In the book Modern Greece: A Short History by the eminent Oxford scholar C.M. Woodhouse there is the following passage on page 120 about Catherine the Great of Russia' plans, formulated in 1782, for "[...]a restored Greek Empire with it's capitol at Constantinople, under her grandson Constantine, who was to be brought up as a Greek." With her being the Empress of the Orthodox Russian Empire (Third Rome), and her hatred of the Muslim Ottoman Empire that had finally destroyed Byzantium with the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, her motives are clearly understood. She did not give up on this plan until 1792 (ten years). The reasons for it's failure could also be expanded, such as the Austrian Empress not agreeing to the plan, resistance from the French and the fact that her officer Count Orlov (Alexey Grigoryevich Orlov) had already roused the Greeks some years prior to uprising (1770) and the failure of the Russians to supply adequate support (see Orlov Revolt), all contributing to the failure of Catherine's designs on Constantinople. An aggressive conspiracy to resurrect the Byzantine Empire is certainly noteworthy and worth expanding. The Russian Empire never gave up on Constantinople; as late as World War I (1914-1918) the Russians were promised the ancient city upon allied victory against the Central Powers (something the civil war in Russia against the Bolsheviks prevented from happening). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.242.121.108 (talk) 20:23, 8 February 2015 (UTC)Reply
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