as have retained their old aspirations of political
independence--notably the Poles--the semi-latent disaffection has been
stimulated; and in those of them which, like the Finlanders and the
Armenians, desire merely to preserve the limited autonomy they formerly
enjoyed, a sentiment of disaffection has been created. All of them
know very well that in an armed struggle with the dominant Russian
nationality they would speedily be crushed, as the Poles were in 1863.
Their disaffection shows itself, therefore, merely in resistance to
the obligatory military service, and in an undisguised or thinly veiled
attitude of systematic hostility, which causes the Government some
anxiety and prevents it from sending to the Far East a large number
of troops which would otherwise be available. They hail, however, with
delight the Liberal and revolutionary movements in the hope that
the Russians themselves may undermine, and possibly overthrow, the
tyrannical Autocratic Power. Towards this end they would gladly
co-operate, and they are endeavouring, therefore, to get into touch
with each other; but they have so little in common, and so many mutually
antagonistic interests, that they are not likely to succeed in forming a
solid coalition.

While sympathising with every form of opposition to the Government, the
men of the subject-nationalities reserve their special affection for
the Socialists, because these not only proclaim, like the Liberals, the
principles of extensive local self-government and universal equality
before the law, but they also speak of replacing the existing system of
coercive centralisation by a voluntary confederation of heterogeneous
units. This explains why so many Poles, Armenians and Georgians are
to be found in the ranks of the Social Democrats and the
Socialist-Revolutionaries.

Of the recruits from oppressed nationalities the great majority
come from the Jews, who, though they have never dreamed of political
independence, or even of local autonomy, have most reason to complain of
the existing order of things. At all times they have furnished a goodly
contingent to the revolutionary movement, and many of them have belied
their traditional reputation of timidity and cowardice by taking part in
very dangerous terrorist enterprises--in some cases ending their career
on the scaffold. In 1897 they created a Social-Democratic organisation
of their own, commonly known as the Bund, which joined, in 1898, the
Russian