You sail noth of Norway during the 8-10 months of the year its feasible?
Cheers. I wasn't sure how navigable it was north of Norway
You sail noth of Norway during the 8-10 months of the year its feasible?
Unlikely if there's a big Central Russian state controlling Kama mouth from 1550s on (Kama-Chusovaya route being the main highway to Siberia). However, you can try to introduce numerous PODs preventing Russian control over Kama (I don't think it would be easy to create Russia fractured enough for it not being able to produce 2000-3000 strong explorer force, and that's how many Cossacks it took IOTL to establish Russian control over Siberia).How about a non-expansive Russia leaving most of what we know as Asian Russia to the devices of the various Steppe Turks, and then the Qing do to the Siber Khanate and Tatars what they did to the Dzungars OTL.
Siberia is not as hopelessly inaccessible as you think. IOTL Russian tsars closed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mangazeya exactly due to fears of direct Western access to Siberian furs, without paying into Russian coffers first. With weak/fractured/failed Russia, you might see quite thriving European fur trade in Siberia by mid- to late-1600.I think for any western European outsiders that would like to bother themselves to give a go for this, would most likely do it on mercantile interest, and this will only happen with the region being TOTALLY deprived from any coherent polity capable of being an effective supplier of Russian goods (mainly fur) for western Europe.....
Reforms DID happen IOTL before Peter (most of wartime Russian army had been "soldier" regiments by late 1600 as opposed to infamous Streltsy), and PLC became a Russian puppet (OK, may be "junior partner" might be better definition, but no Polish king after Sobieski was elected without Russian approval) before Peter grew up. So it would not be fair to say that Peter singlehandedly pulled Russia into modernity, although "Ottomanization" is definitely possible without him (just not certain).If I may be permitted to broaden the discussion a little, something that interests me is Russia passing the 18th century without any *Peter the Great, that is, no radical reforms of society (entrenching personal serfdom, breaking the power of the church, table of ranks and service nobility, all that jazz), just natural development, and much less dramatic expansion if any.
"The wogs begin at Calais", right?After all, when it was most stagnated (end of Nicholas I's reign), Russia was considered an "Asiatic power" by the victors of the Crimean War or at least Britain
Yes, different rules of the game within the Golden Horde could bring it easily. OTL raise of Muskovy had been largely caused by Tartar's desire to have main tribute collector, who would do the plundering and then bring gold to them. Muscovite, Suzdal, Tver etc. princes fought for the right to collect on behalf of Tartar and Muskovy won. Would the Horde decide to collect the tribute directly, it would leave a quilt of small city-states by the time gunpowder and advances in farming made nomad-dominated empires vulnerable (I, in all fairness, don't see the Horde surviving past 1600).I could imagine a situation where Russia doesn't unite under Muscovy but stays a patchwork of principalities and khanates.
Don't count on conversion of the population. Mongols pretty much killed the idea in it's cradle by granting special status to clergy and thus making the Church de-facto symbol of Russianness for an ordinary person. However, Greek Catholic church might make some gains ITTL.One difference may be that these colonial powers may try to put some of their royal offspring as princes on local thrones, either having them convert to Orthodoxy or trying to convert their clients to Catholicism or Protestantism.
OK Then, even if Russia eventually reunifies (which IS likely), nobody would kill a money-making enterprise and new rulers will need Dutch more than ever.
Unlikely if there's a big Central Russian state controlling Kama mouth from 1550s on (Kama-Chusovaya route being the main highway to Siberia). However, you can try to introduce numerous PODs preventing Russian control over Kama (I don't think it would be easy to create Russia fractured enough for it not being able to produce 2000-3000 strong explorer force, and that's how many Cossacks it took IOTL to establish Russian control over Siberia).
Yes, different rules of the game within the Golden Horde could bring it easily. OTL raise of Muskovy had been largely caused by Tartar's desire to have main tribute collector, who would do the plundering and then bring gold to them. Muscovite, Suzdal, Tver etc. princes fought for the right to collect on behalf of Tartar and Muskovy won. Would the Horde decide to collect the tribute directly, it would leave a quilt of small city-states by the time gunpowder and advances in farming made nomad-dominated empires vulnerable (I, in all fairness, don't see the Horde surviving past 1600).
Good point as well. Protestantism and perhaps Catholicism may be more successful among the non-Russian peoples of the North and Siberia, depending on who gains control of those areas.Don't count on conversion of the population. Mongols pretty much killed the idea in it's cradle by granting special status to clergy and thus making the Church de-facto symbol of Russianness for an ordinary person. However, Greek Catholic church might make some gains ITTL.