Not much to say...(April-June, 1903)

Gastro-integration]

States like Russia or China during their feudal times, or the Indian subcontinent during the British Raj (colonial period), had a series of "famine cycles". This means that underdeveloped agriculture (lack of modern techniques and technology, lack of advanced education, and the like) was very fragile, bad weather conditions or other factors (war) could unbalance local agriculture and as a consequence, cause famines.

With hundreds of thousands or millions of dead.

In the case of China, the Chinese state during the period 108 (BC) -1911 (AD), experienced 1828 massive famines, and some provinces experienced practically annual famines.

(OOC: The number 1828 comes from, 'China: Land of Famine' (1926) by Walter H. Mallory, 'Problems of Industrial Development in China' (1926) by Harold M. Vinacke and 'The China of To-day '(1927) by Stephen King-Hall...I don't know why the '-' between today)

Xinjiang was no exception to the rule, the natives had of course varied subsistence methods, but the terrain made this difficult and as mentioned, it was subsistence rather than a positive food situation.

The Russian annexation of Xinjiang or East Turkestan, also meant that Xinjiang was cut off from access to Chinese food products and that they would now depend on Russian food products. This by itself wasn't necessarily a bad change, but the restructuring caused some problems in the short term.

Due to this background of food problems and the Russian interest in integrating the region within the collection of ethnic groups and territories of the Empire, the Alexandrian government came with a policy similar to the gastro-diplomacy carried out in Thailand.

Convincing the population to integrate, through the stomach (with food).

The Russian government began to develop programs to make Russian agricultural and meat products begin to flood Xinjiang, infrastructure projects (carried out by Russian and native Xinjiang labor) included food for native workers and their families, official programs (supported by the St. Petersburg government) of food distribution to people in urban centers, working together with local religious-political leaders for food distribution (usually literate elders), selling cheap surpluses to Xinjiang merchants and many other projects to alleviate potential problems.

Of course not all people could be saved, some were too far from such projects (geography makes things difficult).

So in the early years of the Russian annexation of Xinjiang there were undoubtedly starvation deaths, both of adults and children.

The project in general showed results, but this was only the beginning, true integration does not come through food, it comes through education and economic-social-political development.

Tuva, Mongolia and Xinjiang during their first years after the annexation of Russia, would be some of the poorest regions of the Russian Empire.

Meanwhile the military administration continued to put an end to the opium problem, which they inherited from the old Chinese administration. The opium market was basically how some old provincial governors or administrators made money (the late Qing dynasty was horrible).

There were various methods, from a time in prison that included reform and rehabilitation, to forced labor, even the death penalty after a trial by civil authorities or many infractions.

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[KGB: Republic of Turkey]

On May 4, near the borders between the Russian Empire, the Russosphere and the Republic of Turkey, interesting developments take place.

The Republic of Turkey was in essence a failed state lacking political or economic stability, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, composed of central and northern regions of Anatolia, surrounded by Russia and the Russosphere, leaving the republic without an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea. (It didn't help that they didn't have a navy or commercial fleet either).

This republic really lacked a government, because the urban centers suffered due to population movements, urban violence, rural famines, lack of modern agriculture, brain drain, etc.

In this situation, the Communist Party of Turkey (Türkiye Komünist Partisi or TKP) was founded by Mustafa Kemal.

Mustafa Kemal was a former revolutionary soldier of the Macedonian revolution after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the empire had already fallen, the Macedonian revolution was betrayed and now the Republic of Turkey (the only independent Turkish state), suffered due to its conditions materials (not technically imposed by the final Russian-Ottoman treaty, but a consequence of it in a sense).

It is in this context that Mustafa Kemal proclaimed that an alternative, a government and a socialist revolution were necessary to bring order to the Republic of Turkey.

Being so close to the border, the KGB found out about this and began to monitor Mustafa Kemal. The TKP in a short time managed to establish a paramilitary force (similar to a militia or guerrilla) of rural peasants to put order in a couple of border villages.

Mustafa Kemal as general secretary ordered the formation of a small informal council to start the Turkish revolution. Kemalist thinking was not exactly formed yet.

The Republic of Turkey had been created, in essence, to allow a comparison between "outside and inside the Russosphere" for the State of Ionia and the Republic of Cilicia.

Also for the weakening of a future Turkish state by governmental, social and even cultural divisions.

Mustafa Kemal could be the final opportunity to consolidate this idea, a new asset or a new enemy to crush.

As the Turkish socialist movement was very young, the KGB watched them and did nothing for the moment, at orders of Alexander III.

"And what if Mustafa Kemal gets what he wants and tries to go against us?" The Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich questions.

"We crush him." Alexander III responds. "Do you think I'm going to allow such a state near the straits?"

*******

[Russosphere: The Kingdom of Serbia]

In the outside world it is primarily known as the "Constitution of June of 1903", but Serbs know it better as the "Constitution of May of 1903" because at that time the Serbs continued to use the Julian calendar in general life and not the Gregorian calendar. (The Russians now used the Gregorian calendar in general life, but many times they used the Julian calendar in religious life.)

On June 11 (May 29 in the Julian calendar), King Peter I of Serbia launched the new constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia, a much more liberal version than past constitutions, but in essence, failed in some respects.

The May constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia still left the king with certain powers, and the line between autocratic power and parliamentary power was blurred. People could vote yes, but how much power that vote had was something else.

The parliament possessed power to some extent, and although it took hold within Serbian society, as mentioned, the roles of various important political players were difficult to describe, thus causing serious problems at the constitutional level.

And this is why, although the parliament was established, there were important gaps that limited the power of action of the Serbian government.

A space that Russia filled to maintain stability in the Kingdom of Serbia. The small military cliques of the Serbian army were dominated by Russia, to exterminate possible dangers.

This mainly involved extremist organizations, which could pose a problem, usually because of their ultra-nationalism and possible terrorist attacks.

One of these small cliques was formed by Dragutin Dimitrijević (Драгутин Димитријевић), generally nicknamed Apis (Апис), along with Lieutenants Dušan Glišić and Antonije Antić.

Apis committed himself to the liberal constitution to eliminate the most reactionary elements of Serbian society, since at this time they would be more of a threat to the Serbian unity achieved after the fall of Austria-Hungary.

However the Russians always had Apis and other military cliques with a very short rein, and there was not much problem with eliminating them if they got out of control.

Russian capital could move many things in Serbia, fortunately the Russian interest was more in maintaining a stable Serbia than destabilizing Serbia.

In part this situation was caused by a sum of factors, although the constitution guaranteed a golden age of civil liberties, it failed to establish a 100% concise government free of military cliques.

Russia on the other hand promoted her interests in back-up plans, controlling the economy, and influencing the military and politics in many ways.

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[International]

April 1, in the UK through some propaganda and reform (laws and prohibitions), the Social Aristocrats of Louis Alexander Mountbatten and King Albert Victor (among other lesser leaders) affirm and reaffirm the need for 'traditional values '.

Especially with regard to women and their roles in society, the Aristocratic Social ideology dictates that the role of women is a purely reproductive one, serving mainly as mothers and wives. (Again emphasizing that the Social Aristocracy came from the perpetuation of a lineage).

Similar to measures from Norway and Sweden, this attacked and / or reduced many feminist movements of the time, forcing many women to withdraw from factories (many women had started working in them from Fashoda due to the needs of the armed forces) . They wanted to exclude women from political and academic life.

This was an approach to the traditional role of women during the Victorian era or even earlier times, which was considered "damaged" due to the international and domestic instability of the United Kingdom, the rapid succession between Victoria, Edward VII and Albert Victor, etc. .

"I believe that women are well represented in society by their fathers, brothers, husbands and sons."

-Winston Churchill against the British women's movements.

April 4, at the British Home Championship football tournament, the Scotland team defeats the England team. Divine justice, we suppose.

April 5, the "Bicolor Legions" are formed, legions of volunteers for the rebel forces of Governor Charles Maurras in their attempt to take control of mainland France.

We must make some distinctions, there were two types of Tricolor Legions.

1-Those forced to participate, generally Africans or Arabs sent as cannon fodder.

2-Currently volunteers, generally white men.

They were called bicolor legions for their use of the colors yellow and blue (more related to French monarchism and Action française) to demonstrate a "commitment to the true French nation". It was an attempt by Maurras to gain even more strength against other targets, after all, quantity is a quality in itself.

"If I had been a French, I am sure that I should have been whole-heartedly with you from the start to finish in your triumphant struggle against the bestial appetites and passions of barbarism and Socialism."

-Winston Churchill praising Charles Maurras.

April 8, various liberals die in the UK ... by age of course (although decades later there are still suspicions), holding elections where in general the liberals lose more space to the common Tories, Labor and Social Aristocrats.

Some of the deceased include William Sproston Caine and 74-year-old Wilfrid Lawson.

April 10, a drop of more than 20 million dollars in the global market.

April 11-13, the Boulangerist-military rebels of Charles Maurras achieve some victories in the south of France, consolidating more and more as the bulwark of extreme nationalism against the Paris government.

On the other hand, at the same time, the socialists and the central government of Paris (an alliance led by Jules Guesde and Pierre Curie) defeat several separatist attempts (Belgians) and anarchists in the north of the country, recovering important factories and coal mines.

April 19, there are various attacks against Jews in the south of France, product of the anti-Semitic tendencies of the rebel government of course.

At least 4,700 Jews are killed and more than 97 communities (businesses, houses, etc.) are destroyed.

April 21, among the nationalist extremists who run the state of Norway (British puppet), certain ideas become popular.

Especially Arianist ideas, about the superiority of the Nordic-Germanic race against inferior races (non-whites and some 'inferior' Europeans, such as Slavs, Baltics, etc.) and to a lesser extent a return of Nordic paganism (but very limited) .

April 22, there are small falls in the stock markets of Berlin and the United States, the world economic crisis is not improving.

April 26, still reactionary elements within Iberia try to start organizing against the socialists who now run Iberia.

Of course these initial attempts (mostly Alphonsists and Carlists, Liberals and Republicans, among other conservatives that still existed on the Iberian Peninsula) were not very successful in forming a serious armed opposition.

But they did exist, and that could be a problem.

April 28, an earthquake off the coast of China kills 3,500 people and 20,000 animals.

April 29, the city of Frank, Alberta (Canada) suffers serious problems due to a landslide, which kills between 70 and 90 people.

May 3, various railways in the north of England are replacing steam power systems with electricity systems.

May 4, founding of the Communist Party of Turkey by Mustafa Kemal.

May 8, the main forces of the French civil war advance slowly. It does not matter if in victory you gain 1 centimeter or a kilometer, but victory is a victory.

However, between the forces of Maurras and Curie-Guesde a guerrilla war is being formed that is not advantageous for the southern regions of France.

Various smaller organisms take advantage of this, looting or carrying out terrorist attacks in various parts, having more speed. Among these are mainly some opportunist anarchists and liberal-republicans.

May 10, the doctor Antoni Leśniowski (Russian citizen of Polish origin, dedicated to medicine in Warsaw), reports in the magazine Meditsina (Медицина) / Medycyna, the first article about "Leśniowski's disease".

Although the disease in Leśniowski's article could not distinguish the disease from intestinal tuberculosis. This caught the attention of the Moscow medical universities, which would help to identify inflammatory diseases in the destination.

The world literature would know this disease in 1904 as "Leśniowski's disease".

(OOC: This is ITL for Crohn's disease, Lesniowski OTL indeed described the disease in 1903, but as the update says, it could not be distinguished from intestinal tuberculosis).

May 13, the New Hebrides archipelago (Vanuatu) in the Pacific is shaken in a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

May 18, the deep water port of Burgas opens in the Tsardom of Bulgaria.

May 22, a joint command between Colombia and Venezuela is created to fight against United States forces in the Haitian conflict.

Currently the war will accelerate the process of unification between the countries. The US forces are taking advantage of the fact that they currently have an advantage over the German imperial navy for the preparation of the invasion of Panama (Colombian territory).

May 24, the legions of socialist volunteers are formed to participate in the French civil war. Made up of Iberian citizens (Catalans, Spaniards from all over and Portuguese) and Italians (from the north and south) giving support to the socialists of Jules Guesde (allied with Pierre Curie), against the forces of Charles Maurras and others.

The socialist states of Italy and Iberia were not entirely sure of helping the coalition, but they understood that Maurras was a greater threat to their states.

This angered Maurras and certainly angered some in Pierre Curie's government, but the Prime Minister and his leftist coalition accepted the volunteers to continue the fight.

June 2, 6 dead and 9 wounded in the Hippo Wars.

June 3, an earthquake shakes the Baja Calfornia peninsula, Second Mexican Empire.

June 8, small revolts in Flanders (Germany) and Wallonia (France), the German Empire and the French governments (Pierre Curie and Jules Guesde) manage to crush them.

June 9, under the laws of the English government, the universities of Dublin, Oxford and Cambridge begin to stop admitting female students.

June 11, the 1903 constitution of the Kingdom of Serbia is established, the May constitution (according to Serbia) or June constitution (countries that used the Gregorian calendar).

June 13, in a surprising event, Emperor Napoleon IV and a clique of conservatives (less reactionary than Maurras but less leftist than Pierre Curie) leave the "Imperial Ville" of Paris to escape to the Maurras government, believing that Pierre Curie and the coalition with the Socialists have gone too far.

The government of Paris currently votes, the Senate decides to formally abolish the Second French Empire and declare a national security government before new elections to decide that it will be for France, once the situation is resolved.

This seriously weakens the southern border of the coalition, Maurras takes advantage of taking some territories while the puppet emperor arrives.

Regions like the French Alps or Aquitaine are essentially dominated by minor groups of anarchists, opportunists, liberals or pseudo-conservatives. Brittany is controlled by the socialists of Jules Guesde, and most of the center and north of the country (including Wallonia) are dominated by the government of Paris led by Pierre Curie.

In the middle of the south-central part of the country there is a large combat zone, with enormously nebulous borders.

On the other hand, the French Mediterranean coast, Occitania and some other territories are territory controlled by the Maurras rebels.

June 14, more American victories in Haiti allow them to have almost under siege the capital of the southern government of the island, supported by Germany.

However, during this period, Kaiser Wilhelm II accepts greater offensive measures in the maritime war, causing German ships to sink various American cargo ships (one even with passengers) in the Caribbean Sea.

June 16, the coalition of Pierre Curie and Jules Guesde is attacked by various types of anarchists, "socialists", liberals and other groups from the east of the country seriously delaying the offensives to the south. The most painful blow is caused by Jean Jaures, leader of the reformist socialists and social patriots, Jean Jaures is against the decisions of Guesde and Curie for the future of the country.

Some of these "socialists" would even prefer to ally themselves with Maurras rather than Pierre Curie, in the process betraying many ideals of classical Marxism. Instead of uniting against Maurras and fighting each other afterwards.

Maurras on the other hand manages to crush some of the groups in southern Aquitaine and the French alps, but as it gets closer to the Iberian borders there could be more problems and the resistance of central France becomes much more difficult to face (the stretching of mismanaged supplies, lack of mechanized units, etc).

On the same day, the Great National German Reich Party (Große Nationale Deutsche Reichspartei, GNDR) secures the majority of seats in the Reichstag by allying with the Center Party (Zentrum, Catholic party), despite the fact that the SPD advances more and more in the popular vote.

This turns the party more and more towards the revolutionary and communist socialist line, instead of towards social democracy. Germany on the other hand continues through its economic crisis and its war.

Henry Ford is briefly arrested for his opposition to the war and called to peace talks after the deaths of American civilians by German policies.

This adds a more mystical touch to the figure of Ford, who continues to become prominent among Republicans, now attracting some anti-imperialists ... and anti-Semites.

Ford believes that war is caused by Jewish bankers and mobsters (Jewish mobs are a much more visible reality in the early decades of the 20th century).

June 17, the German navy achieves some notable victories against the American navy, sinking several ironclads and battleships. Getting a little recovery of naval advantage in southern Haiti over the Americans.

June 19, the M1903 Springfield rifle is officially adopted by the United States military.

It was originally used against hippopotamuses.

June 20, The Saturday Evening Post begins its serialization in The Call of the Wild (third novel by writer Jack London).

June 21, begins the massive shipment of German troops to South America and the Caribbean for invasion plans to the United States of America.

June 23, the first recordings of the Haitian conflict are given.

June 25, the French civil war is complicated when finally a conflict breaks out between Iberia-Italy and Charles Maurras, caused by border conflicts, socialist volunteers in the war and the anti-socialism of the Maurras ideology.

Iberian troops are the first to pass, beginning to disturb the safest flank of Maurras, which means that more resources must be mobilized towards the border between "France" and Iberia.

But the first and most decisive victories were for the Iberian socialists, who are advancing successfully. By slowing down and hindering Maurras' plans for an assault on central France.

Nice, on the other hand, is bombarded by Italian artillery, this siege almost puts an end to the central command of the Maurras rebellion, which is forced to move to another more central place to continue the fight.

Maurras and Napoleon IV start talks to get the support of the Kingdom of Italy against Socialist Italy.

June 27, with the dispatch of German troops, the German Empire also tests its first uses of bombers in Haiti, bombing the northern government (rebel, supported by the United States).

More destruction and death for Haitians, although the aerial bombardment itself was not very successful against Haitians, as a tactic against US forces it was more effective.

The Americans knew more about aircraft, but they did not have their own air forces or much equipment against them.

June 29-30, US troops mobilize to launch the operation against Panama and northern Colombia-Venezuela. The Americans are losing more and more ground in northern Venezuela, but tactical withdrawal (and sometimes humiliating defeats) is useful to refocus efforts in Panama.

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* Perspective of the French Civil War.

"Long live the revolution!" The anarchists in their modified tractor were advancing, before an Ours would advance down the other street and fire at them. The tractor never had a chance.

A head pokes through the French armed vehicle, two anarchists killed and two wounded. "Think, anarchist, think! It's called an armored car because it has armor! Why would you do a attack vehicle without armor?!" The French officer (a member of Jules Guesde's Social Revolutionaries) exclaims as he gets out of the vehicle, retrieving it for the local farmers.

"War is difficult. Our grandparents and parents were veterans of the conflicts between the Bonapartists and the Legitimists. Now we fight for an even greater cause, the freedom of our past.

But it's difficult.

I already lost a sister in the conflict. The village was briefly taken over by anarchists and the stories I heard weren't pretty.

The government of Paris has declared the end of the empire and our allies in Iberia and Italy have united due to the violation of their borders. I think we can win, now or never, it's time. "

-Notes from a French officer.