You know, Envy is Russia’s middle name. All through the 1800s and 1900s, they tried to copy Europe, feeling like a poor country cousin. They were fascinated with European literature, language, and music. Many of the upper class studied French and spoke it in front of their Russian servants when they were discussing something private. Their writers, like Tolstoy, looked admiringly over at the Victorian writers, and was keenly aware of the French. They copied European dress, titles, everything. They’re like a hungry, neglected child, staring intensely through the window, really. And I feel for them, but that’s one scary child and I don’t like being alone with it.
Envy was also Germany’s middle name. They saw the British Empire and French Empires, and they felt they were entitled to an empire of their own, in the East.