| The dissertation seeks to elucidate the role of the Eastern Question in Russia's political, economic, and intellectual life, as well as in its external relations after 1905. During that period, few facets of Russian public life remained untouched by the Eastern Question or a related issue. This unusually broad impact rendered more visible the gradual opening of Tsarist foreign policy to domestic economic and political interests.; The study focuses on the emergence of a new foreign policy pressure group in Russia, one influenced by economic and political concerns of businessmen. It follows the political coalescence of the Progressist party, beginning with its crucial Neoslavic and national liberal roots. The work stresses the importance of a new approach to foreign policy forged by this group, based on a synthesis of pro-Slavic sentiment, Russian nationalism, Western liberal values, and existing economic interests. To illustrate the new approach, the work analyzes not only the public debate on the Eastern Question, but Russian trade patterns in the Near East and domestic economic interests influencing those patterns.; Progressist economic and political impact on Russian Near East policy is discussed in the context of divisions within the Tsarist establishment. The fundamental divide separated the "traditionalists," who espoused a view of Russia as a great land power with limited tasks in the Near East, and the "modernizers," who argued for a more active policy in that region, rooted in commercial and maritime interests. The former predominated in the Russian army, while the latter appeared among Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Navy officials.; In the final analysis, the Eastern Question--most prominently, the issue of control over the Turkish Straits--is presented as the focus for new geopolitical visions of Russia and its role in a modern world. As such, it was closely related to the domestic political struggle. But as importantly, it served to highlight a growing awareness of economic and political interdependence between the Empire and the external world, and, at least for the Progressists and allied modernizers, a new appreciation of those ties. |
