Russian Golden Age among chaos (October-December, 1898).
Faroe Islands]
King Carl I of the Faroe Islands was already placed in his position, the Kingdom of Denmark managed to save the 17 islands from a British occupation, unfortunately the rest of the non-continental positions of the Danish crown could not be saved.
The Faroe Islands were a kind of Russian protectorate ... but not exactly, it was the Russian military presence that prompted the British not to take the island and recognize the new independent Nordic kingdom.
But economically speaking, the kingdom was not viable for Russia, it was not exactly strategic or important, its most developed industry was fishing and derivatives.
Furthermore, Russia was further from the islands than Denmark or the United Kingdom.
Alexander III agreed to put a military ship there solely because of the good relations between Denmark and Russia, but not much else could be done.
Under these conditions, the tsar offered some machinery and workers to the Nordic kingdom to establish some infrastructure and the site of the new government (he also kept his proto-Drednout on the islands just in case).
Leaving the country in a growing economic debt to Russia by the way, but letting them trade with whoever they wanted and spend their own money with whoever they wanted, mainly selling fish to the UK during the Fashoda war.
The British had little interest in the islands with the Russian ship continuing there, and they also had bigger business to attend to than the smaller islands (like Iceland, the Fashoda war, etc).
Perhaps for later they had plans for them, but the Nordic nation (the Faroese are a distinctive cultural group within the Nordics) did not soon forget, especially King Carl I who understood the situation. They would not forget Russian help or how the British forced Denmark into this position.
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[Russian Golden Age among chaos]
December 29, "The Seagull" is presented at the Moscow Art Theater, directed by Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. The play, The Seagull was created by the writer Anton Chekhov in the year 1896.
Now this play originally presented in St. Petersburg (with decent success) marks a great event in the history of Russian theater and world drama.
The MXAT (in Russian Московский Художественный академический театр, Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr, MXAT), which is very recent, stands out for its delicate representation, the Russian ensemble playing and its popularity of immigrants, both the Russian ensemble playing and its popularity of natives as well as its popularity among immigrants, the Russian playing ensemble and its popularity among natives.
Why is it important to stop at this moment? Very simple, it also allows us to see more of the time, Russia was at an illustrious moment in its economic and cultural situation.
The Fashoda war was dragging a massive madness of humanity, many thinkers in the West and central Europe thought that humanity as such was in danger, the sails of Europe were going to end and it would be the end of European civilization as it was known.
Some were not so far from the truth, but others believed otherwise.
Europe had regained Constantinople (Tsargrad) and the Holy Land thanks to Russia and France, and in the midst of all this there were still many incredible and pleasing developments for mankind.
Especially for American and Eastern European thinkers, who drew on many of the intellectuals and other scholars who escaped the war and its consequences.
For some, a time when there was no light at the end of the tunnel was a golden age for others, even with such a large number of deaths in the Fashoda war and the consequences of various wars.
Tsar Alexander III gave some awards to various actors of the play, officials and directors of the theater, and to Chekhov once again.
Russian literature for example was also in its great moment as explored before, but a Byzantinist tendency had also emerged, counting Neo-Byzantinism in architecture and the spiritual-literary influence arising from the reconquest of Tsargrad.
Very interesting subjects of which various contemporary and later essays have been written under men like Tolstoy, Muscovite patriarchs, etc.
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[Slavic Africa]
Russia, its colonies and some African states had notable peculiarities, for example in 1898, Russia was the last country in the world where Atlas bears, the only modern species of African Bear, could be found.
Speaking of so many species native to Africa, Tsar Alexander III also began procuring Barbary Lions or Atlas Lions for his personal nature reserves.
Slavic Africa also had native species of lions, which at the time began to be protected through capture and relocation in nature reserves (in Slavic Africa or Russia).
Lion species such as Panthera leo melanochaita in Sagallo and the Horn of Africa, which became extinct in other parts of Africa such as Eritrea or Lesotho.
This Russian interest in African lions was due in part to the fact that the lion population had to be controlled to protect the livestock, infrastructure and jobs of the Russian colonies, but without causing massive ecological damage that would extinguish the lions (in addition to avoid man-hunting lions, few, but they existed).
There were farms and railways to build for humans in Kenya, Sagallo, and the other Russian colonies.
In addition, Tsar Alexander III could gift various African leaders a few lions from time to time, particularly the Abyssinians and some loyal tribal leaders under the Russian Empire.
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Speaking of constructions in Slavic Africa, Kenya in particular was growing its ties and rail infrastructure exponentially.
Sagallo was small, but he already had his main Addis Ababa-New Moscow route ready, while Somalia was a difficult climate and terrain to work with (it was better as a port or shuttle).
Kenya however was an almost perfect terrain for railways and other infrastructure, rich in agricultural land and easier to work with, and many settlers arriving (Jews, Russians, etc).
For example, the Harbor "New Odessa" (Гавань Новая Одесса, Gavan 'Novaya Odessa), a large modern port (for the time) in the city of Mombasa, Keniya, was built.
Kenya could not only export to Russia's New Silk Road, but it could also export to German Uganda and British colonies, which needed Kenyan-Russian fruits and vegetables to support their nations' war effort.
Keniya was one of the three great Russian positions in East Africa because of this, along with Sagallo and Abyssinia (not a colony but under the Russian wing, with great joint economic cooperation).
Somaliland was there, and it was in a decent position, but it just couldn't compete that well against Sagallo or Keniya.
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[International]
* [Fashoda: The British Empire and its conquests]
There are various ways of interpreting British actions, they had approached regimes that collapsed for various reasons, and to support their war effort they appropriated various colonies or territories.
* Austria-Hungary: Basically after the death of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the United Kingdom took over Austrian Borneo (and its problems ...).
* Portugal: The United Kingdom could appropriate Angola, Mozambique, Macao, Goa and vital islands in the Atlantic such as the Azores.
* Spain: United Kingdom created a protectorate in Puerto Rico, take Balearic Islands and could land troops in the Spanish Western Sahara.
In addition to this, the United Kingdom had attacked the Kingdom of Denmark for the problems caused in previous months, it had been able to appropriate Iceland, Danish Virgin Islands and Greenland, strategic positions for the North Atlantic, Caribbean and Canada (in the British Empire).
In summary, although the British Empire could have lost some territories, it was compensating for them through various strategies, implementing a pseudo-martial law to extract resources from the war effort.
There were only two drawbacks, there were remnants of the Spanish Empire opposed and surprisingly they were able to fight, up to a point.
The Canary Islands and Spanish Guinea. On the one hand the Canary Islands had a history with the United Kingdom, a history of the English trying to take the islands, usually with the English failing.
Officers in the Canary Islands and Spanish Guinea succeeded in raising popular militias in their respective regions, the remnants of Spanish resources left behind, and maintaining previous defenses.
Thus, surprisingly, the Canary Islands (October 3 when the British were defeated) and Equatorial Guinea (October 12 when the British were defeated) remained independent of British power.
Equatorial Guinea could partly because of its proximity to the Russian Kamerun, the United Kingdom did not want to bring the last European power to war on the side of the anti-British coalition.
France and Germany did not technically support these regions, but they did receive trade resources with neutral regions such as Russia and the United States, nearby African colonies, etc.
Many ships of the Spanish navy, instead of going to Puerto Rico as requested, went to the Canary Islands and Guinea to support the "non-socialist Spanish sovereignty."
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* [More Fashoda]
On October 6, a war begins in the desert, between French troops from the Sahara and Morocco against British troops in the Spanish Sahara.
It is a very little moved front, where both countries have a logistics more or less through different points (the British at sea and the French through their other colonies).
The problem is that the Spanish Western Sahara is not so strategic, it is almost empty, it is not very fertile in many areas and it does not have valuable resources.
October 31, the fighting in Arabia increases between the British and allied tribes against the French and allied tribes, the problem comes with the British incursions into the holy sites of Islam, which puts them in danger as more and more Arabs join the French, who have given juicy deals to the Arabs in the Holy Land and Transjordan.
December 10, British troops march victorious over the Kingdom of Sweden, marking the victory of the British Empire on the northern fronts of Europe.
On December 18, King Oscar II of Sweden and Prime Minister Mountbatten (with King Victor I) sign the Stockholm Treaty, putting an end to the Scandinavian front and also to the union of Sweden-Norway.
Sweden becomes due to the chaos of the war, the payment of reparations and the British occupation, a Republic, or at least a monarchy without a king for the time being, with the expulsion of King Oscar II and his family.
This means the increase of German troops in Denmark to defend the country (and vital German positions) from an invasion by the United Kingdom and its allies, who have established a strong position in the North Atlantic and Scandinavia.
With an independent Norway as an ally, the occupation of Iceland and Greenland, and in fact the elimination of the Swedish monarchy as an enemy (this due to the impatias between the Swedish elites and Germany).
Now it had to be seen with what to replace the Swedish monarchy, whether a permanent republic allied to the United Kingdom or a permanent monarchy allied to the United Kingdom in Norway and Sweden.
And also how Fashoda continues of course.
With the completion of the Scandinavian front, Charles Mangin receives approval for his plans, leading to the recruitment or union of 1 million soldiers under Commander Mangin to face the British.
Partly because the completion of the Scandinavian front does not change much, Fashoda continues, in fact the Congolese front continues (and remains a meat grinder).
The United Kingdom and Norway claim that the Kongo is Norwegian, on the other hand Germany and France consider that the Stockholm Treaty is invalid in this regard, it should remain Swedish or belong to someone else (Germany, France or another non-British power / country).
Russia on the other hand continues quite simply in the Katanga administration, which is in a somewhat complicated situation.
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* [Socialism and Latin Revolutions]
Between October 3 and 8, the various associations of the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) attack and finally reject various revisionisms of Marxist theory.
Marking a victory and the rise of Marxist, revolutionary and other anti-revisionist factions within the German socialist party and movements.
This is due to the rejection of Eduard Bernstein's ideas at the Stuttgart congress. In which, for example, members of the Liebknecht family participated, Rosa Luxemburg and Vladimir Ulyanov (after his visit to Spain).
October 15, begins the Milan Revolution or Italian Revolution, the riots and socialist actions or "Maximalists" (Massimalisti, in Italian, the anti-reformist revolutionary factions of the Italian socialist movement) have broken out in a total revolution in northern Italy, due to the assassination of King Umberto I, the Fashoda War, high food prices, and British support for Italian socialism.
The revolution is joined by many Italians who are veterans of the last Russian-Turkish war and the Fasci Siciliani, generally from the socialist left: Andrea Antonio Baldassarre Costa, Giuseppe De Felice Giuffrida, Nicola Barbato, Rosario Garibaldi Bosco and Bernardino Verro, among others.
The revolution soon spread from Milan to other parts of northern Italy and Sicily. Germany and France joined forces and support to try to counter the revolution, without much success.
On December 3, between the Latin revolutions, other notable events occur, the Portuguese king, Luis Felipe, finally leaves Portugal with the fall of Lisbon to the socialist forces, also marking the British withdrawal from Portugal.
Indeed there are only a few specific points that remain with a British presence in Europe, such as Gibraltar, Cyprus, the Balearic Islands and Malta.
With this the Portuguese and Spanish socialists unite in the Socialist Union of Hispania, with a common council between the socialist members of the various regions of ancient Spain and Portugal.
Two main candidates are running for the Iberian Common Council, the moderate and reformist father of the revolution, Pablo Iglesias, and the conscientious worker revolutionary, Francisco Largo Caballero.
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On November 5, in the Japanese Philippines, while the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army continue the war against various Philippine political groups, the Island of Negros (supported by the KKK) starts the Negros Revolution, with the intention of expelling to the Japanese of the island with the founding of a republic.
The republic lasts until the 24th of November due to the attacks of the IJN, which gains much more financial resources thanks to its successes, obviously continuing the anger of the IJA.
Fortunately there is no longer an army prime minister in office (Yamagata Aritomo was forced to retire after handing over budget to the navy and their latest assassination attempt against him), but he is a neutral one (Itō Hirobumi, of the political party Rikken Seiyūkai).
November 10, the "insurrection" or massacre of Wilmington, North Carolina (United States) occurs. In which numerous white supremacists stage a coup against duly elected representatives.
Southern Democrats lead 2,000 men against the democratically elected Fusion Party, which was biracial. Between 14 and 300 African Americans were murdered, and 2,000 or more were displaced.
November 26, two days of blizzard damage the fishing economy and various settlements in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
December 26, Marie and Pierre Curie discover the element radium.
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* [The Ripper of the South-West]
* Perspective of Joseph Vacher.
Before the eyes of the French, an entire village of native Africans allied with the British burned, and entire species were coming out due to the fire.
"Commander, we have captured some wounded British in the tribal chief's house." One of the sub-officers exclaims.
"Did you close the doors?" The commander asks.
"Of course commander. We lock them inside" The sub-officer responds.
"All right, burn down the house. I'm not in the mood today, the British have taken Sweden, we're going to do this 'quick'." The commander orders, while the regiment's flamethrowers carry out the order.
Joseph Vacher, also called the French Ripper (L'éventreur français) or the ripper of the south-west (L'éventreur du Sud-Ouest) was a soldier who enlisted as early as 1892, and since then rose to become commander of a pair of penal battalions of the Second French Empire during the Fashoda war.
Vacher's regiment was characterized by exaggerated violence throughout 1898 onwards, with gutting, torture, and rape-sodomization of men and women whom the regiment faced or captured in the Fashoda war, on whatever front where it was will deploy, either on the Saharan front or the Congolese.
What many were unaware of Vacher was his involvement in the attempted murder of a woman years ago, but Vacher was able to escape any charge due to his involvement in the army during the Boulangist regime.
Joseph Vacher felt that he was fulfilling a mission with God, he had been recognized by priests and officials as a good French citizen, France had recovered the Holy Land and Vacher felt quite comfortable with God.
Commander Vacher also received some head injuries that caused mild paralysis, scarring and hearing problems, but he was still relatively well and able to fight.
Vacher became a particular nightmare for the British, not only leading one of the most violent penal regiments but also joining the Deuxième Bureau (French intelligence service).