When it feared that it might be overtaken by the next rising economic power, the vast Russian empire, assertiveness turned into aggression. By the early 20th century, Germans had concluded that Russia’s faster demographic growth and rapid industrialization posed a military threat.
这一切会改变吗？在由快速经济增长所带来的社会压力和紧张局面的驱使下，德国当然变得执拗。当它担心自己会被下一个正在崛起的经济大国，广袤的俄罗斯帝国赶超时，执拗就变成了攻击性。到20世纪早期，德国人断定俄罗斯快速的人口统计学增长和工业化已成为一种军事威胁。