 The consensus of scholars includes scant mention of Russia, and briefly mentions Russia's defense of Orthodox Serbia, its pan-Slavic roles, its treaty obligations with France, and its concern for protecting it status as a great power.However one historian Sean McMeekin has emphasized Russia's aggressive expansionary goal to the south.He argues that for Russia the war was ultimately about Turkey, and that the Foreign Ministry and Army were planning a war of aggression against the Ottoman Empire from at least 1908 and perhaps even 1895.