IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE "TURKISH GAMBIT" - this is the way from mysteries "romps" of the Russian army near Plevna to the point of absurdity of its "standing" at the open gates of Constantinople during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. This is the path leading to understanding that "an unusual mixture of conceit and idealism," which distinguished the foreign policy of the last three Russian emperors and which, ultimately, led the Russian Empire to the beginning of the tragedy - August 1914.