming years, Foreign Minister Aleksandr Izvol'skii resolved most of the outstanding quarrels with other powers in East and Inner Asia. Thus on 21 June (4 July) 1907 he authorised an agreement with Japan, which, along with a treaty in 1910, recognised respective spheres of influence on the Pacific. More important, Izvol'skii also responded favourably to a British proposal to negotiate an end to the long-standing Asian rivalry. According to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 18 (31) August 1907, the two signatories accorded London influence over Afghanistan and southern Persia, while St Petersburg won dominance in Persia's more populous north. Although the pact did not entirely end the Great Game, it did much to improve relations between its two players. The convention also facilitated France's goal of forming an anti- German Triple Entente.
Russia's rebuff in the Far East redirected its attention back to the Near East. By now a number of Orthodox monarchies had gained independence from the Ottoman Sultan, while control over his much-diminished European inheritance was becoming increasingly tenuous. Meanwhile, the bacillus of nationalism had also begun to infect Austria-Hungary, whose Slavic minorities were becoming increasingly restive as well. Among the Dual Monarchy's subjects most vulnerable to separatist tendencies were Serbians, Croatians and Slovenes, many of whom yearned to join the Kingdom of Serbia into a 'jugoslav' or South Slavic federation. Belgrade, which was closely aligned with St Petersburg, naturally did little to discourage such aspirations. As a result, relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia grew increasingly strained in the twentieth century's first decade. By the same token, the Eastern Question continued to be a source of friction between the Habsburgs and the Romanovs.
It was against this backdrop of mutual suspicion that Izvol'skii similarly attempted to fashion a deal with Russia's Balkan antagonist. In September i908, the tsar's foreign minister secretly met with his Austrian counterpart, Count Alois von Aerenthal, at Buchlau Castle in Moravia. Accounts of the conversation between the two men differ, but their discussion focused on trading Austrian consent in re-opening the Turkish Straits to Russian warships in exchange for Russian recognition of the former's rule over the former Ottoman provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Thinking that he had scored a brilliant diplomatic coup, Izvol'skii instead was horrified when Aerenthal soon publicised his consent to the Bosnian question without mentioning the Straits. Berlin's quick pledge of support for Vienna effectively forced the chastened official to accept the count's fait accompli.
Izvol'skii's 'diplomatic Tsushima' eventually led to his replacement as foreign minister by the relatively ineffectual Sergei Sazonov. But the Bosnian Crisis also had more serious consequences. On the one hand, Austria's absorption of a province with a large Serbian population inflamed nationalist passions in Belgrade. Meanwhile, Aerenthal's apparent duplicity along with German bullying over the matter only further aroused Russian hostility to the Teutonic partners. Along with other growing international stresses and strains, this animosity helped to divide the continent into two mutually hostile coalitions, pitting the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary against the Triple Entente of France, Britain and Russia. Armed conflict between the two groups was by no means inevitable. Nevertheless, preserving the peace grew increasingly complicated.
Over the next few years, the Balkans would be convulsed by a number of other crises, including two regional wars between 1911 and 1913. Both conflicts were localised as the powers largely kept to the sidelines. But when in June 1914 a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, the heir to the Habsburg throne, during a visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, Vienna was provoked into drastic measures against Belgrade. Despite determined efforts over the next month among the continent's chancelleries to head off a clash, in late July negotiations gave way to ultimata, mobilisations and finally the outbreak of the First World War.
With the possible exception of Austria-Hungary, which hoped for an isolated campaign to crush Serbia, none of the combatants sought a confrontation in July 1914. Nicholas was particularly reluctant to take up arms. Although his military had largely recovered from the recent defeat in East Asia, he knew that it was still no match for the Central Powers. Nevertheless, the tsar and many of his ministers were even more fearful of the penalty of not supporting Serbia, its partner, against an assault by the Dual Monarchy. Within the past forty years Russia had twice been forced to yield to Austria in the Balkans, at Berlin in 1878 and over the Bosnian question in 1908. A third capitulation might irreparably harm the empire's prestige, with fatal consequences for the Romanovs' standing as a great power.
The start of war did not end tsarist diplomacy. At first, much of Sazonov's attention was directed to securing the agreement of his allies for acquiring German and Austrian territory in a peace settlement. When Turkey entered the conflict on the side of the Central Powers in October 1914, the minister quickly began to focus on the Straits. Already in early 1915 he gained the consent of Britain and France for Russian control of the passage. Of course, to realise its expansive ambitions in Central Europe and the Near East, Russia needed to defeat its enemies. After two Russian armies were routed in East Prussia in August 1914, the likelihood of victory became increasingly remote. And a year later Poland and part of the Baltic provinces were in enemy hands. Although by 1916 tsarist forces had managed to stabilise their positions, once again the home front ultimately decided the outcome of the Russian war effort. Severe economic dislocation in the cities andpoor political leadership severely discredited the dynasty, ultimately resulting in Nicholas's abdication in March 1917.
The character of tsarist diplomacy
More than in any other era, between 1815 and 1917 Russia was firmly anchored in the European state system. As one of the founders of the Concert of Europe, St Petersburg fully subscribed to the values that shaped thinking about international relations on the continent. If anything, nineteenth-century Russians were even more scrupulous in their observance of diplomatic protocol than some of the other powers. Fully equating civilisation with Europe, tsarist diplomats and their imperial masters understood that relations among the continent's states were carried out according to a strict code of conduct, which respected honour and the sanctity of national sovereignty.[184]
184
With respect to the European states, at any rate. Elsewhere, matters could be different. Referring to Central Asia, the Foreign Ministry's legal expert, Fedor Martens, argued that international law did not apply to 'uncivilised peoples'. F. F. Martens,