The Revenge of the Bear
Chapter 28: The Hague Peace Conference
The year 1908 began with a decisive military victory for Russia in a lighting campaign in Greece. But that same year also heralded an important battle for Russian diplomacy in the face of the Great Powers’ negative perception of Russian “active gendarming” in the Balkans. There was no outcry over the move, as nobody wished to anger the Bear and the Bear’s three million strong army and growing. In Russia, the intervention into Greece was likened to the past intervention into Hungary: a legitimate move at the behest of the lawful royal authority of the state.
“Have you heard of the latest street joke in Stockholm?” the Scandinavian ambassador to Petersburg once asked a member of the Imperial Foreign Office.
“Not at all, please share,” the Russian replied.
“If you see Cossacks in Stockholm at sunset, then it means Scandinavia was a republic at noon!”
It was thus that an international conference was proposed at the initiative of the Russian side to ponder upon problems of the use of force on the international arena and how such force should be used. The idea was strongly supported by the US President Theodore Roosevelt, who wished to go even further and produce a consensus to stop the ever growing militarization of Europe and the world in general. The conference would be held in the Hague, within “neutral” Dutch territory as the Netherlands, whilst enjoying cordial relations with the Russian Empire, maintained a policy of non-alignment with the Russian Bear and non-angering the German Eagle.
The Hague Peace Conference was the first of its kind
During the conference, the Americans, with Russian support, attempted to limit or even halt the production of Dreadnought class ships. The initiative, however, was opposed by the Germans, who saw it as a threat to their naval hegemony, and the British, who were eager to restore their Empire as the world’s naval superpower. France sought to seek an accord on the limitation of armaments, but this also met German opposition who cited the continued expansion of Russian armies. Russia, on the other hand, was not eager to sacrifice her ground forces on the altar of international peace.
What the conference did produce, however, was the first internationally accepted set of rules of engagement in case of war on land and on sea. An important item was the status of Prisoners of War that defined what categories of persons could be considered as Prisoners of War and forbid the maltreatment and exploitation of such prisoners. A dispute arose around the definition of armed guerilla fighters, with the powers deeming them brigands and the smaller states deeming them as lawful combatants. Eventually, the head of the Russian delegation, Fyodor Martens, proposed a consensus clause that referred to the customs and traditions established amongst civilized peoples.
The conference also agreed on the setting up of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which was tasked with facilitating ad hoc arbitration tribunals and commissions to resolve arising disputes between powers that those powers chose to submit to arbitration.
All in all, the conference was a success for Russian diplomacy and managed to relieve some of the tensions slowly building up in Europe. But whilst on the short term relations improved, Izvolsky’s dream of a Franco-Russo-British military alliance was far from realization. Whilst relations with France continued to bloom, relations with the British were quite sour. Moreover, the Imperial Foreign Minister had to face an uphill battle against many in the Russian establishment that advocated such things as capturing the rest of India from the British. Pro-German sentiments were also on the increase as the staunch conservatives in Russia saw Germany as closer politically to Russia than republican France, which in turn made the French Ambassador to Petersburg rather nervous.
Another diplomatic offensive was undertaken on a more Nordic front as contacts intensified with the Scandinavians. The main objective of Russian diplomacy was to reduce or end the Germanophilic tendencies of the Scandinavian foreign policy and to potentially lure Scandinavia out of the Central Alliance. Stolypin personally met with Jørgen Løvland, the Scandinavian Prime Minister, in Stockholm to bolster trade between the two countries. The exact content of the discussions, however, remained behind closed doors and it would not be surprising if trade was not the only thing on the agenda. Stolypin was also granted an audience with His Majesty Gustav V, who was seen in the Russian diplomatic establishment as a major Germanophile in all of Scandinavia (major as in he was, after all, the Viking King).
Overall, 1908 was a busy time for Russian diplomats. But this did not mean that there were no events within Russia proper. But this shall be discussed in a further chapter.