Is there a possibility that the Russian succession of the 18th century can be less convoluted by allowing the Romanovs to survive in the male line?
There are two situations that IMO could work:
1) Peter the Great had three sons by Catherine I who lived longer than a year: Pyotr (1704-1707), Pavel (1705-1707) and another Pyotr (1715-1719). Could one of them live longer, and succeed one of his parents as Czar?
2) Pyotr II, the grandson of Peter the Great, was placed on the throne after the death of Ekaterina I. He died shortly before his wedding. Since the marriage was to Ekaterina Alekseyevna Dolgurokova, after the proposed marriage to Maria Alexandrovna Menshikova was called off. This to me seems a reversal of Peter the Great's policy of trying to open Russia up to the rest of Europe. Can he survive smallpox and what sort of Czar would he be? Who would an appropriate foreign-born Czarina be?