"But there is nothing of the kind, and there are no warlike
intentions," we are told. "All there is, is that two nations feeling
a mutual sympathy are expressing this sentiment to one another.
What harm is there in this, that the representatives of a friendly
nation were received with especial solemnity and honour by the
representatives of the other nation? What harm is there in it, even
if it be admitted that the alliance may have the significance of a
protection against a dangerous neighbour, threatening the peace of
Europe?"
The harm is this, that all this is a most palpable and bold lie, an
unjustifiable, bad lie. The sudden outburst of an exclusive love of
the Russians for the French, and of the French for the Russians, is
a lie; and our hatred for the Germans, our distrust of them, which
is understood by it, is also a lie. And the statement that the aim
of all these indecent and mad orgies is the guarantee of European
peace, is a still greater lie.
We all know that we have experienced no particular love for
the French, neither before, nor even now, even as we have not
experienced any hostile feeling toward the Germans.
We are told that Germany has some intentions against Russia, that
the Triple Alliance threatens the peace of Europe and us, and that
our alliance with France balances the forces, and so guarantees the
peace. But this assertion is so obviously absurd, that it makes one
feel ashamed to give it a serious denial. For this to be so, that
is, for the alliance to guarantee peace, it is necessary that the
forces be mathematically even. If now the excess is on the side of
the Franco-Russian alliance, the danger is still the same. It is
even greater, because, if there was a danger that William, who stood
at the head of the European alliance, would violate the peace, there
is a much greater danger that France, which cannot get used to the
loss of her provinces, will do so. The Triple Alliance was called a
league of peace, but for us it was a league of war. Even so now the
Franco-Russian alliance cannot present itself as anything else than
what it is,--a league of war.
And then, if peace depends on the balance of the powers, how are
the units to be determined, between whom the balance is to be
established? Now the English say that the alliance between Russia
and France menaces them, and that they must, therefore, form another
alliance. And into how many units of alliances must Europe be
divided, in order that there be a balance? If so, then every man
stronger than another in society is already a danger, and the others
must form into alliances, to withstand him.
They ask, "What harm is there in this, that France and Russia have
expressed their mutual sympathies for the guarantee of peace?"
What is bad is, that it is a lie, and a lie is never spoken with
impunity, and does not pass unpunished.
The devil is a slayer of men and the father of lies. And the lies
always lead to the slaying of men,--in this case more obviously than
ever.
In just the same manner as now, the Turkish war was preceded by a
sudden outburst of love of our Russians for their brothers, the
Slavs, whom no one had known for hundreds of years, while the
Germans, the French, the English have always been incomparably
nearer and more closely related to us than Montenegrins, Servians,
or Bulgarians. And there began transports, receptions, and
festivities, which were fanned by such men as Aksákov and Katkóv,
who are mentioned now in Paris as models of patriotism. Then, as
now, they spoke of nothing but the mutual sudden outburst of love
between the Russians and the Slavs. In the beginning they ate and
drank in Moscow, even as now in Paris, and talked nonsense to one
another, becoming affected by their own exalted sentiments, spoke of
union and peace, and did not say anything about the chief thing, the
intentions against Turkey. The newspapers fanned the excitement, and
the government by degrees entered into the game. Servia revolted.
There began an exchange of diplomatic notes and the publication of
semiofficial articles; the newspapers lied more and more, invented
and waxed wroth, and the end of it all was that Alexander II., who
really did not want any war, could not help but agree to it, and we
all know what happened: the destruction of hundreds of thousands of
innocent people and the bestialization and dulling of millions.
What was done in Toulon and in Paris, and now continues to be done
in the newspapers, obviously leads to the same, or to a still more
terrible calamity. Just so all kinds of generals and ministers will
at first, to the sounds of "God save the Tsar" and the Marseillaise
drink the health of France, of Russia, of the various regiments of
the army and the navy; the newspapers will print their lies; the
idle crowd of the rich, who do not know what to do with their powers
and with their time, will babble patriotic speeches, fanning hatred
against Germany, and no matter how peaceful Alexander III. may be,
the conditions will be such that he will be unable to decline a war
which will be demanded by all those who surround him, by all the
newspapers, and, as always seems, by the public opinion of the whole
nation. And before we shall have had time to look around, there will
appear in the columns of the newspapers the usual, ominous, stupid
proclamation:
"By God's grace, we, the most autocratic great Emperor of all
Russia, the King of Poland, the Grand Duke of Finland, etc., etc.,
inform all our faithful subjects that for the good of these dear
subjects, entrusted to us by God, we have considered it our duty
before God to send them out to slaughter. God be with them," and so
forth.
The bells will be rung, and long-haired men will throw
gold-embroidered bags over themselves and will begin to pray for the
slaughter. And there will begin again the old, well-known, terrible
deed. The newspaper writers, who under the guise of patriotism stir
people up to hatred and murder, will be about, in the hope of double
earnings. Manufacturers, merchants, purveyors of military supplies,
will bestir themselves joyfully, expecting double profits. All kinds
of officials will bestir themselves, foreseeing a chance to steal
more than they usually do. The military authorities will bestir
themselves, for they will receive double salaries and rations, and
will hope to get for the killing of people all kinds of trifles,
which they value very much,--ribbons, crosses, galloons, stars. Idle
gentlemen and ladies will bestir themselves, inscribing themselves
in advance in the Red Cross, preparing themselves to dress the
wounds of those whom their own husbands and brothers will kill, and
imagining that they are thus doing a most Christian work.
And, drowning in their hearts their despair by means of songs,
debauches, and vódka, hundreds of thousands of simple, good people,
torn away from peaceful labour, from their wives, mothers, children,
will march, with weapons of murder in their hands, whither they will
be driven. They will go to freeze, to starve, to be sick, to die
from diseases, and finally they will arrive at the place where they
will be killed by the thousand, and they will kill by the thousand,
themselves not knowing why, men whom they have never seen and who
have done them and can do them no harm.
And when there shall be collected so many sick, wounded, and killed
that nobody will have the time to pick them up, and when the air
shall already be so infected by this rotting food for cannon that
even the authorities will feel uncomfortable, then they will stop
for awhile, will somehow manage to pick up the wounded, will haul
off and somewhere throw into a pile the sick, and will bury the
dead, covering them with lime, and again they will lead on the whole
crowd of the deceived, and will continue to lead them on in this
manner until those who have started the whole thing will get tired
of it, or until those who needed it will get what they needed.
And again will men become infuriated, brutalized, and bestialized,
and love will be diminished in the world, and the incipient
Christianization of humanity will be delayed for decades and for
centuries. And again will the people, who gain thereby, begin to
say with assurance that, if there is a war, this means that it is
necessary, and again they will begin to prepare for it the future
generations, by corrupting them from childhood.