I will not discuss the respective merits of Teutonic and Slavic culture and civilization, as in my opinion these are questions absolutely foreign to the events leading up to the war. The Russian, French, English, and Servian nations are not fighting against German culture, as represented by intellectual giants, such as Goethe, Wagner, and many others, but against German militarism, accompanied by systematic oppression of the individual residing in German territory.
This internal German policy created a national spirit against which the Allies now are fighting—the national spirit of Germany, which the whole world knows, and which is rough, conceited, arrogant, and intolerant toward foreigners beyond all measures, and admits nothing good unless it is German or made in Germany. This kind of German national spirit is in the majority in the empire of Germany and particularly in Prussia; the real cultured, good-hearted, sentimental German is about to die out completely, and the few remaining representatives of this type have no voice in Germany.
The pronounced antipathy to the above-described present majority type of Germans united all European nations against Germany, and supports their respective Governments in their efforts to put a stop to the furor teutonicus of the twentieth century.
For this reason the task of the allied Governments will find unlimited support of the nations and this war against Germany in Europe will prove to be most popular.
RUSSIA'S "LITTLE BROTHER."
Statement by George Bakhmeteff, Russian Ambassador to the United States, New York, Oct. 11.
It will be a long time, I suppose, before the American will be able fully to understand Russia's reasons for entering the present war and the great racial thought that lies back of it. The whole situation in a nutshell is that Germany entered the war from racial hate and motives of commercial greed, while Russia drew her sword out of motives of humane and kindly sympathy for a small and oppressed nation of her own kindred. Germany had been grabbing and wished to grab more; Russia rose in arms to stand by and protect her "little brother."
Indeed you are quite right when you say that there are spiritual forces back of Russia's deeds in battle far more than there can be in the case of any other of the warring nations. The reasons lie deep within our national life, and I doubt if any American will be able fully to comprehend them without coming to see us in our own country and seeing us as we are. The great and really wonderful achievements of the German are visible and material, while ours are things of the spirit—invisible, modest, resigned. The representative spirit of Germany's materialism and heartless aggressiveness is that of the megalomaniac Nietzsche and his followers, Treitschke and von Bernhardi. The spokesmen of what is more truly Russian today are Tolstoy and Dostoievski, who have recorded forever the spirit of self-sacrifice, humility and piety in the Russian soul.
Yes, it is true that those who have learned to know us in Russia are aware that the epithets of "Hun" and "barbarian" used against us are stark lies promulgated by bitter enemies who take ignoble advantage of the tradition in America fostered by the melodramatic exploitation of the Jewish problem and the occasional brutalities by our drunken soldier to make you believe that a Russian is a sort of treacherous bandit with a knife in his teeth ready to betray and slay. We regret exceedingly that that tradition has taken root in the United States. We admire and emulate Americans because they have mellowed and complemented their industrial and political achievements with national charity and religious ideals.