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I can't stress enough that "get myself a warm water port and some nice spheres of influence (nor direct annexation)" is not the same as "loads and loads of land-grabbing and also we march into Peking and now the Tsar is claiming the Mandate of Heaven, that you very much". Britain was worried...

They're not going to get that. They're going to get a war with Britain, albeit a somewhat less dramatic one than if they try to annex Tibet and/or all of China. And that war isn't going to end with Britain just saying "oh, you get to keep what you took, that's okay". It's going to end with...

It should be noted that t this day, historians are puzzled as to why Witte supported Badmayev's plan. In any event, Witte soon became disenchanted with Badmayev and his ideas. For my money, I'd say Witte was taken up by a grandiose vision, which appealed to his own (partially religious)...

I think it would still cause a clash with Britain, but a negotiated settlement would presumably be a viable outcome. The problem is that this means it would still be a massive, risky, ambitious operation... with only very modest gains. And it will cause Anglo-Russian relations to worsen, which...

Both of which were slightly different situations than "we march in there and grab Mongolia and Sinkiang and Gansu and also Tibet, which just so happens to border the Raj". (When we put it like that, the inherent absurdity of the plan should become obvious.)

Russia would not be able to carry the plan out. Probably not at all, but certainly not with ease. Meanwhile, Britain would consider it grounds for war. It will not stop that war short of a resolution that sees Russia withdrawing from all Chinese territories, and agreeing to permanently recognise...

Only marginally less batshit than Tsar Paul's lunatic plan to invade India. Badmayev was a crank. Not an incapable man, but his pet obsession was cmpletely impractical. Tsar Alexander's response to the plan says it all: "All this is so novel, so unusual and fantastic that it is difficult to...