Fraternity-Testvériség, 1950 (28. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1950-02-01 / 2. szám
TESTVÉRISÉG 5 riot statesman, visiting England and America in 1851-52, made some predictions about Russian expansionism which fit in admirably with the pattern projected into our view by the events of our own days. In an address which he delivered at Southampton, England, on October 27, 1851, Kossuth diagnosed the state of contemporary Europe in these words: “The principle evil on the continent is the despotic and encroaching spirit of the Russian power. There is the pillar which supports everyone who wishes to establish his ambitious sway on the sufferings of nations, raising himself on the ruins of their liberty. Russia is the rock which breaks every sigh for freedom... The encroaching spirit of Russia is that which every man in Europe relies on who wishes to do wrong.” Speaking at Salem, Mass., on May 6, 1852, he advances a step farther and poses the problem created by Russian expansionism in the following words: “Russian absolutism and Anglo-Saxon constitutionalism are not rival but antagonistic powers. They can not long continue to subsist together. Antagonists can not hold equal positions. Every additional strength of the one is a comparative weakening of the other. One or the other must yield. One or the other must perish, or become dependent on the other’s will.” With relentless logic, he continues:“Rus- sian diplomacy could never boast of a greater and more fatal victory, than it had the right to boast, should it succeed to persuade the United States not to care about her—Russia, accomplishing her aim to become the ruling power in Europe, the ruling power in Asia, the ruling power of the Mediterranean Sea.” And then he serves this warning: “They (Russia) will, they must do everything to check your glorius progress. Be sure, as soon as they command the forces of the continent, they will marshal them against you." In an address which he delivered at Buffalo, N. Y., on May 27,1852, Kossuth put this handwriting on the wall: “Once more I repeat, a timely pronoucement of the United States would avert and prevent a second interference of Russia. She must sharpen the fangs of her bear, and get a host of other beasts into her menagerie, before she will provoke the eagle of America. But beware, beware of your loneliness! If your protest be delayed long, you will have to fight alone against the world; while now you have to watch and others will fight.” Reading these baffling predictions of disconcerting timeliness, the reader of our days may ask: How could Kossuth, the Magyar statesman of a century ago, make these startling predictions, in which present world conditions are so strikingly mirrored? The answer is at hand. Kossuth knew his history, and in addition, he clearly saw the ominous threat of Pan-Slavism making ready to engulf in its deadly embrace the whole of the continent, and the whole of the world. Let us devote a few seconds to cast a fleeting glance at the world in which he had lived. In the great upheavel of a century ago, Kossuth’s Magyar people rose boldly to fight for democratic reforms in Hungary and in the whole of Europe. The newly formed“ honvéd” (home defense) armies of Kossuth swept out of Hungary the formidable armed forces of Austria, but in the face of a hostile Russian invasion they were compelled to lay down their arms. It is also of primary importance to know that the first army that invaded Hungary, and in fact provoked Hungary’s war for freedom, was that of the Southern Slavs, commanded by Bán Jel- lasich of Croatia. It is also a significant fact that when the Magyars fought their bloodiest battles with Austrian despotism, an All-Slav Congress was held in Prague which assured Vienna of the undying loyality of the Slavs of the Dual Monarchy. It is also a fact that when Hungary lay prostrate before the armed forces of Austria and Russia, and had to undergo a period of merciless persecution, the majority of the sleuthounds let loose on the country, and known in Magyar history as “Bach hussars,” was made up of the Slavs of the North, the Czechs. The primary interest and the ruling passion of Pan-Slavism was then, as it is today, the promotion of Pan-Slav expansionism. An exceptionally clear-visioned man, and a man of vast learning, Kossuth saw all this and, having been defeated on the other side of the Atlantic, he crossed the ocean to warn the people of the United States that if they should delay long their intervention in the then existing world crisis, the time would arrive when their turn would come, and then the people of the United States would have to stand up and fight alone against a whole Pan-Slav-ridden, hostile world. That is exactly what we are facing today! Pan-Slav Expansionism In view of these facts one is irresistibly driven to accept the inference the recognition of which furnishes us the complementary part of Red Russia’s picture. Besides its primordial bent for ruthless despotism, the very soul of the Russian form of life has been, and is today an insatiable urge for expansion through conquest. The so-called “will” of Peter the Great (1672- 1725) may be a spurious document, but the pattern set forth in its precepts has been most faithfully followed out in the course of Russia’s history. As regards this basic trait, the Tsars of old Russia and the strong men of the Kremlin of today have been tarred with the same brush. Wm. C. Bullitt, in his The Great Globe Itself.
