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Farewell of Slavianka (instrumental) The song was composed in 1912, as Russia was awash in rumors about the impending new Balkan War, in which the Slavs would be pitted against the Ottoman Turks, and Orthodox Christianity against Islam. The melody gained popularity in Russia and adjoining countries during the World War I, when the Russian soldiers left their homes accompanied by this music. It was also used as an unofficial anthem of Admiral Kolchak’s White Army. The word “Slavic“ in the title of the march, which otherwise invokes only Russia, is a tribute as much to the pan-Slavist ideology of the preceding century as to its transformation into Russian nationalism on the eve of WWI.
