Steering through rapids: Russian mobilization and world war I

The recreation of Russia out of the ashes of the former Soviet Union calls for a restudy of Russia’s security dilemmas as they existed prior to Sovietization. Russia remains a great power bordering on many of the most sensitive areas in Eurasia, including those former Soviet republics now surrounding it. Russia has been through the problem of managing its security dilemmas while ringed by potential adversaries before. In fact, Russia’s war planning experience from the 1870s until the outbreak of the First World War is a case study in the balancing of military preparedness against military provocation.