Interest in a Peter the Great TL?

I've been thinking lately that the Tsarevna Sophia and Boris Golitsyn had an excellent opportunity to get rid of Peter when the Chinese besieged the Russian fort on the Amur river: simply "request" his help, and the two regiments of soldiers he's been training, to defeat the threat (accompanied by a a regiment of streltsy to keep him safe, of course). This would get him out of their hair long enough to keep 'em in power, and would form Peter into a completely different person: namely, one more eastern-focused rather than western-focused. Thus, different and more Oriental-focusing Russia when Peter comes to power, resulting in, well, interesting stuff.

What do ya'll say?
 
I've been thinking lately that the Tsarevna Sophia and Boris Golitsyn had an excellent opportunity to get rid of Peter when the Chinese besieged the Russian fort on the Amur river: simply "request" his help, and the two regiments of soldiers he's been training, to defeat the threat (accompanied by a a regiment of streltsy to keep him safe, of course). This would get him out of their hair long enough to keep 'em in power, and would form Peter into a completely different person: namely, one more eastern-focused rather than western-focused. Thus, different and more Oriental-focusing Russia when Peter comes to power, resulting in, well, interesting stuff.

What do ya'll say?

I'd say, the founding of St. Petersburg will be butterflied away, meaning that Sweden may end up dominating the Baltic Sea.
 
I'd say, the founding of St. Petersburg will be butterflied away, meaning that Sweden may end up dominating the Baltic Sea.

Agreed. In fact, I doubt that Peter will lead Russia into a war with Sweden at all, turning Russia into a purely-Pacific and -Polar power. I imagine that *Peter will concentrate on colonization in the Far East and Russian America, what with his new focus on the east. On the other hand, with Peter gone in the East, Golitsyn and Sophia might be able to actually defeat the Crimeans and extend Russian control into the Crimea before Peter's inevitable return.
 
Agreed. In fact, I doubt that Peter will lead Russia into a war with Sweden at all. On the other hand, with Peter gone in the East, Golitsyn and Sophia might be able to actually defeat the Crimeans and extend Russian control into the Crimea before Peter's inevitable return.

Still, even if Peter does look east instead of west, how the heck is Spohia supposed to help build a Russian Navy? Peter the Great was the main reason why the Russians had built its navy in the first place.
 
Still, even if Peter does look east instead of west, how the heck is Spohia supposed to help build a Russian Navy? Peter the Great was the main reason why the Russians had built its navy in the first place.

Where did I talk about a navy? If there is a navy, I think it'll be based on the Black Sea, Arkhangelsk, and possibly, later, a Pacific Russian town, and will probably still be built by Peter. Remember, by the time I'm proposing sending Peter off to the East, he'll already have got the "ship r kul" idea in his head (and I do plan for him to survive his li'l adventure).
 
Where did I talk about a navy? If there is a navy, I think it'll be based on the Black Sea, Arkhangelsk, and possibly, later, a Pacific Russian town, and will probably still be built by Peter. Remember, by the time I'm proposing sending Peter off to the East, he'll already have got the "ship r kul" idea in his head (and I do plan for him to survive his li'l adventure).

More like Vladivostok is founded as a St. Petersburg-on-the-Amur, while OTL St. Petersburg would be founded as another city-on-the-Neva.
 
We may incorporate that on an existing challenge, which is a Hyperpower Russia. An early development of the Russian Far East would possibly threaten any Chinese holdings or Spanish holdings in the Pacific.

Meeeh. I'd want to do my own thing if I was going to do anything. Good luck with all that, though.
 
I really, really doubt Peter would found alt-SPB anywhere near Amur. And even if he does, it's never going to be capital.
I mean, seriously. The country was huge, and 99% of its population was in the European parts. The easternmost place I could see as the capital is Novosibirsk, and that's pushing it (I doubt it'll go past Kazan, actually). Anywhere east of Irkutsk is completely ASB.
 
Interesting. It would probably butterfly away the whole Great Nordic War, as August the Strong and Fredrik IV probably would not go to war without Russia - if they do, they will probably be defeated.

Russia might focus south, against the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire first, which will be a struggle by itself, as the Crimeans were decently strong at this time, and the Ottomans defeated the Russians OTL in the campaign of Pruth 1711.

There's also the various central asian Khanates to deal with before the Russians can reach the Pacific. OTL, the last ones were not defeated until the 1850s, when gunpowder weapons had finally become advanced enough to overpower the Mongol style light cavalry of the Khanates.

Perhaps Peter is impressed by Mongol history while serving in the east and focuses on the Druzhina horse archers of the Russian army instead of building a European style army, making them superior to (instead of inferior to, as in OTL) the cavalry of the Khanates, allowing him to conquer them in a series of campaigns int he early 18th century.

I'd be happy to help with any information on Sweden during the era.
 
There's also the various central asian Khanates to deal with before the Russians can reach the Pacific. OTL, the last ones were not defeated until the 1850s, when gunpowder weapons had finally become advanced enough to overpower the Mongol style light cavalry of the Khanates.

Er, Russia had already reached the Pacific by 1640. Sure, there were various central Asian khanates south of Russia, but none that interfered with Russian eastern expansionism.
 
While the Russians had expeditions that reached the Pacific, any serious colonisation could not be carried out until they controlled the trade routes that the Khanates sat right on top of.
 
While the Russians had expeditions that reached the Pacific, any serious colonisation could not be carried out until they controlled the trade routes that the Khanates sat right on top of.

I beg to differ! There were significant Russian settlements in the Amur River valley, as well as in Kamchatka and Siberia proper. Furthermore, if more effort had been expended on settling Siberia, the Russians could well have created their own internal trade routes. I do see your point, though. It would be quite a bit easier to simply use the Khanates' trade routes.
 
Top