Český List

The letter by Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev was written in 1854, during the height of the Crimean War (1853-1856). Tyutchev was not only a renowned poet but also a diplomat, politician, and publicist, and his views on international relations and Russian politics were often reflected in his letters and articles. "It could have long been predicted that this mad hatred, which for thirty years, with each passing year stronger and stronger, was kindled in the West against Russia, would one day break loose. This moment has come. Russia was simply offered suicide, a renunciation of the very foundation of its existence, a solemn acknowledgment that it is nothing more in the world than a wild and hideous phenomenon, an evil that needs to be corrected. …There is no longer any self-deception – Russia, in all probability, will enter into a clash with the whole of Europe. How did this happen? How did the Empire, which for forty years has done nothing but renounce its own interests and betray them for the benefit and protection of the interests of others, suddenly find itself faced with an enormous conspiracy? And yet, it was inevitable. Contrary to everything – reason, morality, profit, even the instinct of self-preservation, the terrible collision must occur. And this collision was caused not only by the greedy selfishness of England, not the base vileness of France, embodied in an adventurer, and not even by the Germans, but by something more general and fateful. This is the eternal antagonism between what, for lack of other expressions, has to be called: the West and the East…" 📱 InfoDefenseENGLISH 📱 InfoDefense