War and Revolution in Asiatic Russia
ture of this region is continental and extreme, ranging from the heat of the sub-tropical zone in summer to the cold of the sub-arctic zone in winter. Irrigated oases are found in many parts of the plain, and grazing areas in the mountains. But the difference between life in the mountains and life in the plateau plains is not so sharp as it is in the regions farther to the east, in Armenia and Persia. This is largely due to the more broken structure of the table-land, the pastoral country being interspersed among the land suitable for oasis cultivation. Thus the people of Anatolia are roughly speaking of one type. They are village-dwellers and corn-growers at one time of the year, and tent-dwellers and cattle-grazers at another. There is not that strong permanent distinction between shepherd and agriculturist which is found farther to the east. The political history of Anatolia has been largely determined by the fact that it is situated at the converging points of ail the land routes between Central Asia and South-East Europe. It has thus become the channel for race movements of all kinds. Invading hordes of nomads shook the foundations of its society at one time, while at another wandering bands of Dervishes inspired it with the ideas and thoughts of the Madrasas (colleges) of Isfahan and Tabriz. Periods of disturbance alternated with periods of reconstruction, during which the invading elements became modified by the native elements of the plateau. Fierce Tartars were tamed by a few generations of life on the quiet upland pastures of Angora; the human driftwood that crossed the plateau has been gradually converted by agricultural pursuits into materials for a military Empire. Anatolia has received
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