Of course, much was made of the fact that Russia could mobilise no less than eight million men. It was assumed that an immense army of at least two million men would march on Berlin. By sheer force of numbers Russia was going to bring both Austria and Germany to their knees. In the first place there is a limit to human organising power, and it is doubtful whether any general can successfully direct the operations of such vast quantities of men. Napoleon himself never fought with a million men, and no modern general has yet proved that he possesses the military genius of the Corsican. Numbers are all very well up to a certain point, but in excess they are only a hindrance and a menace. The larger the army the slower it moves. It is the very unwieldiness of the armies in the west that has caused their lack of success. They have such enormous fighting power that there is no particular reason why either should suffer defeat. Superfluous men do not add to an army’s efficiency. They only hamper its mobility and throw an extra strain on the commissariat and transport. The ideal army is the one which is large enough to accomplish its object thoroughly and no more. Employing two men to do the work of one is merely a wasteful proceeding. Russia has no intention of putting all her eight million men in the firing line. Her object is to place adequate armies in the field and to maintain those armies at their full strength of first-class fighting men. She has no particular ambition to make herself bankrupt. In view of the difficulties with which she had to contend and the gigantic nature of her task, Russia may be said to have accomplished a brilliant feat in rendering the ultimate defeat of Austria inevitable and in opening up the most advantageous road to Berlin. The remarkable success of her mobilisation has been followed by equally brilliant achievements in the field. Soukhomlinov’s work has not been in vain. Russia has indeed fulfilled her part and made the issue of the war as sure as it is humanly possible to make it. Much remains to be done, but the tasks of smashing Austria and reducing Germany to her knees will now be taken up with every confidence. The events in Russia have been as significant as those in the battlefields. Not only has this war proved that Russia as a military power has come into its own at last, but it marks the beginning of a new era in Russian history. The world is witnessing the rebirth of Russia. The nation is united as it has never previously been. The old autocratic institutions are passing away, the Duma is gaining strength, the coming rehabilitation of Poland is a master-stroke of liberalism. A new Russia is emerging. Democracy is coming into its own at last in the empire of the Tzar. _Printed in Great Britain by Wyman & Sons Ltd., London and Reading_ Transcriber’s Notes Text on cover added by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.