Note 1 — Chapter I · THE SLAV RACE.

The reason for this “cultural” ostracism of Russia is both racial and geographical. There has never been any desire in England to belittle the Slavs, least of all Russia. On the contrary, a long succession of traditions, as far back as the Viking Age, binds the extreme West to the extreme East of Europe, and has now reached a great ethical and practical expression in the Triple Entente. But between Western Europe and the Slavs lies Imperial Germany, who has acted not only as a barrier, but also as a distorting glass, through which the western and eastern races of Europe were compelled to look at each other. (Footnote by the translator F.S.C.)