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In OTL, a region stretching from Strasburg to the North Sea, encompassing Luxemburg, Belgium, the Netherlands, North East France and Western Germany (particularly the Rhur area) is the undisputed 'centre' of Europe. It's where the biggest and most influential cities are, is the economic heart of Europe, and is where political power lies. The region, arguably includes London as well, due to its geographical proximity across the Channel.

Could it be the case that Communism, World War two and Nazism (one big continuous disaster for Europe east of the Rhine) prevented anywhere in eastern or central Europe from playing a similar role, or for a more equitable distribution of wealth and power across the continent?

In this scenario, Kerensky's Russia signs the treaty of Brest-Litovsk and Russian republican democracy is born in 1917. This Russian Republic, looses Poland, Finland, the Baltic States etc but is a success; it embraces capitalism and democracy succesfully and by January 2016 has been doing so for just shy of a century. Similarly, the democratic Weimar Republic survives, and is still in good form in January 2016, as is the second Polish Republic and all other Eastern European countries.

In this scenario, where would the economic and political heart of Europe be? Would there be more than one? How developed would Eastern Europe be?
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