The end of a trip (October-December, 1890).
Tsesarevich: Greece]
The Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov was visiting Athens, in the Kingdom of Greece led by King George I of Greece,
This was the largest and most important meeting (according to the considerations of the moment), since representatives of the Montenegrin, Bulgarian and Romanian governments also appeared to receive the Tsesarevich, in addition to the representatives of the Hellenic government, also including other members of the Tsesarevich's family, married to Balkan royalty, such as Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaevich Romanov and Grand Duke Peter Nicolaievich Romanov (married to Princess Anastasia and Princess Milica of Montenegro respectively).
Obviously this would arouse suspicion among elements of British intelligence, but operations in Greece had become more difficult since the rise of Anglo-Hellenic tensions and Greek ambitions in Ottoman territory.
*******
"So? How was the trip through the colonies?" Grand Duke Peter Nicolaevich asks curiously, after all the Tsesarevich was one of the first Romanovs to set foot in the colonies.
"Well, I helped hunt some giant snakes and met some manhunting tribes." The Tsesarevich mentions, part truth and part lies (if there were quite large snakes, and some particularly aggressive tribes but the white man's sight over the Russian colonies was still quite strange) to entertain the assembled, at least that would get some attention. by those present after the courtesies.
That included the attention of Princess Elena of Montenegro, present along with her sisters.
"We have obtained more information about the stays of the Tsesarevich in Manchuria and Russian Indonesia, but we cannot find much about the purposes of his meeting with King George I, any treaty or the like goes first by Tsar Alexander III, and his heir seems still too out of this type of activity ... inexperienced, in the words of the czar himself, apparently.
Maybe we can take advantage of that, but it is not the best time or place.
It seems that our suspicions about Manchuria were somewhat different, apparently the Tsesarevich was directing some committee about the construction of railways and other administrative tasks.
Russian integration of Chinese territory is still largely unknown, we are also unaware of Russian interests in North China, but they do not seem interested in interfering with the empire's trade in South China, so at the moment it is not our main interest.
The Tsesarevich also seems very interested in the administration, working on the 'Bloch Report', there are attachments but the army has classified them as of low interest, indicating that the Tsesarevich is still inexperienced in other duties as head of state. "
-British notes obtained from some agents in Greece.
The English view of Russia and the Russians was still widely skewed, and they underestimated not only the Russian leadership but also a lot of work coming from other ethnic groups in Russia, such as the Bloch report, written by a Pole of Russian origin.
This led to Nicholas, despite his extensive and successful work as administrator, still seen as too young and inexperienced in governance to be a threat at this time.
Even British material of the time had elements of anti-Russian or anti-Eastern European sentiment.
Some British agents in Greece tried to approach the Tsesarevich, but there was not much success, the Tsesarevich did not drink alcohol (although he drank fermented milk in Manchuria, not abroad), he did not smoke, he exercised and in general although he had an interest in women, these were not his main hobby on stays outside of Russia.
*******
[Tsesarevich: Austria-Hungary]
"There is a very strange feeling in Austria-Hungary, similar to what I have seen many natives who previously lived in Qing Manchuria. There is discontent and unhappiness caused by the economic deterioration of Austria-Hungary, national sentiments, and so on.
Franz II, Archduke Otto Franz Joseph and I took some tours of Vienna and Hungary, although visiting the Italian and Slavic parts was not so easy, especially after Franz Joseph was assassinated by Italians in southern Austria-Hungary.
Franz Ferdinand ... is quite boring, but I am impressed by Otto, he currently takes the task of working, at least symbolically on occasion, as the presumed heir of his brother and is wanted by the court.
Unfortunately Franz II does not seem very comfortable with this last situation. "
-Annotations from the Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich.
The meeting in Austria-Hungary was not exactly a rapprochement between St. Petersburg, London, Vienna, and Paris, but it made clear that Russia was still open to dialogue, to some extent, with the Vienna-Paris-London axis.
The problem was precisely the British in opposition to Russian geostrategic objectives, and the distrust among the allies themselves, united only by hatred for Germany and Italy.
*******
[Tsesarevich: Germany]
"Do you accept the challenge or do you have fear?" Wilhelm II exclaims.
"...I accept." The Tsesarevich Nicholas responds, then starting to race in a Romanov car against the Kaiser of Germany.
The race was finally won by Wilhelm II, with more experience in driving cars than the Tsesarevich.
"If it's a horse race, I'll beat you." The Tsesarevich affirms with confidence.
"Hehe, I'm sure not." Kaiser Wilhelm II mentions. "You know, I was discussing a meeting in Narva with your father, nothing official yet."
"What do you want to talk about?" Nicholas questions.
"Well, Germany has a project in Mexico, perhaps you have heard of it, a canal, a massive one. And we need money or a workforce, perhaps Russia is interested, we could even discuss a military alliance again." Wilhelm II mentions his cousin quite convinced.
"Mmm ... Perhaps, the trade would benefit us all ... except the Anglo. You should be careful with the English and the Americans" The Tsesarevich Nicholas indicates.
"We, must be careful." Wilhelm II points out. "They are also a thorn in the German side, did I tell you how they are trying to twist my arm for Samoa?"
"Willy" and "Nicky" took a photo with a Kodak camera commemorating the visit of the Tsesarevich after his long diplomatic tour after some trips to Germany.
Tsesarevich Nicholas's tour took him to Thailand, Russian Indonesia, India (of which few records remain), Egypt, Greece, Austria-Hungary and finally Germany.
*******
[Tsesarevich: Russia]
The Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich returned to Russia at the end of the year, being received in Saint Petersburg by the imperial family. After the welcoming celebrations, the Tsesarevich met with Tsar Alexander III to discuss various questions about the results of the Tsesarevich's diplomatic tour.
"Did you learn anything of value?" Tsar Alexander III promptly asks.
"Well, I spoke to the kings of Siam and Greece, and the Kaisers of Austria-Hungary and Germany if that interests you." The Tsesarevich Nicholas responds.
"That's something, but I'm talking about how you learned diplomacy, Nicholas." Tsar Alexander III mentions. "Look, now that you had your first steps, I am going to tell you about the strategy that I have carried out so far, the equidistant policy. For the moment it works but in a moment it will have to end time, but to put you in the picture it can to help." The tsar explains to Nicholas, both men proceed to speak and exchange various documents, some are destroyed moments after the meeting.
*******
[International]
On October 9, in Satory, Second French Empire, the Ader Éole plane flies for the first time. The Ader Éole is a fixed-wing aircraft propelled by its own means (steam), flying uncontrollably for about 50 meters.
The test has its failures and successes, but the Boulangist regime is undoubtedly interested in continuing to invest in aviation.
On November 4, the first London Underground is inaugurated. Curiously, certain construction failures would cause puddles to form that would be perfect sites for the breeding of mosquitoes.
November 23, a Dutch nationalist tries to assassinate the young 12-year-old King Heinrich I of the Netherlands (Prince Heinrich XXXII Reuss of Köstritz), however the assassination fails and the political repression and German political-economic dominance over the Netherlands continues after the riots caused against the monarch.
On December 15, the leader Sitting Bull, of the Hunkpapa Lakota, is assassinated by the police in the Standing Rock reservation. Authorities were upset that various Lakota leaders did not stop the Ghost Dance movement, and orders were issued to arrest Sitting Bull when the Native American leader was thought to be planning to escape the reservation with members of the movement.
More than 30 policemen surrounded Sitting Bull's house and ordered him to go to the Indian affairs office because he was under arrest, but the Native American leader refused, the Sioux were enraged and after the Lakota Catch-the-Bear The rifle was slung over his shoulder and shot Lieutenant Henry Bullhead, Bullhead shot a bull sitting in the chest and Officer Red Tomahawk shot the head.
Eight police officers were killed and six Native Americans were killed.
On December 27, the British ship Shanghai catches fire off the coast of China, 100 lives are lost.
December 29, the Wounded Knee massacre occurs, where the 7th Cavalry Regiment massacres hundreds of innocent unarmed Lakota Sioux, including women and children.
This due to the support for the Ghost Dance movement, non-violent but which caused terror among the authorities due to the thought of a future revolt on the part of the Native Americans.
*Kurdistan.
On November 29, after years (shortly after the Russo-Turkish war of 76), Sultan Abdul Hamid II decides that it is time to end.
Continual wars have cost the Ottoman Empire resources (manpower, ammunition, weapons, and capital, among others), and most importantly, time. A time where the Ottoman Empire has been strongly isolated from the international scene while its enemies allied and strengthened, a time when the economy and industry did not grow, a time when vital civil or military reforms for the state were not implemented.
There is only a huge hatred left, hatred of the Ottoman Turks for Kurds, Greeks, Armenians and other ethnic groups of the Ottoman Empire who betrayed the empire, and want independence or oppose the Ottoman sultan.
But for the moment, the sultan (unpopularly) has had no choice but to give independence to the Kurdish revolt, Sheikh Abdul-Kadir Ubeydullah accepts this. Not all Kurdish lands are unified or liberated, but for the moment this is the best option.
The rebel region achieves its independence, and a truce of some years is signed (of course, this truce is only paper, if either side could, they would return to war as soon as possible).
The new country is recognized by Russia, Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, Bulgaria and Uruguay, among some other countries later such as Germany, Italy, France, Austria-Hungary, etc.
The first countries did it because they are against the Ottoman Empire, and Uruguay does it out of recognition of the Ottoman crimes against the Kurds.
*******
[The Bullmoose]
* Perspective of Theodore Roosevelt.
"The Travels of Theodore Roosevelt Jr".
"My trips through the Trans-Siberian finally took me to European Russia, at first I thought about diverting to the Caucasus but I decided first to finish the route and then divert to other territories.
Moscow was quite a vision, many Orthodox natives seem to call it the third Rome, although it no longer resembles the city that Napoleon saw, when I arrived it was a much larger city (and unlike Napoleon, when I arrived, there were people).
The city is a gigantic industrial center, almost as if all the railways lead to Moscow, curious for a city that was not the capital of the empire (which raised a certain curiosity in me). There were large hotels, wide streets, parks, working-class neighborhoods, and a large number of factories of all kinds.
I did the work of collecting information through interviews with the inhabitants, it seems that before the city was 'medieval', in several senses, before the great industrial growth of Alexandrian Russia.
Fortunately for me and any visitor, the city planning and administration code of laws kept historic sites well cared for and protected, and allowed a visitor to see the evolution of the city.
After this I was able to allow myself to see other wonders of the city, the Moscow Kremlin, some churches like the Dormition Cathedral and the Moscow Metro, quite a vision to be honest.
Although the locals mentioned to me that the largest artistic center is probably Saint Petersburg, they also spoke of other large cities such as Saratov for electrical engineering, Kharkov for sports culture, Murmansk and Arkhgangelsk for trade on the White Sea, Kiev and Odessa in the south, etc."