Challenge: Unite Germany and Russia in one country before 1900

[Achaemenid Rome]

How could Germany and Russia become part of the same country, by conquest, personal union, or any other means, prior to 1900? This must be a situation lasting at least 20 years.

Mongol Empire is too obvious, so preferably use another unifying power or powers.

 

[trajen777]

1. Teutonic knights conquers novo grad pre 1330 . Pre Lithuanian and Polish union.
2. Tk works out a non aggression treaty w Poland
3 . By 1360 tk form a closer relationship with the empire
4. German settlers, like in Estonia, become members of towns and dominate shops
5. As the golden hoard is crippled by Tamerlane in1395 to 1400 the tk and german settlers move into kievian state
6. After 1450 the tk is having trouble as a monastic order with so much land and turns over secular rule to the hre.
7 in an alliance with the remains of the hoard the tk and hre destroys Moscow
8. With no Moscow to unite the Russ the hybred tk, Russ, and the hre become one state

 

[Achaemenid Rome]

1. Teutonic knights conquers novo grad pre 1330 . Pre Lithuanian and Polish union.
2. Tk works out a non aggression treaty w Poland
3 . By 1360 tk form a closer relationship with the empire
4. German settlers, like in Estonia, become members of towns and dominate shops
5. As the golden hoard is crippled by Tamerlane in1395 to 1400 the tk and german settlers move into kievian state
6. After 1450 the tk is having trouble as a monastic order with so much land and turns over secular rule to the hre.
7 in an alliance with the remains of the hoard the tk and hre destroys Moscow
8. With no Moscow to unite the Russ the hybred tk, Russ, and the hre become one state

Interesting, this seems plausible. On point 6 though, if the Teutonic Order was that powerful, would they give it up so easily? I thought they secularized into Prussia essentially because Poland had vassalized the Teutonic Order after the Second Peace of Thorn and reduced their territory to Prussia. After which, granting Ducal Prussia to the prince of Brandenburg in the wake of the Protestant Reformation made sense. But if the Teutons are a sprawling empire, it seems like they'd try to find a way to make the monastic state work.

 

[BBadolato]

Okay does Germany mean the HRE or modern-day Germany+Austria? Also, what do we mean by Russia, if we're going by strict states I don't think the time period would allow that.

 

[Ultima Ratio]

Germanize the Slavs some way. Such as a German Cyril and Methodius bring Latin alphabet, Slavs adopt Catholicism. German settlers arrive in great numbers in the 9th century, mostly as burghers. The Mongols devastate the rural Slavic population, making room for more Germans later on. Think Volga Germans or Baltic Germans but on a much larger scale. As the German Demetrius von Don defeats the Mongols and unites the principalities, the dominant German culture steadily Germanizes the remaining Slavs, somewhat like the Prussians IOTL. The butterflies are of course immense, you have a huge German state in the East, and any Slavic states, such as a rump Poland, or Kiev are quickly overwhelmed and assimilated. From here on, it just takes the collapse of the HRE for this state to assume leadership over all Germans. The Kaiser of All Germans. Hm, I like the ring to it. This is of course likely the biggest Germanwank ever conceived.

 

[RGB]

Do some dynastic/political alchemy that unifies Bandenburg and the Russian Empire under one crown. Any time afterwards that the Prussians decide to get uppity and attempt to break off, the Russian army stomps them like they did Poland and Siberia gets a few more German-speaking villages. Repeat as often as necessary. Any time Britain and France go to war, Russia-Brandenburg eats a little more of Germany. Any time Austria is busy with the Turks or the French, eat a little bit more. As easy and as plausible as any other scenario so far suggested in the thread.

 

[nlucasm]

Greater Poland !!!! IDK

 

[WilliamOfOckham]

Maybe with some hardcore Communism this'll work in the very late 19th.

 

[Calocaerus]

Unify Germany and Russia in 3 easy steps:

Step 1: Let Peter II of Russia live for another 35 years or so.
Step 2: Let Peter II of Russia and Maria Theresa of Austria marry.
Step 3: Let this couple have several male children to assure the continuation of a Habsburg-Romanov dynasty.

 

[telynk]

What about a Napoleonic victory scenaeio where Russia and France remain allied. France annexes everything West of the Elbe and everything East of the Elbe becomes "Congress Germany" in personal union with Russia.

 

[ArchimedesCircle]

The Romans win at Teutoberg and somehow keep getting lucky and beating the Germanic tribes. The Huns stay in central Asia because something something butterflies. The Romans thus drive the Germanic tribes east instead of the Huns driving them west. Eventually all of OTL Germany is latinized and the Germanics end up in what is now Russia. Thus Russia and Germany are one country!

 

[Alex Zetsu]

How could Germany and Russia become part of the same country, by conquest, personal union, or any other means, prior to 1900? This must be a situation lasting at least 20 years.

Mongol Empire is too obvious, so preferably use another unifying power or powers.

I noticed no time limit... can I prevent the Eastern Orthodox Church from sitting in Russia? I mean Rome getting lucky stretches things but isn't impossible