War between Russia and Austria has been inevitable since the latter first cast her eyes eastwards and decided that Salonika was to be the object of her expansion. To reach a port on the east the Teuton must crush the Slav. Fundamentally, it is a battle of races. Hitherto the Teuton has managed to avoid actual conflict; by means of carefully designed coups at opportune moments, or, to put it more bluntly, by the methods of a common thief, he has made very good progress during the last few years without risking his own skin. But on the present occasion circumstances were not so favourable as they appeared to be; and instead of catching Slavdom at a disadvantage, he caught it ready to fight for its existence--a serious miscalculation which bids fair to have the most far-reaching results. With the exception of the Greeks, Turks and the sparse Teutonic population, the inhabitants of the whole of eastern and south-eastern Europe are of Slavonic origin. They number roughly 125 millions, and they possess the best of all rights to their territories--that of settlement at the time when the Aryan peoples migrated from Asia to Europe. The Russians, Rumanians, Bulgars, Montenegrins and portions of the Serbs, Croats and Poles are either self-governing or under the rule of other Slavonic peoples. The remaining Slavs are under Teuton domination. In East Prussia the Kaiser rules Poles, Kassubes and Serbs, while Austria has several millions of Polish, Czech, Ruthenian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovenik and Slovak subjects. The Slav is the world’s most fervent nationalist. An intense and unconquerable vitality is the outstanding characteristic of every Slavonic people. Like the Jews they maintain their national traits distinct and unchanged in spite of centuries of foreign domination. Their conquerors have never been able to absorb them. Unlike the Jews, however, this vitality is not passive but active. They have never been subdued. When not actively hostile they are sullenly awaiting the opportunity to throw off the yoke. For nearly five hundred years Serbia was a Turkish province, held in the most ruthless subjection. But during all that time Serbia never forgot that once she had been an empire, nor faltered in her determination to be an empire again. In 1817 the chance came and Serbia rose like a nation defending its liberties rather than a rebellious people with a dozen generations of bondsmen for forebears. The modern experiments of Germany and Austria have not proved any more successful than the mediæval methods of the Turks. Neither country has had a moment’s peace from its Slavonic subjects. They have never dared play any part but the bully’s.