Golden fever (October-December, 1867)

Military reforms]

War Minister Dmitry Alekseyevich Milyutin initiates selected military reforms under Emperor Alexander III. On the one hand there is the reform of the military uniforms of the navy and the army, but that is a less important detail than the rest.

The Chassepots rifle began to be introduced into service in Russian service units (and some other minor weapons, in addition to artillery), most of the Russian Chassepots are the product of the city of Tula in the heart of Russia.

But the amount in its initial moments was not too much.

This was already something known when the military reform began.

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[Russkaya Amyerika: Gold]

Shortly after the formation of the Alyáska Military District, a subsidiary of the Russian-American company, Mining Company of Russian America (Gornodobyvayushchaya kompaniya Russkoy Ameriki), was created in Russian America.

The subsidiary company was firmly dominated and watched over by the government of the military governor Johan Hampus Furuhjelm, and other members of the Russian government from Saint Petersburg.

But this subsidiary had a monopoly on precious metal mining in Alyáska.

With the export of dynamite and equipment from the Russian west, the Mining Company of Russian America (Gornodobyvayushchaya kompaniya Russkoy Ameriki) set out to explore potential mining sites.

And among them, in some regions gold was found.

This caused the sudden interest of gold prospectors in Russia, several foreigners were also interested but found themselves limited by the Russian interests in populating and fortifying their presence in the area.

In Imperial Russia the finance ministry began to offer travel and parcels of land in Alyáska, but with certain conditions.

The occupied land had to be inhabited and managed by the owner in a period of 6 years, there were a series of taxes to pay for rent and travel reasons.

The extraction of precious minerals such as gold was permitted of course, but this involved allying with state enterprises throughout stipulated areas in exchange for equipment and aid.

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Due to interest, Nikolai von Bungen's Ministry of Finance created the Bank of American Lands, dedicated to long-term loans for the civilian population moving to Russian America.

These banks were in charge not only of loans, but also of the papers of the lands that were sold or bought in the colonial territory.

Unfortunately private credit institutions are something new, not traditional in the Russian Empire, and Minister Nikolai von Bunge could do little to prevent the formation of economic cooperatives (joint administration of taxes, expenses and other associations) from developing in Alyáska.

Some peasants could become small landowners, others chose to group together, forming communal dwellings centered around a certain economic production (fishing, logging, mining, etc). One name for this is "Mir" in the Russian community.

The nobles interested would be forced to move to Alyáska for 6 years to mantain their lands, and mantain at least one activity (work).

The Bank also was less about the nobility, and more about the peasants.

These mentioned results (small landowners oriented to economic activities and cooperative communities) were successes and "errors" in the opinion of Nikolai von Bunge.

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Cossacks and Russians were the first to launch into the American part of Russia, the first months were a demographic boom that was reducing a little, slowly, but reducing after the first months of the offer.

Settlements began to grow especially on the coasts, around the south and west mainly dominated by Russia.

Some others to a lesser extent went further inland, with much freer policies about land and work, but much less secure in housing, agriculture and industry.

The gold obtained exclusively by the state began to be divided, 70% stayed in Alyáska for the first years, and the other 30% traveled to the Russian Empire in Eurasia.

Governor Johan Hampus Furuhjelm used it for financial purposes: Buying equipment, investing in infrastructure, etc.

Part of the fur trade was mechanized, Native Americans were hired and paid to settle, give allegiance to the Tsar and start working in the fur and mining business (they were free workers, not serfdom or slavery).

Due to this latter process some more Native Americans from Alyáska learned Russian and joined the Russian Orthodox Church, somewhat more unintentional than intentional.

American machinery from the west coast began to circulate, and some British equipment through Canada also arrived, but with more difficulty.

Farming is quite difficult and unlikely in the region, but in certain seasons fast-growing crops were more manageable. The population however began to depend on imported grain from the Russian Empire, and local fish.

Similar to the model of the Pacific Navy, the small Alyáska coastal navy focused on just that, coastal and patrol boats around the coasts and rivers.

The largest ships were cargo, carrying certain resources between Alyáska and the mainland empire. This involved the construction of naval offices, detachments, boat houses, etc.

And this investment in the marine infrastructure needed a population, and the population needed to be maintained, that is why hospitals, warehouses, butcher-fishmongers, etc. were built.

The Russian Alyáska grew slowly, but grew over the years.

As the Russians settled in the south, some illegal trade with the Americans also grew, the most troublesome had to be detained but the military government could not take care of everything.

As long as they stayed calm and didn't make too much trouble, Furuhjelm kept quiet.

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[International]

The Italian Giuseppe Garibaldi's troops march on Rome, marking an era in the Italian period known as Risorgimento.

The troops of Napoleon III's French garrison, with their homeland at war, have abandoned the Pope in his time of greatest need.

The north and south of the papal state was taken by the Italians.

In Japan on the other hand. Tokugawa Yoshinobu (Shogun), tenders his resignation to Emperor Meiji.