if you go further back, to when Novgorod was Holmgard, a viking settlement, have the Rus' Khaganate not attempt to convert to Christianity, so the Finns and Slavs don't rebel. this would keep Holmard aka Novgorod as the largest city in Russia, and the central city of any future Rus' polity.
...... Damn me and my inability to read what I assume is Russian
Yeah, I didn't set any specific requirements, but I'd rather the POD be no earlier than the 12th century, when Novgorod developed a distinct social and political culture.That is a rather gross example of enduring empire don't you think? Maybe you could have Novgorod as the center of a Russian polity, but one thing that you run up against is that Russia is HUGE and until you have more developed politics (and that would include the choice of either Islam or Christianity as the state religion) you can't build the permanent political structures that are needed to say something like: "Well Novgorod will be the center of Russian polity, and beat the hell out of everyone for CENTURIES."
Sorry, only map I could find. I don't read Cyrillic either, but I find it close enough to Greek that I can make guesses....... Damn me and my inability to read what I assume is Russian
I can read Cyrillic, though I don't actually speak the language. Which bit did you want to know?
IMO one possible POD would be to have Wladislaw of Varna not killed in the battle of Varna.In this case the Eastern policy of Great Duchy of Lithuania would remain more active.Yeah, I didn't set any specific requirements, but I'd rather the POD be no earlier than the 12th century, when Novgorod developed a distinct social and political culture.
borders of states (gosudarstvo - state)Legend:
red dot-dash: borders of ?gosudarstv? 1113AD
borders of territories dependent on Kievan Rus´red-dash: borders of territories, ?districts? of Kievan Rus, something something something
borders of main principalities under division of Yaroslav the Wise 1054ADgreen dash: borders of ?various? lands (principalities) of ??? of Yaroslav Mudor
borders of some principalities (there is used word "udel" which I cannot translate corectly. It means some principality under suzerainty of another prince)green dots: borders of ??? principalities
Something involving the Mongols seems a likely option, but butterflying them away altogether might be overkill. Perhaps if they retreat earlier from Muscovy and don't let the place become a regional center under their overlordship, or, in the contrary, they stay longer and check its growth before it becomes powerful enough to be a threat to Novgorod?Mayhaps it would be helped if there's no Mongols riding into the West?
Nice map. It drives home the political messiness of late medieval Europe...Have you seen this thread:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=36940&page=3
There are some discussion about Novgorod there, and I have posted a copy of a map also.
Nice map. It drives home the political messiness of late medieval Europe...
Incidentally, I wonder if the 'Indian argument' also applies to Russia - would Russia have ever unified if its little warring states hadn't been flattened and occupied by the Mongols for a while?