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Cake day: March 29th, 2022

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  • It’s not really chiefly about the tsars*, but the same thing that today minus communism. Peter I reformed Russia and immediately after defeated Sweden - a great power back then. In the subsequent century Russia had a major win streak and stopped being seen as weak and started to be seen as danger, with highlight points being the 7 year war, then the napoleonic period. Only in middle XIX century due to the rotting of the tsarist regime it started to be relegated to the sick man of Europe and potential colony. Also of course antislavic racism, constantly present in western Europe.

    *However a lot of western autocrats were rather jealous of the extent of tsar power. And various factions in the west all pointed at tsars as back then version of “we are the lesser evil” to pacify their liberals.