 A relatively new factor influencing Russian policy was the growth of the Pan-Slavism spirit that identified Russia's duty to all Slavic speaking peoples, especially those who practised Eastern Orthodox Christianity.The growth of this impulse shifted attention away from the Ottoman Empire, and toward the threat posed to the Slavic people by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.Serbia identified itself as the champion of the Pan-Slavic ideal; Austria planned to destroy Serbia for that reason.