Instead of the wars and conquests against one another, could Russia and Poland-Lithuania instead unite though marriages between one another and whatnot? There’s definitely been a tense relationship between the two, but could they possibly overcome that and become a united nation peacefully? What would the structure of the government look like? And does this enable the nation to expand with greater ease?
AHC/WI: Russia and Poland-Lithuania United Into A Single Country Peacefully
- Thread starter TickTock The Witch's Dead
- Start date
Lithuania was an Orthodox country that joined Poland though.
The Eastern Orthodox Church has numerous followers in Lithuania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_of_Brest
Not to mention that just because there were plenty of Orthodox in Lithuania (much like there also were plenty in Poland), doesn't mean they had the same rights as Catholics.
Poland-Lithuania could find a way to maintain their Catholicism in their union with Russia.
OTL's Time of Troubles show that Russia would not tolerate a Catholic Tsar, and at this point, the Russians outnumbered all of the Commonwealth in population.
It could be a union where all three countries have autonomy.
I seriously doubt such a union would be long-lasting or could even be achieved peacefully.
Poland had plenty of troubles keeping Lithuania in line already, now consider adding a third partner to the mix who is both the wrong religion, more populous than the other two partners added both and also really wants to annex territory held by the first two (Belarus and Ukraine, that is).
It's like throwing two scorpions into one glass.