Growth (January-March, 1868).

Kazakhstan]

Russians have been in the Kazakh steppe longer than the rest of the Turkestan province-military district.

For the Russian adventures to the south of the region some are excited, and others not so much.

On the one hand, there was a whole spiritual and imperialistic aspect, the need for the expansion of the Russian state (although it was already a fairly large and resourceful empire).

With the early Samarkand campaign, some Russians and Asians from Asia mentioned that Alexander III would be the last conqueror of the city (Alexander III of Macedonia was the first according to these people).

On the other hand, there were people who saw this as an unnecessary expenditure of economic and human resources in the conquest of a territory that would probably not give a profit.

It is obvious that Central Asia can be profitable, but there are certain tasks to be done first. The general and governor Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufmann for example had the task of ending slavery in the northern territory of Turkestan.

Emperor Alexander III and associated ministries issued a code of laws regarding arable land, although most of it would be state property, native farmers obtained the right to buy and sell and inherit cultivated land.

Mikhail Grigorievich Chernyayev would also be vital in the training of administrators, he was given the job of founding the bases for schools and training offices in Russia (central Siberia), Kazakhstan and some other conquered territories for administrators.

Of course these schools would be part of the Russian educational reform years later, but in his early years Chernyayev used the Muslims of northern Kazakhstan (Tatars and some others) to integrate the first students into Russian socio-political life.

Russia also began to invest in the mining industry (coal and other minerals) in the area during this period, these sources of money would turn Kazakhstan under Emperor Alexander III and the rest of the middle of the 19th century into a prosperous region of what it was originally the periphery of the Russian Empire.

Of course there was still a lot more work to do.

*******

[Eastern Russia and the Pacific Navy]

With Alyáska's gold boom traveling (in certain stipulated amounts) to the Russian Empire, this was used to fortify the position of the Russian Far East and the Asian possessions of the Russian Empire in the Pacific.

Most of the gold was reinvested in the city of Vladivostok in Outer Manchuria. The state bank of the city on the one hand kept certain reserves, but it was also used to pay for various projects.

The projects included a railway line, naval infrastructure and investment in agriculture in the southern region.

In the construction of the railway, which was Section 7 of the Trans-Siberian, some Chinese, Korean and Japanese immigrants worked (similar to how immigrants worked in the United States for the construction of some railroads), but the main workforce were Russians, native Siberians and some other peoples of imperial Russia.

This encouraged internal immigration for work, and allowed the formation of some settlements, and the growth of Vladivostok.

The headquarters of the Imperial Russian Navy of the Pacific also managed to buy before the Japanese the Confederate battleship Stonewall, in the hands of the United States.

The current situation of the Japanese government prevented them from obtaining the battleship in time for the modernization of its navy, while on the other hand, Russia, industrializing (and taking advantage of the technical capabilities promoted, and specialists bought by Alexander III), managed to get its first battleship .

Technically the Stonewall is of French construction, and relatively modern for the time (manufactured in 1863).

Based on this purchase, in 1870 the Russian navy would get its first fully Russian-made battleship (only about two years later). Under the name Peter the Great.

The purchase of the Stonewall, later renamed "Kamchatka", was based on the one hand on the evolution of the Russian navy into modern designs ... and on the other hand on delaying the modernization of Japan (a bit).

In the last years of the Shogunate, it was obvious that the court and the shogunate (the traditional military establishment) were going to fight. The court and associated clans of the south sought modernization through the British and Americans (although the latter failed certain demands or orders from the Japanese precisely because of the Japanese conflicts).

The Shogunate on the other hand sought support in France and Prussia.

The specialists and the Alexander III team obtained during the American Civil War (in the period 1863-1864) were able to get down to work, beginning to train Russian shipyards in Manchuria in battleships, and not only in coastal ships more little ones.

The Kamchatka would be the first step to a much heavier Pacific navy.

*******

As a side effect of the movement routes between Vladivostok and Alyáska, coupled with the development of Russian Manchuria, the Empire of Alexander III began to reinvest in its Japanese and Korean possessions.

Tsushima Island and Quelpart Island. Of the two, being the oldest, Tsushima was the most developed but only with respect to Quelpart, even so it was underdeveloped in many respects.

On the island of Tsushima, more specifically the bay of Asō, the city of Trivolny arose.

Trivolny already had a port, a military academy, and naval buildings, with the Russian reinvestment the adjacent settlements began to increase, providing new economic activities to the area (agriculture, fishing, crafts).

The Tsushima region served as a Russian site for ship repair, and trade with southern Japan. Trade between Russia and the south of the main island during this time was also one of the reasons for the growth of Trivolny.

The city was mainly inhabited by Japanese, but it was obvious that a Japanese-Russian community soon grew. This was because many young people ended up attending Trivolny classes, classes taught by Russians.

While the local Japanese continued to practice Shinto or Buddhism, young people were becoming bilingual, and some even voluntarily converted to Orthodox Christianity when the Russians founded a chapel to perform Masses and other rites.

In Quelpart on the other hand the naval base of Chedzhu arose, a Russian name for the region. On the South Island of the Joseon Dynasty, the natives first experienced economic decline with the Korean Peninsula.

De facto, the Joseon dynasty had sold them to the Russians, the Joseon dynasty was isolated, so the island trade was diminishing with mainland Korea. In a sense Quelpart also became self-sufficient because of this, even if it was only in basic things like food and some handicrafts (not in military capabilities or money production for example).

Perhaps it was a strategy to motivate a native uprising against the Russians by the central government. There are no texts of the time that are reliable in this regard.

The Chedzhu base however with its trade with the Russian Tsushima (Trivolny), Vladivostok and Alyáska (more indirectly than directly), was growing similar to the Japanese possession of the Russian Empire under Alexander III.

The naval station soon had naval offices, boathouses, repair sites, kitchens, etc. Tsar Alexander III and the military governor of the region implemented a cultural policy similar to that of Trivolny (Tsushima).

So the culture and the native language of the island were respected (some argue if the dialect of the island of Quelpart at that time was part of the dialect of the southwest of the Korean peninsula, or in its own part it was already a separate Korean dialect ). But there would be a military academy in the navy where it was taught in Russian.

This academy was opened for inhabitants of the island, although mainly in its early years it was the training site for cadets from the natives of mainland Russia (Slavs, Turkic-Mongol peoples, etc.) sent to the Pacific navy.

Some might understand this as integration, Russification, or simply secondary effects of early Russian imperialism on their holdings in the area.

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[Railways]

The construction of Section 7 was the first major work of the Department of Construction, the Technical Inspection Committee, and the State Railroad Office, newly created the previous year by the Ministry of Railways under Minister Pavel Petrovich Melnikov (and Vice Minister Alexei Pavlovich Bobrinsky).

Section 7 would be the preparation for the colossal project that was the Trans-Siberian Railway. These sections of the ministry as their name suggests were actively involved in the construction, inspection and administration of Section 7.

Some new officer training buildings had to be built along Section 7 (allowing new jobs for the inhabitants of the region).

These branches of the ministry would expand considerably after 1870 to cover the length of the Russian Empire (Moldavia, Poland, Finland, and the Baltic to the Pacific).

*******

[Culturally]

Marius Ivanovich Petipa is the son of French Ballet choreographer Jean-Antoine Petipa, but since 1847, Marius Petipa has been living in the Russian Empire when he made his debut as a choreographer, soloist, and ballet teacher.

In 1868, Tsar Alexander III officially granted Petipa Russian citizenship, and with this the position of principal ballet teacher of the Russian Empire. At that time most theaters and artistic functions were essentially state-owned, open to anyone who could afford them.

During the reign of Alexander III the Russian ballet began to flourish enormously within Russia and abroad. The experience of Marius Petipa, and artists like Mikhail Ilyich Bocharov (set designer) and Matvey Andreevich Shishkov (academic and decorative painter), Russian ballet performances became much cheaper for the Russian population.

Private performances abroad also attracted an influx of money and tourism to the great theaters of St. Petersburg, Moscow and other parts of the heart of Russia.

In essence, the Russian ballet was one of the first Russian artistic talents to reach its peak during the government of Alexander III.

Unlike other arts or humanities that were relatively damaged by the technical-scientific approach of the Russian educational reforms.

But after all, at that time there were already specialized academies or teachers focused on ballet, one only had to have money.

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[International]

The Meiji Restoration officially begins, the restoration of the Meiji Emperor's power over the Shogunate. Although the Shogun had resigned, on January 27 the Boshin war began.

Between the imperial court and some associated clans, against the Shogunate who opposes the reform.

The imperial court gains a victory in Kyoto, but soon the Shogunate gains a naval victory against enemy forces in southern Japan.

In January the British also launch an expedition against Abyssinia, Ethiopia is an empire (sometimes more stable or unstable ...) of the horn of Africa.

In December the scandal started because the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros II imprisoned two representatives and some English missionaries. Partly with the aim of obtaining British military assistance.

Sir Robert Napier was put in charge of a punitive expedition through Abyssinia to free the hostages with a total of 13,000 military ... and 26,000 civilians (field followers).

The British force would take a few months to reach the Ethiopian capital (in April they would hardly be close, if they can cross the mountainous terrain of the Ethiopian region).

Alfred, son of Queen Victoria is shot by an Irishman in Sydney, the situation of the Duke of Edinburgh was critical for days, until he finally recovered.

This has caused a sensation in the United Kingdom, on the one hand the scandal of the attack against the Duke and on the other the recovery of him.

In North America, the United States of America (which is in the Reconstruction Era) refuses to initiate any type of diplomatic relations with the Second Mexican Empire, recognizing only the Second Mexican Federal Republic that no longer exists.

The southern edge of the United States and northern Mexico would be closed permanently, but in the future the United States would repeatedly try to finance various rebel groups in the Second Mexican Empire.

********

Diplomatically, the United Kingdom warns the parties to the Franco-Prussian War that the violation of Belgium's neutrality will entail British intervention.

For their part, a total of four armies from the southern German states (Bavaria, Baden and Wuttemberg) joined the Prussian campaign. The two Bavarian armies leave for Alsace and Lorraine while the other two German armies go to reinforce Luxembourg.

In France, on the other hand, a new mobilization and recruitment is called for in the south, while in the northern regions not yet close to the German armies, the survivors of the Luxembourg clash seek to form a defensive line north of Paris.