Your Challenge, if you choose to accept it, is to create a reasonably plausible scenario where the geographical area of eastern Europe is one of the best educated, wealthiest, powerful (at least for a good amount of time) regions in the world. I accept essentially any tool in the kit. A military genius like Alexander or Napoleon, some kind of religious/ideological movement uniting people, literally anything you can think of. The states themselves don't even have to vaguely resemble present day, what i'm looking for is more a wanking of the region. Do whatever you must to language, culture, identity.
The other half, though, is that Western Europe must be impoverished, or at the very least seen as "backwards". Population decline, intervention by outside powers, etc. Marginalized. I'm not particularly concerned with what this aspect of it would like, its just to avoid "Poland-Lithuanian doesn't split up, participates in colonization, wins WWII" type answers.
(Slavic influence in Japan? A Muslim Khanate greeting the Native Americans? It's whatever. I am all about strange answers and creative methods. )
The other half, though, is that Western Europe must be impoverished, or at the very least seen as "backwards". Population decline, intervention by outside powers, etc. Marginalized. I'm not particularly concerned with what this aspect of it would like, its just to avoid "Poland-Lithuanian doesn't split up, participates in colonization, wins WWII" type answers.
(Slavic influence in Japan? A Muslim Khanate greeting the Native Americans? It's whatever. I am all about strange answers and creative methods. )