WI: Empress Anna I Petrovna

To this is an idea I've found interesting for some time but haven't got around to asking until now. When Emperor Pyotr the Great of Russia was dying he tried to name an heir, asking for pen and paper and writing Leave all to ..." and then, exhausted by the effort, asked for his daughter Anna to be summoned. Obviously Pyotr intended his eldest daughter, Tsesarevna Anna Petrovna, to be his heiress. So lets say Pyotr stayed conscious for a bit longer and named Anna his successor.

What would the reign of Empress Anna I Petrovna look like? According to contemporaries, Anna strikingly resembled her famous father. She was clever and beautiful, well-educated, was fluent in French, German, Italian and Swedish. So would we see a continuation of her father's reformist policies? Would she still marry Duke Karl Friedrich zu Holstein-Gottorp or would a Russian match be made instead? Would Russia be more stable without the quick turnover that dominated the succession for the next 16 years OTL? Basically what are the short and long-term implications of Anna's accession and reign? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_the_Great#cite_note-35
 
I'd imagine she would probably continue the reforms. The biggest change would of course be that the Romanovs would continue under a completely new line, making Russian, European and eventually world history quite unpredictable. She might get Russia to have an effect on European politics earlier (it only really did under Elisabeth) but this is really quite unpredictable.
 
Would she still marry Duke Karl Friedrich zu Holstein-Gottorp or would a Russian match be made instead?

The marriage contract was already signed by the time Peter the Great died, although they only wed after his death. There were great advantages to the marriage as their children were heirs to both Russia and Sweden.
 
The marriage contract was already signed by the time Peter the Great died, although they only wed after his death. There were great advantages to the marriage as their children were heirs to both Russia and Sweden.

So we could potentially see a second son on the Swedish throne. Now that would be interesting, a Romanov Sweden and Russia I mean.
 
So we could potentially see a second son on the Swedish throne. Now that would be interesting, a Romanov Sweden and Russia I mean.

Yes. Her being crowned means never moving to Holstein and never catching pneumonia, so we can see VERY interesting things at North.
The internal politics changes, though, will be very interesting, but alas I have little time to write about them in details for the reasons you're aware of. Duke of Holstein was NOT liked by court at St. Petersburg so the frictions will happen.
 
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