WI : Russia doesn't trigger the Crimean war

sonnet

WI Russia doesn't trigger the Crimean war, but rather pursue a policy of prosperity and development, seeking to expand only in Central Asia and in the far East.
This means no war with the Turks in the 1877-78 as well. Russia would only try to meddle in the balkan affairs diplomatically
In this scenario I imagine they would not sell Alaska. Also in this scenario Russo-Japanese war doesn't occur ( they agrees to the Japanese proposal to leave Korea to Japan, while they would get control over Manchuria). Also Russia try to de-escalate tensions in Central Asia giving assurances that it has not ambitions over Afghanistan and India.

Could this have brought Russia to a level of development comparable to western great powers by 1914?
What could have been the demographics of the Russian empire in the 1914 (Russia had high population in absolute terms, but had and still has low density. Higher density means better economies of scale).
 
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Odinson

Odinson

Well the Crimean War helped show not only Russia, but the rest of Europe that the Russian Empire needed to modernize. Russia's army was in drastic need for reform, as was the British. Matter of fact, the Crimean War caused a backlash against the British system of placing people in command because of their lineage, and in Russia, it showed the weakness of being a mostly agrarian nation. Without the war, you might not see strong movements to push for modernization and reform.
 

sonnet

Odinson said:
Well the Crimean War helped show not only Russia, but the rest of Europe that the Russian Empire needed to modernize. Russia's army was in drastic need for reform, as was the British. Matter of fact, the Crimean War caused a backlash against the British system of placing people in command because of their lineage, and in Russia, it showed the weakness of being a mostly agrarian nation. Without the war, you might not see strong movements to push for modernization and reform.
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Don't we have examples of other countries pursuing modernization despite not having suffered any particular defeat in wars? After all in the second half of the 19th century there was a strong emphasis on science and progress. Couldn't an enlightened Emperor have pursued that?
 
Odinson

Odinson

sonnet said:
Don't we have examples of other countries pursuing modernization despite not having suffered any particular defeat in wars? After all in the second half of the 19th century there was a strong emphasis on science and progress. Couldn't an enlightened Emperor have pursued that?
Click to expand...
Russia's political leadership were strongly opposed to modernization, and IIRC, were still opposed to modernization and reform after the Crimean War.
 
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