[CCIP]

Otherwise, it's also important to remember that there weren't just one or two historical points of change in Russian history. Just as big as what-ifs would be... what if Russia wasn't invaded by Mongols? By Napoleon? By Hitler? What if Ivan the Terrible didn't leave a terrible mess behind himself and the Rurik dynasty continued? What if Peter the Great lived longer, or instead didn't rule at all? What if Alexander II wasn't assassinated?

Of these, the last one is possibly the biggest "what if" for the survival of "Lost Russia" and a more moderate, successful path. Alexander II was an idealist and reformist, eager to catch up with modern values and create a fairer, more constitutional society. He abolished serfdom and helped promote freedom of speech; his court was full of progressive thinkers and liberal idealists from the West. He had an ambitious reform program. Ironically, it was this attitude to freedom that helped radical nihilist and socialist groups run rampant. They were the ones that tried to kill him multiple times, as the representative of the authority they hated, and ultimately they succeeded. His son, Alexander III, was a more conventional, conservative thinker to begin with - but he was also deeply affected by his father's assassination and quickly drew the connection between reform and radicalism. As a result, he backtracked and undid a lot of the reforms of his father. He went after the radical groups that killed his father and liberal, freedom-oriented elements in society in general - which ironically only created more radical groups. He broke up and chased away the progressive thinkers of Alexander II's court. Alexander III's Russia was a much more conservative, backwards-looking place, authoritarian and restrictive. That in itself, in my view, was a big problem. Had Alexander II lived and had his reforms continued, Russia could've been on par with the west socially before the 20th century and its troubles really hit.

The other thing that people forget is that things kept changing. Even the Soviet times were not just one big blob of Stalinism and total oppression. The USSR in 1923 and 1937 were VERY different countries. The USSR of 1940 and 1948 - I needn't even mention. The USSR in 1950 and 1960 were very different countries. The USSR in 1983 and 1988 were very different countries. Russia in 1991 and 1995 were very different countries. And so on and so forth...