her nations, has found in the beneficent power of protective tariffs a
means of escape from British economic thraldom. Henceforth, not only the
muzhiks of European Russia, but also the populations of Central
Asia, will be saved from the heartless exploitation of Manchester and
Birmingham--and be handed over, I presume, to the tender mercies of the
manufacturers of Moscow and St. Petersburg, who sell their goods much
dearer than their English rivals.

Having thus analysed the expansive tendency, let us endeavour to
determine how the various factors of which it is composed are acting in
the present and are likely to act in the future. In this investigation
it will be well to begin with the simpler, and proceed gradually to the
more complex parts of the problem.

Towards the north and the west the history of Russian expansion may
almost be regarded as closed. Northwards there is nothing to be annexed
but the Arctic Ocean and the Polar regions; and, westwards, annexations
at the expense of Germany are not to be thought of. There remain,
therefore, only Sweden and Norway. They may possibly, at some future
time, come within the range of Russia's territorial appetite, but at
present the only part of the Scandinavian Peninsula on which she is
supposed to cast longing eyes is a barren district in the extreme north,
which is said to contain an excellent warm-water port.

Towards the south-west there are possibilities of future expansion, and
already some people talk of Austrian Galicia being geographically and
ethnographically a part of Russia; but so long as the Austro-Hungarian
Empire holds together such possibilities do not come within the sphere
of practical politics.

Farther east, towards the Balkan Peninsula, the expansive tendency is
much more complicated and of very ancient date. The Russo-Slavs who
held the valley of the Dnieper from the ninth to the thirteenth century
belonged to those numerous frontier tribes which the tottering Byzantine
Empires attempted to ward off by diplomacy and rich gifts, and by giving
to the troublesome chiefs, on condition of their accepting Christianity,
princesses of the Imperial family as brides. Vladimir, Prince of Kief,
now recognised as a Saint by the Russian Church, accepted Christianity
in this way (A. D. 988), and his subjects followed his example.
Russia thus became ecclesiastically a part of the Patriarchate of
Constantinople, and the people learned to regard Tsargrad--that is,