A Royal Rebuke

AUTHOR’S NOTECzar Alexander III, who came to the throne of Russia in 1881 when he was thirty-six, years old was a giant. He was very proud of his physical strength. He could tear a pack of cards in half, break a rod over his knees and was known to crush a silver rouble with his bare hands. He was German, but he had the enigmatic look of a Russian peasant. This was how he liked to think of himself, so he grew a beard and wore the baggy trousers and checked blouses of the muzhiks. He was furious, in fact was reported as ‘burning with indignation’ when he thought that Russia had failed in her mission to dominate the Balkans and seize control of the Bosphorus Straits. If this happened, it would have given Russis access to the Mediterranean. He, however, refused to give in and stubbornly continued to pursue the same goal. He was determined to establish subservient governments in Serbia and Greece. As it was impossible for Russia to afford another war, the Emperor kept his troops at home. Yet throughout his reign he waged the first ‘cold war’ in history. De Giers, his Foreign Minister, encouraged Russian revolutionaries to act as agents in stirring up trouble for the established regimes of the Balkans. Posing as icon sellers, Russian undercover men wandered through Serbia arranging subversive cells. Officials of the Russian Embassy paid crowds to stage riots and in the Eastern Rumelian section of Bulgaria, Russian Army Officers opened gymnasiums. They sounded attractive to the populous, but the Officers drilled boys and girls in guerrilla warfare.