The Russian viewpoint deserves every consideration. Russia lies benumbed by the cold of her frozen land. She has had one long winter since the dawn of her nationality. The chief reason why her sons have been laggards in the liberal progress of the past hundred years must be sought in this simple fact of geography. Russia does not need more land or fresh resources. She only seeks the warmth of the sun’s rays. Geographically it is Russia rather than Germany who is entitled to “her place under the sun.” Today more than ever, and because of her newly-won liberty and democratic institutions, Russia needs a window on the sunny side of her national dwelling.
Russian access to the open sea in the southwest can be secured either at Constantinople or Alexandretta. The Bosporus route is the more advantageous, as the markets for products of the plains of southern Russia are strewn along Mediterranean coasts. But mastery of the Bosporus is of little value to Russia without possession of the Dardanelles strait. The Marmora is but the lobby of the Black Sea. The entire Bosporus-Dardanelles waterway must, therefore, be Russian in order to allow the country to reap the full advantages of attaining ice-free seas. If fifty years ago the question was merely one of political foresight, today it has assumed vital importance, for southwestern Russia’s economic development, in the present century, has made the country absolutely dependent on Balkan and Mediterranean markets.
As an alternative, the harbor of Alexandretta finds favor among Russians. It lies at a distance of only 450 miles from the southern Caucasus frontiers. Moreover, it is part of the ancient land of Armenia, which sooner or later is destined to become a Russian province in its entirety. Such an extension of Russian territory to blue water on the Mediterranean has significance in two ways. It would redeem a land that has remained Christian in spite of centuries of Mohammedan yoke and it might effectively bar German access to the Persian Gulf.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood
Fig. 54—View of the harbor of Odessa.
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood.