ABSTRACT
It is astonishing that neither the Russian Government nor the Russian economists foresaw any danger in the economic isolation of Russia. Nothing could be more clear than that the closing of Russia's frontiers with the Central Empires, the chief countries for Russian exports and imports, was bound to have the worst effects on the economy of Russia. The predominance of Germany in Russia's foreign trade is a matter of common knowledge. The Government was blind and indifferent; the Duma, after the demonstration of approval of the war, was prorogued and could not assert itself until the great defeat of the Russian armies in Galicia. Crowds of speculators flocked to Scandinavia and Roumania to buy substitutes for goods formerly imported from Germany; and it is noteworthy that the corrupt and stupid Government, in its attempt to "regulate" the activities of these men, could only work against the public interest.
