ng in review the events of the war, the Minister said that the
valiant Russian troops, standing shoulder to shoulder with their allies,
had secured fresh laurels for their crown of glory. The Russian arms
were marching steadfastly toward their goal, assured of final victory
against an enemy who, blinded by the hope of an easy victory, was making
desperate efforts, having recourse to all kinds of subterfuges, even the
distortion of the truth.

To the relations of good neighborliness, faithfully maintained by
Russia, Germany had everywhere opposed resistance, seeking to embroil
Russia with neighboring countries, especially those to which Russia was
bound by important interests.

All this [continued M. Sazanof] is sufficient for us to judge
the value of German statements regarding the alleged
envelopment of Germany by the Triple Entente. Equally
worthless are the assertions that it was not Germany who began
the war, for irrefutable documents exist to prove the
contrary. Among the malevolent German inventions figure
reports of Jewish pogroms which the Russian troops are alleged
to have organized. I seize this opportunity of speaking in the
parliamentary tribune to deny this calumny categorically, for,
if the Jewish population in the theatre of war is suffering,
that is an inevitable evil, since the inhabitants of regions
where hostilities are proceeding are always severely tried.
Moreover, eyewitnesses are unanimous in stating that the
greatest devastation in Poland is the work of the Germans and
Austrians.

The German Ambassador in Washington has zealously spread these
reports in the attempt to create in the United States a
feeling hostile to us, but the good sense of the Americans has
prevented them from falling into the clumsily laid snare. I
hope that the good relations between Russia and America will
not suffer from these German intrigues.

The "Orange Book" recently published proved that the events on
the Bosporus which preceded the war with Turkey were the
result of German treachery toward the Ottoman Empire, which
invited German instructors and the mission of General Liman
von Sanders, hoping to perfect its army with the object of
assuring its independence against the Russian danger
insinuated by Berlin. Germany, however, took advantage of this
penetration into the Tu