Russia never builds the Trans Siberian

What if instead of building the Trans Siberian Railway, the Russians stayed close to home building their European railways nothing further east than the Orenberg-Taashkent designed to make the British go bananas

Obviously, there can't be a serious Russo-Japanese War but what does that do to Anglo-Japanese relations. The British aren't going to be happy about the Japanese expanding all over the Pacific or the Russians building railroads towards India

How about Russo-German relations?
 
You might see a Russian-Japanese alliance, with Russia expanding no further then northern Munchuria and seeing a strong Japan as the shield that protects Vladivostoc. This Russia will probably focus more on central asia and the balkans, so a German-Russian-Japanese axis will be there diplomatic goal. In contrast to them, a block that consists Britain, France, Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire will rise. Italy most likely will join the Germans, while the USA will most likely join the British side, in my opinion.
 
The Japanese get them thumbs up from Britain to go wild in East Asia and Russia suffers a humiliating defeat. Britain has nothing to gain from Russian incursions towards Afghanistan and Japan has nothing to gain by protecting a weaker Russia in the Far East.
 
The Japanese get them thumbs up from Britain to go wild in East Asia and Russia suffers a humiliating defeat. Britain has nothing to gain from Russian incursions towards Afghanistan and Japan has nothing to gain by protecting a weaker Russia in the Far East.


WIthout the Trans Siberian railway, the Russians have nothing in the Far East Their interest remain in Central Asia and Europe. The Japanese could capture nothing in the Far East of any value to Russia. Britain promoted the Japanese as a way of checking the Russians but do they really want Japan to own the Pacific? I think not and see nothing that Britain gains

Russia on the other hand, doesn't have to fight the Japanese War and would really be powerful in Europe
 

BlondieBC

Banned
If Russian never builds the Railroad, Japan will have the coastal areas of what is now the Russian Far East.

Where is the eastern most point of the Railroad network in your scenario?
 
The British might not mind Japanese Northern Pacific dominance as long as British interests in places like India, Malaysia, and Austrialia are not threatened. With the British offering some support, the Japanese might not decide to ditch them as in OTL (where they were like, "wait why does France get land and we don't make significant island gains when we sent a comparable percentage of our army"... never mind that percentage is smaller than actual numbers)
 
This is an ASB scenario absent a complete breakdown in Russia IMO. There are too many obvious advantages in having it to be overlooked by the Russian Government. You would have to have idiots from top to bottom for this to happen. Delayed a bit, sure. Never made, not unless Russia breaks down to complete anarchy.
 
This is an ASB scenario absent a complete breakdown in Russia IMO. There are too many obvious advantages in having it to be overlooked by the Russian Government. You would have to have idiots from top to bottom for this to happen. Delayed a bit, sure. Never made, not unless Russia breaks down to complete anarchy.

Idiot populace who wants idiot project or not construction of a great obvious project is not ASB, it's OTL many times over and over in multiple countries.

That said, it's more plausible that they go with a single low-capacity railway instead of OTL's more extensive lines.
 
Idiot populace who wants idiot project or not construction of a great obvious project is not ASB, it's OTL many times over and over in multiple countries.

That said, it's more plausible that they go with a single low-capacity railway instead of OTL's more extensive lines.

OK. very unlikely. Russia may have been backwards but not that backwards.
 
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