Russia's Plan to Restore Byzantium in The 18th Century

Footage:
Rise of Empires: Ottomans (2020)
Napoleon (2023)
Charlemagne (2021)
Catherine: The Ascension (2016)
Catherine (2014)
Catherine: The Pretenders (2019)
Catherine the Great (2019)
Vikings (2013 - 2020)
Viking (2016)
Cyril and Methodius. The Apostles of the Slavs (2013)

Music:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clemency of Titus
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - Voyage
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - New King Arrives
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - Ride Forth Victoriously
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - Battle of Lepanto
Imperator Rome: Soundtrack - Mediterranean
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - The Empire Divided
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - At The Gates of Constantinople
Europe Universalis IV Soundtrack - Off To War

Literature:

- Sergey Ivanov, Catherine the Great’s Byzantium, Quaestio Rossica 9, June 2021
- Ragsdale, Hugh. “Evaluating the Traditions of Russian Aggression: Catherine II and the Greek Project.” The Slavonic and East European Review, vol. 66, no. 1, 1988, pp. 91–117.

Catherine's letters (In original French):

- Catherine II. (1787). Zapiski kasatel’no Rossiiskoi istorii v 7 ch. [Notes on Russian
History. 7 Parts]. St Petersburg, Imperatorskaya tipografiya. Part 1. 416 p.
- Catherine II. (1878). Pis’ma Imperatritsy Ekateriny II baronu Mel’khioru Grimmu
(gody s 1774 po 1796) [The Letters of Empress Catherine II to Baron Melchior Grimm
from 1774 to 1796]. St Petersburg Tipografiya Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk. 734 p.
- Catherine II. (1901). Sochineniya imperatritsy Ekateriny II na osnovanii podlinnykh
rukopisei v 12 t. [The Writings of Empress Catherine II from her Genuine Manuscripts.
12 Vols.]. St Petersburg, Izdatel’stvo Imperatorskoi аkademii nauk. Vol. 2. Dramaticheskie
sochineniya. 547 p.

00:00 Intro
00:36 Russia in the XVIII Century
01:33 The Ottoman Empire in the XVIII Century
02:33 Catherine
04:43 The First War
05:47 The Greeks and the Southern Ambitions
07:50 Hellenic Fashion
10:50 European Diplomacy
13:14 The Plans
19:57 The Second War
21:28 Catherine's "Byzantium"
24:49 Legacy of the Greek Project
26:33 Outro

[Sarmaticus]

Very interesting topic and you covered it well, and the graphics are also very good.
Adding Eu4 soundeffects was a nice touch.

[InAeternumRomaMater]

The Vlach Prince, part of the Vlacho-Byzantine dynasty of Cantacuzino, tried to restore the Byzantine Empire. Radu Cantacuzino, of whom later changed his name to Ioannes Rodulphus, princeps Contacuzenus Angelus Flavius Comnenus, he tried to restore his throne in Wallachia, and his brother Constantin Cantacuzino on the Serbian throne. From there he wanted to take Constantinople and crown himself Emperor. He founded also a new military order, "Holy Angelic Illustrious Imperial Order of the Great Holy Martyr St. George" and claimed to represent the legitimate grand master of the "Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George".

[EasternRomanHistory]

It is quite interesting to hear about Russia and its relationship with the Byzantines, considering how influenced by them they were.

I always find it quite appropriate that of all the king's of Europe, it was Louis XIV that made such an important contribution to research into the Byzantine field with his team of scholars.

[darkfool]

Of course she doesn't call it the Byzantine Empire, that's a relatively modern convention. The earliest use of Byzantine to refer to the Eastern Roman Empire was in the 1400s by a Greek historian, but that didn't become a common term for it until the 1800s. Calling it the Greek Empire, was the fashion at the time.

[alexsnow]

The sister of the last Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, was named Zoe Palaiologina. She married Ivan III, the Grand Prince of Moscow, who is often considered a precursor to the Russian Tsars. She also brought with her a significant portion of the Library of Constantinople as part of her dowry when she married Ivan III, although I heard this part is somehow unclear and debated among historians there is literally a painting with a caravan that depicted that event.

[thenamesianna]

Rome and the US could have existed at the same time. Incredible.

[Onezy]

Oh yes I've heard of this! The Greek plan. Complete with the classic Danube border and an additional kingdom of Dacia.

I wonder if, had the Greek plan been implemented, if Roman identity would have survived in Hellas rather than a Greek identity overtaking it.

[DeusExMau]

Damn, we were so close to greatness...

[NicCageCDXX]

The aftermath of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars ending the plans to restore the Eastern Roman Empire always is quite funny to me, given that Napoleon had a descendant of the Komemnian Dynasty, Demetrio Stefanopoli, ready to be placed on the throne of a restored Greek state, possibly even centered out of Constantinople.

[TheAmazingFlint]

Love the way you add little EUIV references here and there, i can tell a lot of work went into this video. Keep it up man

[ntonisa]

Interesting stuff, thanks! Being Greek and into history I knew some of the main facts regarding the “Greek Plan”, but not the details regarding Catherine's rather flawed understanding of Roman History or the exact details of the behind the scenes bargaining with the Austrians.
By the way, in spite of the financial benefits which the Greek(or rather the Orthodox) merchants gained from the Kucuk Kaynarca treaty, the Orlov Revolt was otherwise an unmitigated disaster for the Greeks, especially in the Morea, who went through what was effectively a localised genocide at the hands of the Sultan's Albanian mercenaries who were sent to suppress the rebellion (members of the Ottoman government also proposed the general massacre of all Greeks throughout the empire but the idea was thankfully rejected). The effect these events had on Greek-Russian relations was also kind of mixed. On one hand the way in which the Russians urged the Greeks to rebel and then left them out to dry was seen as a major betrayal and shameful abandoment by many Greeks who began looking to other powers for help in their future endeavours. On the other hand the Battle of Chesme kickstarted the amazingly successful career of John Varvakis, the Greek pirate turned Russian privateer / Beluga caviar tycoon and later benefactor of the Greek War of Independence and in general marked the start of a very prosperous period for the Greek diaspora in Russia. It probably also did play a role in the rise of philhellenism in western Europe as well. The great German poet and forerunner of the philhellenic movement Friedrich Hölderlin's novel Hyperion was partly inspired by these events.

[Mikkamakka]

Fascinating stuff, I never heard about this! Well researched and neatly put together video.

Catherine being a romeboo is hilarious.

[OnyxShockwave]

Judging by what you've said in the video, Id say the realistic maximum territory for this 'Greek Empire' would have been essentially the territories of Alexios I when he came to the throne, whereas the minimum territory would have been in essence the Empire of Andronikos III+the Bulgarian territories (minus Austrian possessions south of the Danube).

[abdswitch]

funny enough & weirdly too, the ottoman empire fell after both it's rivals: Austrian Empire {RIP 1918}, Russian Empire {1917}...

[dmitriysmirnoff]

Honestly I doubt that Catherine's court felt need to plan in-depth construction of a new Byzantine state. I suppose it was more like "we remove Ottoman military, and then Greeks do their greek things, while accepting Constantine and being neutral"

[PreferansovDaniil]

Very cool! I was in Turkey and we shook hands with one pal on topic of Russian-Turkish affairs in past, both laughed about those interesting times!)

[lordsneed]

Learning about this as a British man brings me the feeling of the deepest shame for my ancestors, I have never felt so ashamed before. That the elites of my ancestors would work so hard to stand in the way of Christian nation trying to restore Christian civilisation, to the extent that we essentially sided with a pagan, non-European, hostile civlisation that has been brutalising our brothers and sisters for 1000 years. It made me realise that my country has been under the demonic influence for much longer than I thought.

[alessandrobicocchi]

Many thanks for your video from a Romaboo living in Roma.

[yaldabraxas]

There's also the story of the would-be Greek emperor Constantine. After his first-born brother died childless (with some mysterious circumstances or even that he didn't die but decided to become a hermit-monk, if you believe the folk tales) the Russian throne should've gone to him, but he just refused it preferring to stay in Tsardom of Poland. The confusion caused by the refusal was used by the Decembrist movement for their failed coup/revolution attempt.

So who knows what kind of a monarch he would've been in case of the success of the Greek plan.

[MadcookieBG]

Considering how the desire to subjugate the Balkans to a single power has directly or indirectly led to the downfall of Byzantine, Ottoman, Russian, Austrian, German, Italian, French and British empires I doubt this new "Greek" Empire would get past the age of its proposed first emperor.