WI: Ivania?

Zioneer

Banned
1. What if, Ivan the Great OR Ivan the Terrible, while ruling Russia, were not inclined to name it that. What if they named it "Ivania", after themselves?

2. Or, what if a small piece of Russia never joined it or broke off, and called itself that? Would there be any Russian groups that would have the lasting power to both survive, AND name themselves after the Ivans?
 
Last edited:
:confused:

Are you asking "is it possible to have some place named after Ivan IV of Russia?" In that case Grozny in Chechnya means "Terrible", as in "Ivan the" (that translation is based on the older meaning of "terrible" in English: the Russian actually means something like "formidable" or "inspiring awe and fear").

But although Ivan was the first to declare himself Tsar of All the Russias, becoming such by unifying the Russians (and that was a very well established name) had long been the goal of the Muscovite princes. They were hardly going to lose the prestige of re-uniting Russia for an ego trip.
 
Last edited:
1. What if, Ivan the Great OR Ivan the Terrible, while ruling Russia, were not inclined to name it that. What if they named it "Ivania", after themselves?

2. Or, what if a small piece of Russia never joined it or broke off, and called itself that? Would there be any Russian groups that would have the lasting power to both survive, AND name themselves after the Ivans?

Well, I can't see the first one lasting - in fact if the Tsar was so much an egotist to do it, the boyars would probably rise up and overthrow him. It would be like Akhenaten and his monotheism

The second sounds plausible, though very unclear as to what, where, who and how...

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
1. What if, Ivan the Great OR Ivan the Terrible, while ruling Russia, were not inclined to name it that. What if they named it "Ivania", after themselves?

2. Or, what if a small piece of Russia never joined it or broke off, and called itself that? Would there be any Russian groups that would have the lasting power to both survive, AND name themselves after the Ivans?

Why would a state that fractured away from the Russia of Ivan name itself after their rival?
 
Top