TSAR
THE DIVERGENCE
When Tsar Boris had his stroke in 1605, his bright, promising son Feodor was only 16 years old, and the crown was threatened by the claim of an imposter, the self-styled "son" of Ivan the Terrible. Luckily, Boris Godunov survived and, although impaired, remained on the throne for another four years. By that time, the succession of Feodor II had been firmly established and the imposter executed. The Times of Trouble lasted only two years on Tsar, giving Feodor II a chance to prove his mettle. Some boyars died, the others bowed. The Poles and the Swedes could not exploit the weakness of Russia, and important border regions were not lost to them.
Once victory was achieved, Feodor II turned out to be an energetic leader in peacetime, too. He began inviting foreign retainers, wise men and specialists. He satisfied the boyars by sending them again into Poland, with prospects of booty and conquest. By the time the first Romanov, Michael I, became Tsar in 1629, Russia was on a roll. The kingdom was expanding, the Tsar's authority had never been weakened by a succession of weaklings and imposters, the boyars were in control, the Patriarch supported the ruler, and the populace loved him.
TSAR OF ALL RUSSIAS FOREVER
With Sweden and Poland downsized, the Russians faced South and quickly turned the Cossacks into faithful vassals and valuable troopers of the Tsar. The Crimean Wars caught the Ottoman Empire on the wane, and with Austria joining in, the Turks were soundly defeated several times, leading to a spectacular collapse in 1699. At this time, most of the European possessions of the Sultan were lost to the two Christian empires.
When Peter the Great challenged what remained of the Swedish and Polish powers on the other border, there was no Ottoman distraction. Britain sided with the Tsar, and the war only lasted until 1712. Peter gained all of Finland, a big chunk of Poland and a stretch of Baltic coast. He deservedly styled himself as Tsar of All Russia.
The empire kept expanding, by now more by setting up and propping up satellite kingdoms. When these revolted against their Russian-friendly kinglets (and the Poles would try this often), the Tsar's troops could be sent in. Russian art and philosophy experienced the so-called Orthodox Renaissance, even though the Patriarchate remained firmly the church of state.
Under Catherine II the Great, hubris struck. The Ottomans were attacked again, but the "Russian Crusade" was also attempted, with support from other Christian states. The Turks were defeated, but not in Palestine; epidemics, bad logistics and the fact that the locals did not want to be liberated doomed the Russian effort there. Nevertheless, the unspoken principle was established that the Ottoman and in general the Moslem lands were up for grabs; in the following decades, France and Italy quickly took over the Southern shores of the Mediterranean, and Cyprus changed hands, becoming a strategic Russian naval base.
The Tsarina also changed the title to "of all Russias". That acknowledged the presence of Russian colonies in Western Africa and trade stations in India, and above all the existence of Russian America; a foothold taking up most of the Pacific coastline, that would never be sold out.
UNREST, REVOLUTION AND THE WORLD WAR
When the British Colonies revolted against their God-mandated ruler, a principle was born in Moscow that would shape the Russian foreign policy: the theory of the "universal birthright of monarchs". That amounted to the fact that friendly kings should help each other against mad rabble-rousers. Russia, in particular, would have the wherewithal to intervene against revolutionaries abroad, thanks to the gold and silver mines that had been and would be discovered in Siberia, North America and elsewhere. Indeed, the British crown didn't use just German mercenaries against the rebels, but Finnish and Cossack ones, too. Even so, the USA were finally born in 1782, at a heavy price. Never again, swore the Tsar.
Indeed, by the time the turmoil came to France, the Russian agents were ready. The French royal family found refuge in Russian-friendly Prussia in 1796. The Terror ensued in France, while Russia funded the counter-revolutionaries. The internecine struggle reached near-genocidal extremes in Vendée. By 1805, the experiment had permanently marred the name of republicanism, and an exhausted France welcomed the rightful King back – accompanied by units of the Russian Imperial Guard. France slowly grew strong again, and in half a century it would vie with Russia and Austria for control over the jigsaw of German and Italian statelets.
"Republican" had thus become a smear, and concepts like equality and individual freedom were dangerous ideas, to be mercilessly put down. This was done quite effectively nearly everywhere in the world. But another force grew to oppose the successful multinational empires that were Russia, Britain, Austria-Hungary and France: nationalism. Liberty was conceived now as collective freedom of an ethnic group from foreign oppression. To date, what would sound like backward, if not rabid, chauvinism on Homeline, is the fare of progressive, enlightened thinkers and national leaders on Tsar.
Thus, the 1800s saw countless bloody rebellions and crackdowns, alongside with the colonial growth. Russia became more and more powerful, with the Tsar playing kingmaker in many minor allied states, and using his obvious clout to strong-arm others, for instance, forcing the Austrians out of the Ionian Islands.
The tipping point was reached in 1877, over the issue of who would really control the Bavarian kingdom. France and Austria-Hungary were allies; Britain, acknowledging that Russia was about to become the lone superpower on the continent and being traditionally opposed to any such outcome, joined in. At the same time, a war between Northern and Southern States erupted in the USA over the problem of slavery; Russia sided with the South, and the Western Alliance with the North. Understandably, the Ottomans jumped in against what seemed a finally overwhelmed empire; the Russians could rely on minor allies, such as Prussia, the Balkan states, and Denmark-Norway.
The World War lasted nine years, and the Westerners won, but by the narrowest margin and with little to show for it. The Ottomans had their final collapse in 1882, and the Alliance could do nothing for them; they signed a murderous separate peace that reduced them to Turkey only, with Russia taking control of most of their Middle Eastern territories.
Bavaria and Denmark did fall within the Austrian and French spheres of influence, respectively; and Britain gobbled most of the minor Russian colonies. Everything else remained unchanged, including North American Russia; the Union was re-established and slavery abolished, but the USA had been severely weakened, the power of the federal government watered down to bring the losers to the peace talks.
