Post by MarshalBraginsky on Oct 12, 2016 22:07:14 GMT
So I may have asked this in otherhistory website, but here goes:
From otherhistory:
"So Peter the Great is known for his ruthless methods in modernizing and westernizing Russia while probably using France and the Netherlands (and to a lesser extent, Great Britain in terms of shipbuilding) on other arenas while also relying on foreigners for military reformation as well. However, conservative elements within Russian society opposed it, including his son Alexis who had a tragic end when he was recalled from Austria to Russia, only to be imprisoned and killed.
Do you think that a different kind of Russian modernization and westernization could have been applied with a different model from the one Peter I used? Because of Russia's conservative culture pre-Peter, would it be sensible to apply the modernization model based on say, Prussia and Austria? Or how about taking some elements from the Ottoman Empire, especially its meritocratic system?"
One of the other posters suggested that if Russia had gone Catholic, they would have gotten access to certain western ideas. However, I would like to keep Russia strictly Orthodox while having Muslim and Buddhist minorities in this scenario. Given the Tsardom of Russia's autocratic nature, it is a bit surprising that the Russian Tsar didn't try to emulate the other potentially autocratic states like Austria, Prussia, or even Poland-Lithuania, which had some mixture of autocratic and egalitarian political culture. The autocracy of both Austria and Prussia would have made sense as a model for Russia to follow, given their expansionist nature and the amount of power the king or emperor has over his subjects and nobility.
From otherhistory:
"So Peter the Great is known for his ruthless methods in modernizing and westernizing Russia while probably using France and the Netherlands (and to a lesser extent, Great Britain in terms of shipbuilding) on other arenas while also relying on foreigners for military reformation as well. However, conservative elements within Russian society opposed it, including his son Alexis who had a tragic end when he was recalled from Austria to Russia, only to be imprisoned and killed.
Do you think that a different kind of Russian modernization and westernization could have been applied with a different model from the one Peter I used? Because of Russia's conservative culture pre-Peter, would it be sensible to apply the modernization model based on say, Prussia and Austria? Or how about taking some elements from the Ottoman Empire, especially its meritocratic system?"
One of the other posters suggested that if Russia had gone Catholic, they would have gotten access to certain western ideas. However, I would like to keep Russia strictly Orthodox while having Muslim and Buddhist minorities in this scenario. Given the Tsardom of Russia's autocratic nature, it is a bit surprising that the Russian Tsar didn't try to emulate the other potentially autocratic states like Austria, Prussia, or even Poland-Lithuania, which had some mixture of autocratic and egalitarian political culture. The autocracy of both Austria and Prussia would have made sense as a model for Russia to follow, given their expansionist nature and the amount of power the king or emperor has over his subjects and nobility.
