Russia and Europe

Book excerpt: The cover shows one side of a medallion commemorating the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit, ending the War of the Fourth Coalition (1806-07), signed by Alexander I of Russia (right) and Napoleon I of France - symbolic representatives of Russia and Europe. The treaty called for self-interested cooperation, in place of warfare, between the two powers. Despite the amicable embrace of the emperors, the medallion conveys the lingering wariness between the two former, and future, opponents. In this book, Danilevskii speaks of the Treaty of Tilsit with regret, as a lost opportunity for Russia to pursue its national ambitions and historical destiny: to liberate the Slavs from Habsburg and Ottoman rule and unite them under its own protective hegemony. Instead, Danilevskii says, Russia put European interests ahead of its own, triggering the invasion of 1812 and its aftermath. It continued serving European rather than Russian interests from the Congress of Vienna in 1815 through its intervention in Hungary, to prop up Habsburg rule, in 1849. For this service it was repaid with ingratitude, when the European powers united against it in the invasion of Crimea in 1853. Danilevskii's attempt at an explanation for Europe's ingratitude and hostility toward Russia, is the starting point of this book. -- from back cover.