Yeah, no. Pretty impossible really. And Catherine the Great did technically have a claim to the throne via marriage. Napoleon would be a minor officer in the Imperial army, so no dice. And really a Russian revolution in the 18th century is HIGHLY unlikely. This is a state that still has serfdom, that the Church is one of the dominate political powers, has one of the largest, most powerful armies in the world, and has no massive internal problems, unlike France. So really a 18th century revolution in CHINA is more likely.
Napoleon of Russia
- Thread starter Die Kaiserin
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MarshalBraginsky
Banned
We may not get a "Napoleon" figure, but what about a person similar to Tadeusz Kosciuszko appearing in Russia?
Incognito
Banned
Wasn't the Tsar she was married to himself originally a nobleman from the Holy Roman Empire?
Well, the preamble to everything I said was that one of the pretenders got lucky and Paul got killed. That would leave Katherine's heir as who? In the chaos the Pretender could seize power. I'm not saying he's all in for liberty and equality, but it would make something of a rallying cry to get some support, from the peasants, and also from the press of Novikov (sp?), and maybe internationally. Yes, things will go to hell in a handbasket, which is where I was postulating a counter-coup, a la Bonaparte and Seyes, with Zubov in charge
Best Regards
Grey Wolf
Best Regards
Grey Wolf
The most you would get from that is a different emperor and a different dynasty - he would still be emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, anointed as God's Viceroy on Earth. What you will not get is liberte, egalite, fraternite.
He was sort of both. Legitimate as a Tsar, but a scion of House Holstein-Gottorp.
By the way, Catherine of Russia was not Prussian, she was from Anhalt-Zerbst.
Well, it was not just "technically". For the Russian mentality it was a very serious claim, totally legitimate. She followed the precedent established when Catherine I (born in the lower classes in the Swedish East Baltic territories) succeeded her husband Peter the Great in 1725.
And much more than that, she had a son, who was 100% legitimate direct hair to the throne of his father.
So in Russian eyes everything was absolutely OK.
I guess Napoleon might have been a genera in the Imperial army. The Empire valued brave and able warriors so he could have made a career like many a foreign officer did.
And he might have taken part in assassination of tsar Pavel. And he might have become a very influential general and politician. As a general he was definitely a genius, so he might go from victory to victory. He might become a second Suvorov. But that is his limit.
The Russian imperial dynasty was very strong, tsar Alexander had two brothers who were close to each other. Napoleon could not even become a king-maker, no way.
Sure.
The best case scenario for Russian Napoleon (if he is not killed in action) - he becomes too victorious and too proud of that, he is adored by the soldiers and he starts to think too much about himself. Tsar Alexander considers him as becoming to be too unmanageable and Napoleon is sent into honorable retirement with huge rewards and he lives the rest of his life in repugnant luxury.
The worst case scenario for Russian Napoleon - he starts to prepare assassination of tsar Alexander in favor of one of his brothers Nicholas or Constantine. But this plot is discovered at the very beginning (the tsar's brother might have reported him) and Napoleon is caught, tried and executed for high treason.
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