How on earth did a backwards feudal serf nation get so big?

empty steppes

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Because it wasn't.

And we are actually the greatest eastern europeans, the only e. euros great enough to make ourselves as strong as western empires.

Because the Tzar was based

>>68452869
They took the shit land that no one else wanted.

>>68452946
I agree; I appreciate the stuggle and triumph of our new best friends. So much better then Germany!

>>68452946
You was never as strong as America though, or else you and me would be speaking Russian now and not English.

>>68453083
> You was never as strong as America though

That's why americans use our music in independence day celebration :)

We were good rivals to germans, spanish, french, swedes, brits and everyone else.

When it comes to murricans, they were our friends and tbqh I like them more than europeans even now.

>>68453000
>siberia
>shit land
>limitless wood, minerals, gas, animals etc
>shit land

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>>68453172

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>>68452869
A saddest thing is that Russian greatness was killed by communists, who ruined our economics to Zimbabwe tier.
-Internationalism
-Create an "EVIL RUSKIES WITH USHANKA AND NUKES"
19th century never will come again.
Now we got most corrupted country, we have a lowest wages in East Europe, nationalists in prison.
I wanna commit suicide, but I so pathetic to do that.

>>68453319
it was considered shit when they pioneered as natural gas wasn't the thing back then. other things didn't redeem that incredibly cold weather.

>>68452946
>make ourselves as strong as western empires
You never were.

>b-b-b-but m-m-muh napoleonic w-war
You leveraged your strength excellently but you were never on par with France. Had the battlefield not been underdeveloped and cold af you would've lost hard.

>>68453683
they squared up face to face with Nap at Borodino and gave him a good tumble. The ruskies defeated France at the height of her power

>>68453536

The Soviet Union was FAR more powerful than modern Russia or Imperial Russia.

It had almost 300 million people and the 2nd highest GDP. It was also a beacon of hope for many poor and oppressed countries and a counterweight to Western imperialism. It had culture. Soviet movies and cartoons were watched in many poor countries.

Blame your shitty corrupt leaders who flushed everything down the toilet, not communism.

If the USSR was shit then Russia is hyper-mega-shit, except for a few millionaires.

>>68454147
This is kinda true
Even other imperial nations were moving out of the serfdom meme

>>68453979
Borodino wasn't a particularly good battle for Russia. France overall came out on top. Not to mention with a lot of missing troops.

>The ruskies defeated France at the height of her power
As I said, they leveraged their power well. But that doesn't mean that Russia ever was as powerful as France, because they weren't. The same way Vietnam never was as powerful as the United States or Afghanistan as powerful as the Soviet Union.

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>>68453536
Well Russia was one of the worst economicaly administrated countries in the 19th century, a barely Industrialized country that was using an economic system from one thousand years ago, in the 20th century the soviet union was the most powerful country in the world with USA

>>68454147
i believe this is due to russians being used to communism, when it changed to capitalism it was like making someone create sandals when they only know how to create boots, dont know if im explaining well