The Forgotten Great Power

History is shaped by the choices of the people in power. But what if one such person makes a different choice or if the said person is removed altogether. Let's examine the historic role of one of the rulers of Kievan Rus' - Sviatoslav I of Kiev, and the consequences of his early death. Sviatoslav's last two major campaings were against the Khazaria in the east and Bulgaria in the south. But what if during one of his battles against the khazars, Sviatoslav is wounded by an arrow and subsequently dies. His death leads to two immediate consequences - firstly Kievan Rus' will find itself in a succession crisis and secondly, and more importantly, the First Bulgarian Empire will be spared from another northern invasion, thus allowing it to focus its military strenght against its long standing foe - the Byzantium Empire. This althistory follows the course Bulgaria takes after the POD and its effects on world events.