Does history teach anything? (Review of the book by D. Lieven "Towards the flame. Empire, war and the end of tsarist Russia")

Dominic Lieven's study explains one of the mysteries of Russian history: why Russian Empire entered the World War I in 1914 although its ruling circles did not want it, had reasons to fear it, and were aware of the country poor war preparedness. The author refutes the anti-Russian prejudices common in the European and American historiography that Europe slipped into war «because of Russian ambitions towards Constantinople and straits». Russian diplomacy might have dreamed about Constantinople and the Slavic Union, but in fact, it had goals that were more modest: it sought to maintain the status quo in the Balkans and come to compromise with Vienna even at the cost of repeated concessions that were outraged by the public opinion. Once Vienna and Berlin made a decision to do away with Serbia and destroy France, not a chance was left for a diplomatic retreat.