WAR AND REVOLUTION IN
ASIATIC RUSSIA
INTRODUCTION
If we look at a map of the old hemisphere, we shall be struck with two important facts. We shall first observe that what is known as Europe is a westerly projection of the much greater continent of Asia; and secondly that there are two passages between these two portions of the continent. One of these passages leads from the deserts of Central Asia across a wide plain into Central Europe and covers what is known politically as Russia; and the other, a narrower one, leads from the plateaux in the heart of Asia across a projecting promontory, known as Asia Minor, into south-eastern Europe. These two passages are separated from each other by a depression filled with water, which is the Black Sea. People in the heart of the continent, if they wish to move west, must cross by one or other of these two passages. For the sake of convenience let us call them the gateways between the two portions of the continent.
Now if we think of the great events of human history that have helped to build up modern Europe, such as the rise of Greek civilization, the birth of Christianity, the fall of Constantinople and the invasion of Russia by the Tartars, we shall see that they have all taken
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