Fateful Years 1909-1916 (the Reminiscences of Serge Sazonov G. C. B. , G. C. V. O. Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs

Book excerpt: Here are the Memoirs of the man who is widely credited or blamed for starting World War I, a war he still felt, ten years after the conclusion of this horrific and pointless struggle, was necessary to preserve the "National Honor" of Russia. These memoirs of Russia's Minister for Foreign Affairs during the crucial period from 1909 through 1916 and the downfall of the Empire were completed shortly before Sazonov's death in December, 1927 Sazonov was called to St. Petersburg as under-Secretary of State in 1909 and made Foreign Minister in 1910, just at the time the Kaiser had given up the idea of drawing Russia into an alliance against France and Britain. He served Russia through her momentous war years and in January, 1917, was appointed Ambassador to England, but was recalled on the eve of his departure for London. The Czar was overthrown shortly afterward. Royalist to the core, Sazonov declined to recognize the Bolsheviki and became Foreign Minister of the counter-revolutionary Omsk government after the October revolution in 1917. SAZONOV'S reminiscences go back far enough to give in detail the whole puzzling and complex situation in the Near East and serve as a key to the intricate and involved Balkan policy of Austria-Hungary. A surprising amount of secret negotiations, diplomatic trickery and subterfuge leading to the great struggle, is here revealed in easily understandable terms, making one of the most readable volumes that have come out of the war. These memoirs of Russia's Minister for Foreign Affairs during the crucial period from 1909 through 1916 and the downfall of the Empire were completed shortly before Sazonov's death in December, 1927 Sazonov was called to St. Petersburgas under-Secretary of State in 1909 and made Foreign Minister in 1910, just at the time the Kaiser had given up the idea of drawing Russia into an alliance against France and Britain. He served Russia through her momentous war years and in January, 1917, was appointed Ambassador to England, but was recalled on the eve of his departure for London. The Czar was overthrown shortly afterward. Royalist to the core, Sazonov declined to recognize the Bolsheviki and became Foreign Minister of the counter-revolutionary Omsk government after the October revolution in 1917.