Russia from its inception has always been separated both from the ethnicites of eastern Europe and the liberal states of the west, then seen as the great European other. In fact there are traces of this that can be seen all the way back with the division of Christian Europe between the Latin and Greek rites, with the final 1054 spit that alienated a nascent Kievan Rus from both the Slavs who remained Catholic and the rapidly fading Byzantine empire. On top of that the Mongol subjugation of Vladimir and other Russian principalities cut off the emerging Russian nation from the political maneuvering that dominated midmillennium Europe and instead helped to spur Muscovy's assertion of control over the western steppes. Even when Peter and Catherine Westernized the empire by modeling their courts and armies after those of Europe, the Enlightenment was still contained to discussions among the elite nobility with little no attempt to implement reform among the feudal hierarchy. Come the 19th century, any real hope of liberalism is snuffed out twice, both with the failure of the Decembrists and the reactionary policies of Alexander III, and the resulting Russian autocracy becomes the epicenter of the revolutionary wave that seized on postwar Europe. Now the USSR was anathema to everyone from the capitalists of the west to the oppenents of Soviet-style dictatorship, and everything under Moscow was the boogeyman that dominated foreign policy in the global north. Finally, the old Soviet union was split into a bunch of backwards oligarchies and would seem to stay that until Putin came and turned Russia's failed attempt at democracy into his own personal dictatoriship.
Supppose this had been different though? At what point in its history did Russia have the best chance of shedding its reputation as the despotic, only partially European east that other countries view as the lumbering threat? Furthermore, what exactly would need to be done in order to put Russia on a path way from this image?
I personally think that the best time to start this would have been the 18th and early 19th centuries, where the Russian Empire had the option of welcoming in Enlightenment ideals as well as an industrial economy, and in addition had alternative paths to take instead of concentrating its entire imperial gains on central Asia and the fringes of Siberia. Focus primarily on European power plays and take only what's needed to check Britain and Japan, and at home begin merging the traditional order with classical liberalism as was being attempted in Prussia and Orleanist France, and the end result is the possibility of a state either Decembrist style constitutional monarchy or French parliamentary republic. It wouldn't be certain to last due to ethnic tensions within the Empire as well as the backwards condition of the Russian economy during this time, but it would allow for a common link with liberal Europe and offer a chance, however fleeting, that Russia could open up politically to western models.
Supppose this had been different though? At what point in its history did Russia have the best chance of shedding its reputation as the despotic, only partially European east that other countries view as the lumbering threat? Furthermore, what exactly would need to be done in order to put Russia on a path way from this image?
I personally think that the best time to start this would have been the 18th and early 19th centuries, where the Russian Empire had the option of welcoming in Enlightenment ideals as well as an industrial economy, and in addition had alternative paths to take instead of concentrating its entire imperial gains on central Asia and the fringes of Siberia. Focus primarily on European power plays and take only what's needed to check Britain and Japan, and at home begin merging the traditional order with classical liberalism as was being attempted in Prussia and Orleanist France, and the end result is the possibility of a state either Decembrist style constitutional monarchy or French parliamentary republic. It wouldn't be certain to last due to ethnic tensions within the Empire as well as the backwards condition of the Russian economy during this time, but it would allow for a common link with liberal Europe and offer a chance, however fleeting, that Russia could open up politically to western models.
