Cited:
“Today, rumors of an impending open breach of the peace by Russia, whose recent heavy defeats by the Serbs have robbed them of any hope of a comfortable prolongation of the fighting on the Balkan Peninsula beyond the winter, are gaining increasing traction and credibility.
Today, a correspondent for the Allgemeine Zeitung writes from the Russian border, where in Russland the recruitment agencies are in full swing, where countless respected Russian families have already been affected by Serbian losses, where the lists of the fallen contain Russian names daily, where it is already Russian blood crying out for revenge, and the government’s assertion that it is being forced into war cannot be difficult for it to accept.
General Ignatieff, who is awaiting the Emperor in Crimea, seems destined to assume Menshikov’s role in this regard. It would have to be, however, that at the last minute a solution corresponding to Russian wishes, at least a postponement of the war, could still be found. What Russia wants, another correspondent for this paper remarks, is well known. Had it now started the war on its own…
Thus, he might have consumed three to four hundred million rubles. It took a more practical approach. It supported Serbia with several million rubles, thereby draining the Turks of their last drop of blood. Moreover, Russia sent several hundred officers to aid the Serbs. These officers have the best opportunity to get to know the country and to utilize the experience gained in a later war.
Now, let us assume that peace is concluded today and for all time. Surely no one is so naive as to believe that Russia will not begin intervening in Turkey again tomorrow. However, we are still very far from even a provisional peace settlement, as Turkey has apparently decided neither to be patiently slaughtered nor to be diplomatically cured to death by the European doctors. Russia must fear losing the fruits of its efforts if it does not act with the threat of armed intervention.
In Berlin, it is believed that such a decision is currently being discussed in Warsaw and that the dispatch of the general… Manteuffel’s trip to Warsaw may have been intended to prevent the Tsar from taking the extreme step his belligerent entourage was trying to push him towards.
If there is any truth to this, Manteuffel would only need to have instructions in his pocket to declare that, in the event of a war between Russia and Turkey, Germany would absolutely protect only German interests and show no gratitude whatsoever, and the Russians would think ten times before crossing the Rubicon.”
Source
Würzburg Journal. Nro 215 Freitag den 8 September 1876 22 Jahrgang. “Vom Kriegsschauplate.
