I've been looking into into what the Russian empire would want if they won world war 1 and would seek at the table. Note I imagine if they did still win they obviously would have many issues but it's best to assume in this case these are their maximalist goals that they would use first then compromise later at the table.
One interesting thing I learned for Southeastern Anatolia was that their where plans for Russian colonialists to be sent to the region as both a way to make the province easier to rule but also it was quite fertile region. I wonder if the ethnic cleansing and subsequent settlement of soldiers as a reward could have been one of the ''general'' rewards the soldiers of the Russian empire could have looked forward to if they won as a concession by the state. No matter how much it angers the Armenians.
Attempts at controlling the straits and or making the black sea a Russian lake as well. We know the leadership of the empire flirted with the idea of taking Constantinople overtime sometimes viewing it as a serious goal other times as a joke but given how brutal the war would be I can imagine them settling for a kind of Russian influence/owned city even if it's not that useful just as a PR thing for their populace as a grand victory just to show what they've won.
The Austro Hungarian empire is a different matter during their occupation of Galicia their where strong efforts at Russification, forbidding the Ukrainian language and Yiddish, persecuting Catholic priests, Jews and trying to convert the province into Orthodox and oppressing with the aid of the local pro Russian minority. Their where a couple of plans how to incorporate it into Russia but it would have been one of the strongest goals.
For Germany it's a different matter as I can imagine the Russian empire would prefer to ''share'' the Polish threat of nationalism and instead focus on getting the best defensive terrain for another war. Though if a Polish state needed to happen I could see a pure land grab just to make it as weak as possible state to emerge.
Persia is another possible matter, it was a surprisingly useful for Russian empire and they had been occupying Tabriz, Anzali and Rasht since 1911 with the Persian Constitutional Revolution I can see efforts at using it as a bargaining chip with the British or simply slowly annex these parts of Persia.
I can imagine reparations being a major goal given the need to prop the economy after the war.
Anything else they would seek at the diplomatic table?
One interesting thing I learned for Southeastern Anatolia was that their where plans for Russian colonialists to be sent to the region as both a way to make the province easier to rule but also it was quite fertile region. I wonder if the ethnic cleansing and subsequent settlement of soldiers as a reward could have been one of the ''general'' rewards the soldiers of the Russian empire could have looked forward to if they won as a concession by the state. No matter how much it angers the Armenians.
Attempts at controlling the straits and or making the black sea a Russian lake as well. We know the leadership of the empire flirted with the idea of taking Constantinople overtime sometimes viewing it as a serious goal other times as a joke but given how brutal the war would be I can imagine them settling for a kind of Russian influence/owned city even if it's not that useful just as a PR thing for their populace as a grand victory just to show what they've won.
The Austro Hungarian empire is a different matter during their occupation of Galicia their where strong efforts at Russification, forbidding the Ukrainian language and Yiddish, persecuting Catholic priests, Jews and trying to convert the province into Orthodox and oppressing with the aid of the local pro Russian minority. Their where a couple of plans how to incorporate it into Russia but it would have been one of the strongest goals.
For Germany it's a different matter as I can imagine the Russian empire would prefer to ''share'' the Polish threat of nationalism and instead focus on getting the best defensive terrain for another war. Though if a Polish state needed to happen I could see a pure land grab just to make it as weak as possible state to emerge.
Persia is another possible matter, it was a surprisingly useful for Russian empire and they had been occupying Tabriz, Anzali and Rasht since 1911 with the Persian Constitutional Revolution I can see efforts at using it as a bargaining chip with the British or simply slowly annex these parts of Persia.
I can imagine reparations being a major goal given the need to prop the economy after the war.
Anything else they would seek at the diplomatic table?
