บท 180: Live and bleed (April-June, 1904
The Russosphere(?): Rio Grande do Sul and Uruguay]
At the beginning of 1904, in Uruguay the commitments between the Blancos / Whites (the government of the rural environment, led by Aparicio Saravia) and the Colorados / Reds (the urban government of the capital, led by José Batlle y Ordóñez), the Commitments of 1897 had created a dual government in the Uruguayan state (with 6 departments / provinces ceded to the whites and the rest in red hands).
Aparicio Saravia was the brother of Gumercindo Saraiva, the leader of the Rio Grande do Sul Federation forces (a military leader, not a civilian). The situation had become untenable in the opinion of the capital and a military conflict broke out between the two.
But there were problems for the economic maintenance of the White rebels of Saravia, both armies had modern rifles but the Whites were outnumbered.
A delegation from the Whites went to Rio Grande do Sul to ask for help, which in turn discussed the matter with the Russian Empire. Tsar Alexander III had little interest in intervening in the matter, mainly because of the possible political consequences that he could have intervening while the Haitian conflict unfolded.
In addition to the fact that there were few guarantees for Saravia to win the conflict and therefore contribute something to the Russian Empire or the Federation of Rio Grande do Sul, it was obvious that these were mainly family requests.
Consequently Tsar Alexander III offered Russia's diplomatic intervention in the Uruguayan conflict as a neutral party. The problem was obviously the lack of cooperation, President Batlle y Ordóñez rejected the concepts of a bi-partisan government (which existed in predecessor governments and avoided conflict, at times, since it also obstructed the executive and central power of the Montevideo government) and whites insisted on the treaties of 1897, but brought severe warlordism to the region.
While both parties did not reach solid agreements, the battles became increasingly fierce and bloody from January to June.
Tsar Alexander III then offered Aparicio Saravia to desist from the conflict and obtain a position (and some benefits) in Rio Grande do Sul or even Russia, while to the red government, Tsar Alexander III offered to pay for part of the destruction caused by the rebels (mostly the destruction of some fields and loss of cattle).
At the moment, there were not many advances, but the Whites were going north with the border with Rio Grande do Sul.
* Fun fact, the Russian settlements in Uruguay are called "colonies", but there were never actually any Russian colonial projects in Uruguay. Most Russians who emigrated to Uruguay in the 19th century did so for religious reasons.
** They also brought some technologies for the sunflower oil industry.
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[Russosphere: Thailand]
The Trans-Balkan railway suffered certain delays due to the worsening of the Great Depression due to the Haitian conflict, so it was necessary to continue generating work and mobilizing Russian capital.
This is why Tsar Alexander III finally gave the order to start the construction of the Thai Canal, in conjunction with the government of King Rama V (King Chulalongkorn).
With a mix of Russian and Thai workers (all from diverse ethno-cultures actually) to build said canal, solving unemployment and capital mobilization problems.
The canal and the news of its construction, which involved the mobilization of engineers, doctors, administrators and others (concerning the workforce, health, the environment, etc.) were noticed in various parts of the world.
Of course this exploded much more terror in the British Empire, who understood what this meant, especially for Singapore and therefore the commercial gains of the British Empire in the middle of the Great Depression (which had already collapsed much of the trade, a vital activity of the empire).
Something had to be done, some proposed a passive approach and others a direct approach.
On the other hand, although the containment of Russia was also vital and the concern of many, there were other Anglo-Saxons more concerned about the situation in France, with the empowerment of socialists, some proposed the need for a more direct intervention on French soil.
Also counting on the excuse that it was necessary to liberate Wallonia after its invasion by France during Fashoda, it was necessary to take advantage now that the central government was weak.
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[Finland]
On June 16, Tsar Alexander III and Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov met with one of the members of the St. Petersburg court (and the armed forces), Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.
The tsar and his heir decided to start ascending Mannerheim into the administration of the Grand Duchy of Finland and the Russian administration, placing him as colonel and administrator.
Also for Mannerheim to closely monitor movements in the region, some that could be dangerous in various aspects.
Mannerheim accepted of course these tasks, proving to be skilled although at times he needed help. Of course this is only in professional matters, Mannerheim's personal life turned into a disaster every day (debts, marital-love problems, etc. Nobody is perfect).
The work ranged from office administration to some infiltration (mainly as a reporter, ethnologist, etc).
Among the Orthodox and ethnically Russian inhabitants of Finland there was a 'unionist' movement, who wanted the abolition of the Finnish structures so that it was completely united with the rest of the Empire. Generally affiliated with nationalist or right-wing tendencies.
There were socialist, liberal and social democratic movements. Some pacifists and others pseudo-revolutionaries, it depended on many factors.
There were some Finnish nationalists, but ordinary Finns were more about maintaining autonomy than gaining independence.
There were also problems of racism from some ethnic-cultural Finns towards the Karelian natives.
That had to be dealt with.
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[Linguistic currents]
Speaking of currents in Finland, also in other parts of the Russian Empire there were currents different from the established order, although in this case they were not political (or not precisely political).
These were currents about the Russian language above all, for example there were those who proposed that Russia needed to 'Latinize' the Russian script (abandon the Cyrillic and adopt the Latin script) to more easily export the culture or ideas of the state abroad (this were current of some socialists in particular).
* Interestingly, not the first time that someone proposed such a Latinization. During the times of Peter I some believed that the reformist tsar would abandon the Cyrillic, of course, it never happened.
Other nationalists of course were against this fact, but the most extreme nationalists proposed a process of 'Cyrilization' towards all the languages in Russia that did not use the Cyrillic script.
More sensible proposals simply indicated the need for certain reforms in the Cyrillic script in Russia, letting some peoples use their traditional scriptures (Finns, Mongols, Lithuanians, Poles, Armenians, etc.) and using / adapting Cyrillic for non-script peoples. (difficult because Cyrillic was created for Slavs but not impossible).
Tsar Alexander III was inclined towards moderate currents, changing the Russian writing a bit but not completely changing it. Of course the Tsar Augustus Alexander, did not see any substantial change in this aspect during his reign.
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[The Collector Tsar]
On June 28, a 28-year-old peasant, Bartholomew Chaikin (Stoyan) and some accomplices tried to steal the icon of Our Lady of Kazan (Mother-of-God of Kazan). However, they were stopped in time by the authorities before the icon was damaged or destroyed.
Soon after, the icon would once again be more open for worship in Kazan, with some security improvements of course.
This is one of the most famous robbery attempts in Russia during the early 20th century, partly because of Stoyan's fate (sentenced to years of forced labor, dying approximately two years before being released), the religiosity of the moment (the importance of the icon) and simply the associated rumors plus the popular morbid.
During this time Tsar Alexander III and his family visited the city to celebrate the safe recovery of the icon and to hold some other religious events.
It must be said that during this time, in Russia the Orthodox Church and Catholic Christians were quite happy, in addition to the Russian scientific community.
This due to the insatiable desire of Tsar Alexander III to buy foreign artifacts, from religious symbols (France) to archaeological artifacts (Egypt, Norway, etc).
The Tsar was an avid collector, and he made good use of his hobby, lending them to scientific-educational institutions, donating to churches in the case of religious artifacts or using them in state museums (which included the emperor's palaces for 6 months a year) to get money.
Some say that despite all this, Tsar Alexander III was radically immoral in taking possession of artifacts of historical and cultural importance, even through 'legal' means (paying, which is always better than looting).
Which is why the museum debate in Russia has people calling for the restoration of artifacts to their original homelands and others intensely refusing to void a 'legitimate' transaction (from a certain point of view).
Counting that the Russian state, religious institutions and their museums have earned a lot of money from the possession, not only of artifacts relevant to Russia, but also of artifacts relevant to other countries and humanity (Tutankhamun's sarcophagus and other Egyptian artifacts, French artifacts , Norwegians, etc).
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[Natural disasters]
On June 29, a strong wind originated in the province of Tula, from there the wind passed through the east of the Moscow province towards Yaroslavl, which formed a total of three tornadoes (at modern estimates, about 55-60 kilometers per hour) that destroyed Lyublino, Karacharovo, Annenhof Grove, Chagino, Kapotnya, Graivoronovo, Kuzminki, Kalitniki and destroying buildings in Lefortovo, Basmanny, Sokolniki, Petrovsko-Razumovskoye and Losiny Island (Losiny Ostrov National Park, which we can translate as Elk / Moose Island).
A 'strong' tornado according to the Fujita scale.
The worst was obviously the damage in one of the most populated areas of the Russian Empire, damage to historical areas, public areas and of course private property (residential-industrial). The damages exceeded the value of one million rubles.
In human lives, estimates of the time were difficult, there were around 2300-2500 injured and it was believed that there were 1000 to 1200 dead.
Tsar Alexander III and his family were still in Kazan when the event occurred, but the government immediately took up matters in repairing Moscow and Governor Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov returned to address the matter.
The Russian Orthodox Church and the government started charity programs for those affected (mainly workers / lower-middle class), the re-construction of course continued in the following months, but it was considerably rapid.
Moscow was one of the greenest cities in Europe and one with the most developed public transport, and public infrastructure continued to be built during the Great Depression.
Although of course man would always be weak in the face of natural disasters and there were still many problems to attend to.
For example, during the construction of new technical educational institutions (secondary and tertiary), the state began to investigate even more seriously infrastructure against natural disasters. From earthquakes to tsunamis, tornadoes, possible environmental problems, floods and later, nuclear problems.
And in the future Moscow would have a huge problem with stray dogs, with a rather interesting development for the studies of natural sciences.
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[International]
April 6, Joseph F. Smith announces the Second Manifesto at a meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, insisting that polygamy is prohibited (because some church leaders continued to practice it).
April 8, Longacre Square is renamed Times Square, after The New York Times.
Between this day and April 10, Aleister Crowley writes Liber Al vel Legis (better known as The Book of the Law, one of the pillars of Thelema, an esoteric-spiritual-philosophical movement, etc. founded by Crowley).
On April 19, on the other hand, there is a great fall in the southern economy due to the conflicts of the German invasion of the United States, the US military mobilization in the region and the threat to trade-industry in the Mississippi delta.
A 'fire' that spreads through the region, seriously damaging the situation of its inhabitants (both white and African-American, although in particular many of the African-Americans who were already poor before), the local infrastructure and its local guerilla against the Germans.
Yet the German losses continue to suffer considerable casualties and problems.
April 27, the Australian government falls under the Australian Social Aristocrats after elections.
April 30, the Germans win the Battle of Louisiana, one of the German victories on American soil, which destroyed commercial-industrial infrastructure and part of the food resources of the region, at the cost of heavy German casualties.
A huge German Pyrrhic victory and an American defeat certainly.
May 4, the United States begins its attempted invasion of northern Colombia after its conquest of Panama, among these is the mobilization of military troops, Panamanian natives and the fortification of the Isthmus of Panama in case of enemy counter-offensive.
In the beginning, it is a remarkable victory for the United States against the Latin American armies.
On the same day, various associations with German participants are investigated in the United States, so the government adopts the creation of files (or "cards" at that time) with information from citizens, implemented in the Japanese Philippines.
May 5, a rebellion of just over 200 individuals is defeated by British forces in Tibet.
From May 9 to 15, various US battleships are sunk by the laying of sea mines by the German Empire and the Second Mexican Empire around Cuba.
This Mexican position proves to be vital in the conflict, threatening the United States-occupied Haiti (Haiti + Dominican Republic) and the southern continental United States.
It is quite easily defended by the defenders, while the invaders encounter the aforementioned problems. Fortunately, the United States continues its slow advance through the Mexican north.
More than 30,000 Americans are lost in attempted invasions of Cuba due to sea battles and mines.
May 21 to 30, reforms in the nursing service of the United States Army to better reorganize during the Caribbean conflict.
June 3, the rebel forces of Charles Maurras continue to retreat before the central government of Paris and its socialist allies, effectively beginning to mark the beginning of the end of the rebel invasion of continental European France.
On June 10, finally the last rebellious cities of southern France fell to the advance of the coalition, now Paris and Brittany turn their attention to deal with the last rivals in peripheral areas of France.
Ranging from anarchists, Jean Jaures' socialists, liberal-republicans opposed to the government, etc.
June 15, the destruction of industry in the Mississippi River delta causes the release of certain chemical-industrial elements harmful to the environment.
Damaging local fauna and invaders such as hippopotamuses, although of course it is not a mass extinction event, it affects the region immediately and later in time.
June 28, after significant losses, finally the German invasion of the United States is considered a military failure, due to the lack of resources available from Germany for said invasion (which requires more than the available troops).
Given this, not without first looting everything possible, the German high command orders the withdrawal of German forces to Cuba and Mexico to fight against US forces in these regions, considered a vital priority for the war.
The United States soon begins to stabilize the situation in the south, but without a doubt this does not mean the end of the problems, especially so close to elections (which make everything difficult and can represent an important change in the direction of war and diplomacy).
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