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Tsar Alexander III was the epitome of The Great Russian Bear, 6 foot 5 and some 260 pounds. A true Tsar Autocrat who ruthlessly crushed any opposition. He was in many ways the exact opposite of his son Nicholas II. I've read that Nicholas II was very much in awe of his father and of the fact that he would someday succeed him on The Russian Throne.

That someday came in 1894 when Alexander III died after several months of a debilitating and mysterious illness. Today it is believed he had nephritis a kidney disease. In 1888 the Imperial train derailed as the Imperial Family was eating dinner. The roof of the dining car collapsed and Alexander III held up the roof with his back as his wife and children escaped. It is believed in doing so that he seriously bruised his kidneys which led to nephritis some 6 years later.

But what if Tsar Alexander III had not bruised his kidneys, what if he had not developed nephritis or whatever it was that killed him? Instead he lives and reigns even into old age. At his death in 1894 he was only 49 years old so presumably he could have lived and reigned for a considerably longer time than he did.

What influence might Alexander III have had on Russia and the world had he lived a longer life? How would he have handled The Russian Revolution and World War I? What influence might he have had on his son Nicholas II and his grandson Alexei? What kind of Tsar might Nicholas II have been had his father lived and reigned a lot longer and had better prepared him for the Russian Throne?
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