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currents in Russia which pulled her in other directions,to the Far East, to agreement with Austria-Hungary,even to some form of entente with Turkey. And therewere always serious technical difficulties in a Russiandescent upon the Bosphorus, which, whatever theoptimism at certain moments of the experts, made itextremely hazardous, even if the possibility of its ignitinga European war could be discounted.The expansion of Russian imperialism in the MiddleEast and especially the Far East, culminating in theRusso-Japanese war of 1904-5 and followed by the 1905Revolution, prevented a forward policy in the Balkansuntil 1908. By then Russia, fortified by the new (1907)entente with England as well as by her alliance withFrance (1893), was no longer bent mainly on parryingthe British at Constantinople or content with keepingforeign warships out of the Black Sea, but desired somechange; if possible, in the sense that the Straits shouldbe open to her fleet while still closed to others; if thatwere not possible, in the sense that the Dardanellesshould be open to all warships but the Bosphorus onlyto Russian.Such were the lines upon which the active andambitious Izvolsky, foreign minister from 1906 to 1910,began to work. Despite the internal weakness of Russiain consequence of the Revolution of 1905, he strove bydiplomacy for "the realization of Russia's historic aimsin the Near East," though he was emphatically warnedby Stolypin, the very powerful prime minister, that hecould count on "no support whatever for a resolutepolicy."After concluding the Anglo-Russian conventions of1907 (which did not themselves touch upon the Straits),Izvolsky believed (rightly) that the British governmentfavoured a strengthening of the position of Russia and(wrongly) that it would at once lend support to a changeof the Straits regulations to her advantage, without regardto the Young Turk revolution which had just taken placein Constantinople (July 1908) and which seemed toIzvolsky to give Russia the requisite opening. He thoughtthat he could square Austria-Hungary by bartering285