Russian/European War

Suppose that Russia were to get into a war with either Great Britain, France, Prussia, AH, or any combination thereof.

From 1862 until 1914, would the Russian Empire, assuming that all nations retain the power they had in OTL, be able to win, or at least threaten the rest of Europe? How likely would the Russians be to win a war in Europe at the time? If they would have no chance, what reforms and expansions would need to take place in order to make it so that they have a good chance?
 

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Suppose that Russia were to get into a war with either Great Britain, France, Prussia, AH, or any combination thereof.

From 1862 until 1914, would the Russian Empire, assuming that all nations retain the power they had in OTL, be able to win, or at least threaten the rest of Europe? How likely would the Russians be to win a war in Europe at the time? If they would have no chance, what reforms and expansions would need to take place in order to make it so that they have a good chance?
Never heard of the Crimean War?
 
The only chance of this happening is if Russia and France had become close enough policically for Russia to declare war on Prussia in 1871 as part of the Franco-Prussia war.

An Eastern Front would have given Prussia a real problem, and given the French some hope for victory.

I don't know if the other Powers would have been involved however.
 
Nah. The Russians lacked the infrastructure to sustain a huge frontier-long war by themselves at that point. They had just about put it together by 1915, and we know how well that went. As it was, even the Bulgarian adventure strained their ready reserves of men and money, although that to be fair was before even the first stirrings of industrialisation in Russia and they weren't terribly used to a general conscript army, plus they habitually underestimated their foe. But then, Germany is a bigger problem than the Ottomans.

The Russians would lose if they fought Austria, Germany, and the Ottomans with everybody else as pro-German neutral, never mind other people getting involved on the German side.

This would never happen, of course. Why would France facilitate the defeat of its guarantor and biggest field of investment? Why would Britain suddenly chuck up our commitment to the balance of power?
 
Suppose that Russia were to get into a war with either Great Britain, France, Prussia, AH, or any combination thereof.

From 1862 until 1914, would the Russian Empire, assuming that all nations retain the power they had in OTL, be able to win, or at least threaten the rest of Europe? How likely would the Russians be to win a war in Europe at the time? If they would have no chance, what reforms and expansions would need to take place in order to make it so that they have a good chance?

Not quite sure I understand the question, on the basis of how many enemies you are positing?

If it were just Russia versus just Prussia in 1862 then they could win, but that presupposes nobody would come to Prussia's aid, and also that Prussia doesn't sort itself out during the war.

Navally, the Baltic Fleet can defend Russia's coast against any except for Britain or France, and even then these two are limited in what they could do by geography. Against Prussia, the Russian navy could blockade the coast, though how any of its ships would compare one-on-one with the Prussians I don't know

Russia has great advantages in a defensive war, of course, not least because as the Crimean War showed its enemies tend to get confused about their objectives

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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