Happy Saint Valentine's day by the way (October 1929 - March 1930).
October-December, 1929).
[Close call #[redacted]]
On October 17 of 1929, the world came close in the interwar period to an early World War III - this time, because of the Balkans and their ethnic disputes.
A group of radical students of Serbian origin carried out an attack against a group of electors in a village of Croatia-Slovenia, resulting in the death of a member of the far-right government leading party, and other people of various origins (for example, including at least one Italian).
Those responsible were executed - Nationwide public protests spread across Croatia-Slovenia against Serbs, and throughout Serbia - not necessarily in favor of radicalism, but against Croatia-Slovenia and their political institutions.
This was obviously a source of regional problems and disturbances that mobilized sectors of the population, very dangerously, in a sensitive region like the Balkans.
Especially sensitive, considering that the matter included Croatia and Slovenia (then in the British camp), and Serbia (in the Russian camp).
Conflict that would also possibly lead to the intervention of the European Socialist Union, due to its dealings with Russia and obviously the proximity of the conflict to an important member, such as Italy.
The most alarmist feared or proclaimed war, although some historians argue that the incident did not resonate as much as some say.
What prevented war this time?
Apparently there was still a bit of a cool head in diplomacy on both sides - in this case, many thank Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, the Lord Irwin (later the Viscount Halifax).
Wood, a senior politician with a conservative tinge, supported in this crisis the idea of a policy of pragmatic 'appeasement' between the British and Russian camp - at least for the time being (he would later support war with Russia), which at the moment seem to have convinced Prime Minister Churchill and others.
It must be understood that in the period between the last two world wars, there were not only ideological positions in diplomacy, which were mostly disastrous - but also some pragmatic positions and decisions... some more objectionable than others.
Some at home criticized Wood for pushing the appeasement stance with the Asian country at the gates of Europe (different not only ideologically from the Imperial Federation, but also racially) - but definitely, later some would rather have avoided war for a few more years.
How was this appeasement (simply understood as avoiding conflict, at least for now) received in the Balkans and Eastern Europe?
Well, tensions would remain high in the Balkans for a while - and as some authors insist, this doctrine or diplomatic idea may not have really resonated much.
In Eastern Europe, the reactions were rather mixed - Russia was approaching the 1930 election year, and of course the position on the Imperial Federation was rather up for debate...
Some kept quiet, others were a little more supportive of avoiding conflict through appeasement, and still others were proposing more extreme measures to deal with the Imperial Federation.
Premier Stalin's position, for example, was the deepening of the continental alliance or "grand alliance" with the powers of Western Europe against the Imperial Federation - a position hated by some.
***
[Deserters]
A "deserter" is a person who changes from one side or faction to another, for which they are considered in a certain sense a "traitor."
The word deserter may have a broader use, but in politics or national terms, generally a defector is one who changes allegiance from one state to another - a move considered 'illegitimate', by the original camp.
Famous is the case of the Cold War, where people defected from various countries or blocs, to their geo-political enemies and/or ideological opponents - at a time when this had its legal limitations or was severely frowned upon.
This for several reasons: money, security, ideology, opportunities, employment, relationships, etc.
Each side forming their own narrative around the people who deserted or joined them, for some convenience - possibly each narrative with its bits of truth of course.
But we also have cases and contexts of desertion before the Cold War, in the interwar period.
'Disloyal' actors existed in the Imperial Federation, Russia, communist Europe and the United States, although it is difficult to say that they were all defectors, without taking into account certain characteristics depending on certain contexts.
For example, colonial subjects who deserted the service in peace or war were by definition 'deserters' (generally to an anti-colonial or enemy cause), but it is arguable whether they really owed their allegiance to the countries that occupied their land in the first place.
Let's look at the Russian case, for example, already in pre-Petrine times, travel abroad was limited for reasons of desertion or illegal abandonment of the country.
The Russian government in the time of Alexander III and Nicholas II did not care if a citizen traveled to countries within the Russian sphere or the colonial empire - unless he left as a spy of course.
But there was more problem with going to other countries outside the reach of Moscow, such as the Imperial Federation, Western Europe or most of the Western hemisphere.
On October 21 of 1929, a resolution was adopted in the Russian Empire - and consequently in most of the Covenant of Nations - concerning 'citizens of the Russian Empire abroad who deserted to the camp of the enemies of the homeland, and refuse to return to the country.'
People who refused to return, at least without valid reason, could be considered outlaws - with a series of consequences that could range from the confiscation of property, to the execution of the culprit.
It is estimated that the number of deserters, in one way or another, doubled in the period between 1929-1937 (inter-war period), although we should mention the phenomena did not have the characteristics or repercussions of the Great Cold War in later years.
Later this type of resolutions was expanded to the Covenant in general (including its certain characteristics depending on the country), although when more of a legal right on the matter was already established, and the geo-political and ideological positions of decades later.
Treason against the Motherland, that is, actions committed by citizens of the Russian Empire to the detriment of the military power of the Russian Empire, its state independence or the inviolability of its territory, such as: espionage, disclosure of military or state secrets, desertion to the enemy, flight or flight abroad, are punishable by the highest measure of criminal punishment: execution with confiscation of all property and, in extenuating circumstances, imprisonment for a period of 10 years with confiscation of all property.
-Part of the Russian law respect to defectors.
Defectors from the period before the Great Cold War already included intellectual or ideological defectors, such as Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum (who defected to the United States).
There were also people who defected to the Russian camp - the enemies of the Empire say usually because otherwise they would be persecuted for espionage, but of course there are all kinds of cases.
***
[Premier's birthday]
Church records, and most professional biographers, support that I.V. Stalin was born on December 18 (1878) - however the official dates that celebrate his birthday are usually December 21, which became a tradition during the rule of Stalin and his successors.
The solution, in the opinion of some, is simply to celebrate for three days - because why not.
In the year 1929, it was celebrated from December 15 to 25, in which Stalin turned 50, and it was expected, it would be his last year as Premier.
-Perspective-
Like so many other days, the Kremlin celebrates a party - the distinguished guests drink, eat and make all kinds of toasts, in this case to the man who is celebrating his 50th birthday.
After one of these toasts, the Tsar sits down to drink another glass of vodka...
Between this, the Premier approaches, to waste a little time with his boss...
"Enjoy while you can, then you're going to miss the 50s, just like me" Nicholas quips, perhaps putting on a slightly curmudgeonly image.
"I Imagine" Stalin concedes to the tsar, as he clinks glasses with the old man.
Nicholas will complain a lot, but he also doesn't do much to change his situation.
"Sometimes I think Cyril would have no problem sending me to a nursing home, and reign himself." Nicholas insists (and it's something bad that he does, it would be not well received to send one's father to a nursing home to forget about him in this society), while he looks at his son for a bit.
Cyril isn't as party-going as some of his…former brothers…but still he loves to gloat with the elite, whenever he gets the chance.
"Sometimes the children are problematic..." The Premier, also a father of several children, acknowledges the certain frustration (?) of the tsar.
...Nicholas is getting old, but he's still going to reign for a few more years...
---
It is said that the year 1929 is the beginning of Premier Stalin's cult of personality, which is debatable for some, since the first Stalinism had already been going on for a few years.
Those who say that it begins in 1929, argue that it is when the monuments to the man began to increase more throughout the Empire, and when his successors also began to legitimize themselves in his government.
Every more or less complex society tends to have some kind of cult or monumentality around certain figures, in the case of Russia there is a cult around the Emperors/Empresses and/or the Premier - it is often said that one has to have a personality in the first place place, to have a cult around one.
Not all Emperors or Premieres have achieved this last detail, for reasons that are more or less clear to some observers.
Power manifests in various ways.
Nicholas II has a cult around him as a firm but just head of state, who had made life better for the people (even with his crimes), and a long-lived emperor - the great son of another great emperor.
Around the Premier I.V. Stalin is a similar cult, as a head of government who ruled for a long period of time and died in power (very important in the Russian collective view, even if it is 'behind the throne' rather than in it, dying in power is better than dying without it) - with a representation of a wise and modest character, set against more 'hysterical' or 'bombastic' leaders of the same time period, a cult to "the most modest of men", for contradictory that sounds.
Around 1929-early 1930, with new elections drawing near, Grand Duke Cyril was expected by some to start replacing his father at national events - an image promoted by the Grand Duke himself, and not so much the Tsar or others, we must say.
Mainly because the emperor was already entering his 60s, and he could not be expected to appear at all events in the country personally.
With Grand Duchess Maria in Romania (even if it was as Queen), and Grand Duke Sergei mostly in the provinces, Cyril already saw himself as heir apparent - as he appeared from the capital, Moscow, while his siblings were away "relegated to the periphery".
A bit arrogantly, in the opinion of some.
***
[International]
October 2, in Marion (North Carolina) special deputies, "allegedly" drunk, shoot at striking mill workers, killing 6 and injuring 25.
In the Imperial Federation a national committee is created to consider establishing national parks.
Premiere of the American historical film "Disraeli", with George Arliss as the nineteenth century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
(OOC: I don't know if you remember him, I do remember, from the first thread).
October 3, the largest riot in the history of Colorado State Penitentiary occurs - the escape attempt of two prisoners ends with the National Guard, civilian volunteers and police from nearby districts having to 'siege', due to the seizure of some hostages.
The next day, eight prison guards and five inmates ended up dead - one of the leaders shot his accomplices and then himself.
October 4, Winston Churchill and the McAdoo administration discuss the possibility of the Prime Minister visiting the United States of America at some diplomatic event, despite certain differences between the Anglo-Saxon Imperials and the Americans.
Something that will not materialize until the unfortunate year of 1931 - with the disastrous results that it had.
October 6, several graves of rebel officers from the last Russian civil war are desecrated - with the goal that they do not become places of worship.
October 7, sinking of the Norwegian passenger ship Haakon, results in the death of 44 passengers and crew near Florø (Norway) - the other 69 people were rescued.
October 11, briefly in the United States a new prohibition is given against books or drawings urging forcible resistance to the laws of the United States or threats against any American's life.
It does not last long, this decision of the Senate is revoked in March of the following year.
October 15, in the words of the American economist Irving Fisher during a dinner meeting audience in New York, stock prices had reached "a permanently high plateau" - he expected "to see the stock market a good deal higher than it is today within a few months."
"The greatest economist the United States has ever produced", according to some.
His prediction turns out to be relatively accurate, one of the most important achievements in an economist's career.
October 17, around Croatia-Slovenia another episode of ethnic violence occurs between Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and other groups - resulting in the execution of a young Serb, part of a group that carried out an armed attack against a line of electors of the far-right regimes of the time.
Croatia and Slovenia (then in the British camp), and Serbia (in the Russian camp), publicly complain about each other.
October 18, the Italian general and minister Benito Mussolini makes a small tour around France and Flanders - two other countries of the European Socialist Union.
Curiously, the French Walloons seem to like him, although the rest of the people are more neutral.
October 20, two dead in Berlin as a result of a fight between army veterans and East German police.
The police also repel an attempt by some group to raid a local synagogue - more for public order than for any pro-Jewish sentiment that could have existed in East Germany at the time.
October 22, the train ferry SS Milwaukee sank in Lake Michigan during a storm - The ship had no radio equipment and its captain proceeded into the storm despite the heavy seas, leading to all 52 members of the crew drowning.
Lev Yashin is born in Moscow, Russian Empire.
October 26, it is announced that buses in London will be red, after yellow-and-red buses were unpopular.
This aesthetic decision has remained well to this day.
October 31, in the imperial parliament some Indian officials insist on the "natural issue of India's constitutional progress" - that is, that India receive Dominion or imperial status.
This idea never comes to fruition, due to the irreconcilable differences between the people of India and the elite of the Imperial Federation - and the end of the aforementioned Imperial Federation after World War III, where India becomes independent, for clear reasons.
November 5, opening of the largest electrified railway in the British Empire (India, running 116 miles between Bombay and Pune).
November 7, the Museum of Modern Art opens (Herckscher Building, Manhattan).
November 8, Albert Einstein receives an honorary doctorate from the University of Paris (République Populaire Démocratique de France).
November 10, 21 people are executed in the Socialist Republic of Portugal (Iberia) for disruptive activities.
Another 86 are sent to prison the same day.
One of the 'busiest' days in SR of Portugal, apparently.
November 17, Argentina defeats Uruguay 2–0, winning the South American football championship.
November 18, the worst recorded earthquake in regional Canadian history - the Grand Banks earthquake, takes place in the Atlantic Ocean 265 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland.
The magnitude 7.2 earthquake created a tsunami that killed 28 people in southern Newfoundland.
November 20, in the Imperial Federation, the Canadian National Railway announced a $20 million business plan to buy new transport cars and build new stations.
November 22, adoption of deserter laws in the Russian Empire.
November 25, first recorded homicide attempt in Vatican City, where a Swedish woman attempts to shoot an archbishop in St. Peter's Basilica.
The woman is believed to have had a mental disorder.
The 6,997-ton oil tanker 'British Chemist' exploded in Grangemouth port, Scotland - shaking the town but causing no casualties.
December 1, 7 people were die in a coal mine explosion in West Frankfort (Illinois).
December 3, US President William McAdoo delivers his first State of the Union address to the US Congress.
According to the administration at the time, the country's problems were "problems of growth and of progress."
December 5th, in a curious case, the Italian Communist President Togliatti becomes the first leader of a unified Italy to visit the Vatican.
December 10, a fire breaks out at the Pathé film studio in New York, resulting in the death of 11 people during the filming of the musical The Black and White Revue.
December 11, a riot occurs at Auburn Prison (New York) - eight convicts and a superintendent are killed after a gun was smuggled into the cell block.
In East Germany, the Reichstag adopted a bill requiring shops to close on Christmas Eve at 5 p.m.
December 13, a special public buildings subcommittee of the United States House of Representatives accepts a plan of more than 10 million dollars to erect a building for the Supreme Court - which had been housed in the offices of the Capitol building since the building was built.
December 14, fifty members of the Socialist and Communist Party of the U.S. are arrested for staging an anti-administration protest in front of the White House without a permit, according to some personalities at the time the McAdoo administration gave the Communists 'cheap martyrdom' in many opportunities - no one can really please everyone.
December 15, Pope Pius XI (Pietro La Fontaine of Venice) expands the list of beatified martyrs to 186, after beatifying the 107 English and Welsh martyrs who had been hung between 1541 and 1680 (English Reformation), along with another 29 who had been executed.
Later at least two of the martyrs would be sainted, Sir Thomas More and Cardinal John Fisher.
December 18, collision between the RMS Victoria and the ocean liner SS Alongquin while sailing in a dense fog in the Ambrose Channel (between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey) - All persons on board the RMS Victoria were rescued before the ship sank, and the SS Algonquin survived the collision.
December 21, end of the celebration of I.V. Stalin birthday's, which some foreigners claim to be the start of the cult of personality around the Russian Empire Premier.
December 24, the West Wing of the White House is seriously damaged in an evening fire - President McAdoo left a Christmas Eve reception in order to direct efforts to retrieve important documents, but not all records could be saved - It was the most serious fire at the White House since it was burned around the last Anglo-American war.
Congress would authorize the construction of a new West Wing to replace the burned building.
As he lefts his home, Argentinian president is (almost) shot three times by an unknown assailant . Only a president's bodyguard resulted wounded.
The police guards returned fire against the assailant, a native Italian thought to be an anarchist or similar - Efforts were made to save the shooter so he could be brought to trial but he died of his wounds.
December 28, Black Saturday in Samoa - nine demonstrators are killed by New Zealand mandate government police.
December 29, local organizations from the North and South of the Indian subcontinent call for the full independence of the Indian subcontinent.
December 31, sixty-nine children in Scotland (UK - Imperial Federation) perished in a movie theatre fire in Paisley, Renfrewshire.
None of the deaths were from the fire itself but due to suffocation, choking from the noxious fumes of the burning celluloid or trampling in the rush to get out.
The secretary of commerce of the United Statesissued a statement predicting that 1930 would mark "a continuance of prosperity and progress."
Likewise the secretary of the treasuary issued an optimistic statement: "During the winter months there may be some slackness or unemployment, but hardly more than is usual at this season each year. I have every confidence that there will be a revival of activity in the spring and that during the coming year the country will make steady progress."
1677543953109.png
(January-March, 1930).
[1930 Russian census]
Without many impediments, at the beginning of 1930, the 1930 census of the Russian Empire took place.
The results?: 465 million inhabitants.
The majority of the population were Russians, Ukrainians, Poles, Belarusians, Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Tatars, Jews and other groups - Georgians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, etc.
Really, what can we say that it has not been possible to analyze the previous censuses or other primary sources of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 20th century?
The most populous industrial country in the world, more than 100 ethnic groups, high rate of industrialization and literacy, large levels of urban and rural population, etc.
Everything has been said and written about the Russian Empire in terms of its demographic evolution (from the worst results - where there is talk of a 'demographic collapse', which probably will never come but is 'predicted' time and time again - to possibly one of the biggest expectation ever seen, of supposedly 4 billion people, something that no modern country has reached yet, for obvious reasons).
It only takes some analysis and graphs to understand this.
The only thing that seems relatively remarkable to add is that it is in the 1930 census when the increase in the population from the Russian Colonial Empire began to be noticed more markedly ('non-natives' from the Russian Empire itself).
The Covenant populations already appear markedly, but from the Colonies (a very simple term to refer to said territories) - mainly workers and in a certain part bourgeois-elites, begin to appear in the hundreds and thousands.
And there are also citizens of regions even outside the Russian Empire or the Covenant.
People from Novaya Gvineya (a region with a great ethno-cultural diversity of its own), Africa (especially East Africa), Indochina (Vietnam in particular), Afghanistan (Pashtun origin) and the Indian Subcontinent ("Hindu" and "Muslim" people, broadly speaking) - who today form immigrant groups in the Empire, whether due to the effects of Russian colonial history or other situations in Eurasia/their countries of origin.
Immigrant communities that can be more or less influential, depending on the location or who you ask.
***
[Ethiopia: New emperor]
On March 31, 1930, in the Ethiopian Empire or Abyssinia, the 'soft coup' took place, marking a new era in the country with the arrival of a new monarch by the name of Neguse Negest ze-'Ityopp'ya ("King of Kings of Ethiopia", or more simply 'Emperor'), Haile Selassie.
The "soft coup" stems from Empress Zewditu's peaceful abdication, to her heir apparent Ras Tafari Makonnen, due to ill health.*
* At least officially, although it is true that Zewditu died not long after abdicating her, on April 2, 1930, some doubt that she really was of natural causes.
This abdication didn't really come as a surprise on the national or international stage, as Ras Tafari Makonnen had been ruling the country de-facto for years - ever since he was selected, more or less by hand, by the Russian Empire and domestic-national power cliques (aristocracy, business conglomerates, etc).
Some believed that Ras Tafari Makonnen was going to wait until the death of the empress, but first the abdication/souft coup happened (precisely at least in the official versions, due to the ill health of the empress)...
Haile Selassie was selected as the next ruler because of his leaning toward pro-Russian positions, unsurprisingly.
He inherited a relatively modern country, arguably the most advanced in all of Africa, even if internationally under Russian rule:
*Ethiopia already had a more or less established national identity, which maintained a certain peace between the ethnic-cultural groups of the country.
* It had an exporting agriculture (with increasingly commercialized products such as coffee) and mechanized.
Also including some manufactures in the industrial output of the country.
*Infrastructure (communications, transport, etc) more than decent for Africa, Asia and Latin America.
*A society relatively modernized to industrial capitalism, abandoning most of the older feudal relationships - although more tribal loyalties could still exist.
***
[International]
January 2, a mid-air collision kills film director Kenneth Hawks, cinematographer Conrad Wells, and eight other crew of the Fox Film Corporation while the two airplanes were filming an action scene for the movie "Such Men Are Dangerous" (obviously, last film of the director).
January 3, another fire in a US government building - fire broke out in the Capitol in a storage room.
Some paintings and documents were damaged by smoke and water, but there was no structural damage of consequence.
January 9, first mentions of the dam (then under construction) between Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon as "Ford Dam" (named after US President Henry Ford).
January 10, birth of Roy E. Disney, Walt Disney's nephew and later senior executive.
January 13 marks the first appearance of the character Mickey Mouse on a comic strip - later some of Mickey Mouse's comics would become some of the best-selling products of all time within the industry.
January 14-15, closest approach of the Moon to Earth in the 20th century (and will continue to be until 2257), with perigee coming within 356,397 kilometers (221,455 mi) of Earth.
The next time the Moon comes this close to earth will be in January 1 of 2257 (356,371 kilometers/221,439 mi).
January 17, one of the most powerful radio stations in Europe opens in Italy, European Socialist Union.
During the cold war, the US, Russia and the ESU were going to use radio as a means of interference and propaganda against each other - going so far as to create huge radio stations and equipment, and obviously trouble.
January 22, old imperial fortifications in Kehl (Baden-Württemberg) are blown up by local Communist forces while doing some other projects.
January 24, in part of the Imperial Federation like the Home Islands and Canada there is an increasing of legal measures against atheism - it is disputed how widely these measures were actually applied.
January 25, 13 young Bengalis are arrested in Kolkata for possessing bomb-making materials, daggers and seditious literature.
The São Paulo Futebol Clube or simply Sao Paulo FC, one of the most famous Brazilian football clubs, is founded.
January 26, strong rioting in a "mock Independence Day" in the India - Imperial police force was in full force that day, which disrupted gatherings in centers like Mumbai.
The next days are more peaceful, but the real independence will come soon or later.
January 29, some boxers from ethnic-groups are banned from boxing in the US state of California as a precaution against race riots in the event of a controversial decision between a ethnic boxer and a white opponent.
Pavel Alexandrovich Molchanov launches the first Russian radiosonde (battery-powered telemetry instrument carried into the atmosphere to measure various atmospheric parameters and transmits them by radio to a ground receiver) -named "271120"- from Slutsk (Petrograd).
In 1931, Molchanov would be part of the first aerological observations in the Arctic, and participate in the first Russian stratospheric balloon ascents (1933-1934).
Serial production of Molchanov's radiosondes would start in Petrograd in 1935, they were so perfect technically, that they were used used until 1958 without any significant changes, providing sufficient accuracy of measurements, regularity and stability.
January 31, strike in Hamburg (then still in hands of East Germany) leds to gunfire between Communists and local police.
February 1, a bomb - later attributed to Indian nationalists - is found at the British Museum.
February 3, the Communist Party of Vietnam is established - the Japanese control of the region decreases even more with the formation of organizations like this one, although said decline cannot be entirely attributed to them, the Japanese were already gradually leaving Indochina by this point.
February 7, attempt against the life of Pedro III of Brazil - the emperor is seriously wounded by three shots, but survives. However, other five persons die in the place of the attempt of regicide.
February 11, most Japanese submarines end up scrapped or in foreign hands as a result of the decline of the Japanese military - most end up in the hands of Russia, and more curiously, France.
February 12, at the Convocations of Canterbury and York, the Archbishop of Canterbury attacked the European Socialist Union for "the imprisonment, the exile, the deliberate putting to death of prelates and parish priests, of monks and nuns, and of the humblest folk."
Worse accusations have been made against them, during certain economic campaigns (some bizarre, even by the standards of those countries) in the European Socialist Union there were many waves of rumors - it is said that during certain times the youth of the ESU cut the beards of the priests and then sold them abroad to buy agricultural equipment.
Of course, believing these rumors means accepting that there was a market for beards specifically of priests...
During 1929-1930 there was a national campaign in the ESU to collect metal and scrap for various industrial and export purposes, and so a real obsession with recycling appeared in schools, youth groups, and voluntary societies - all of them competing to bring record-breaking amounts of scrap.
The League of Militant Atheists of the ESU sent its members a list of recyclable material to gather, including: tin cans, old shoes, cherry pits, corks, rope, scraps of rubber, and human hair.
People took down church bells or broke up icons, often justifying it as recycling - metal for the industry!
That is true, but then there were rumors of a rather propagandistic, dehumanizing and exploitative nature - such as that women's braids were cut off, or priests' and 'believers' beards were cut off, to be exported somewhere in exchange for scrap and tractors.
In a strange twist, is possible that actually said rumors had encouraged some people to collect braids and pull out clumps of hair from beards in the Euro-Communist countries to buy machinery and recycling.
Humans truly are fascinating...
February 14, the Vatican sent a note to bishops and clergy around the world instructing them to deny rites (holy communion, baptism and confirmation) to women dressed in "immodest attire".
February 18, American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet Pluto.
In 2006, the International Astronomical Union would reclassify the definition of planets - declaring that Earth was one of only eight planets in our solar system, so Pluto is not a 'planet' but a 'dwarf planet'.
(OOC: Curious fact, two Uruguayans were really involved in the re-classification of Pluto).
February 24, Irish-American Chicago gangster Frank McErlane was shot three times by rival gang members while lying in his hospital bed.
McErlane, who had a fractured right leg and was recovering from a previous shootout, returned fire and the two assailants fled.
Curiously when he become ill with pneumonia around the fall of 1932, in his delirium, he believed that rival gangsters were coming to his hospital room to kill him...
February 25, in the Imperial Federation the bill to abolish "blasphemy" as a crime was dropped.
March 2, English writer, poet and painter David Herbert Lawrence dies of tuberculosis.
March 5, London stockbrokers Buckmaster & Moore caused a stir in the Imperial Federation banking world when they issued a circular to clients advising them to sell their shares in local industry and invest in the state of Canada or the United States instead.
It expressed the opinion that England's business would be in permanent decline in the next decades, while "the economic, the political and climatic advantages of the United States and Canada in the next few decades will be so overwhelmingly great that these countries offer the most attractive field for investment."
The prediction turned out to be relatively true, though surely not for the expected reasons.
Documentation of some of the early recipients of gender-affirming surgery appear on West Germany/Free Republic of Germany.
March 6, Communists staged an international day of protest against hunger and unemployment.
Police and demonstrators clashed in Berlin, New York, London, Washington, and other cities...
Some claim this was an international communist conspiracy - probably not true, most groups are more independent than they seem to be.
Packaged frozen food was sold in supermarkets in the United States for the first time, with an introduction of Birdseye products in 18 stores in Springfield (Massachusetts).
March 13, the discovery of Pluto is announced to the world.
March 17, Al Capone is released from Philadelphia prison, after serving 10 months (crime: illegal possession of a weapon).
March 21, the Chilean Air Force is created, through the amalgamation of the aviation divisions of the Chilean Army and the Chilean Navy.
March 28, the government of the Imperial Federation decided to abolish capital punishment for four crimes in the Imperial army: "misbehaviour before the enemy in such a manner as to show cowardice, leaving a guard, picket, patrol or post without orders, intentionally sounding a false alarm and leaving a post when acting as a sentinel."
The death penalty for mutiny, treason and desertion is maintained.
March 31, the Motion Picture Association of America agreed to abide by the new Motion Picture Production Code, which laid out a set of moral guidelines for the content of films.
[Side - updates]
Yuri Andropov, grey eminence of the Russian Empire.
Some authors call the Russian 'ideologue' and statesman Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov the greatest 'gray eminence' of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 20th century.
Of course other authors have conferred this title on other individuals as well - which ends up demonstrating the certain inconsistencies abroad regarding what really happens in the Kremlin.
However, arguably there are reasons that would support the argument in favor of Andropov as the most important Russian ideological architect after 1953-1962.
The context of Yuri Vladimirovich's birth is not really clear, and almost all of Andropov's personal data up to the 1930s has been debated to some extent.
Most accounts of Andropov's early life tend to include a Cossack, Finnish-Jewish, peasant or burgher origin, and shifting or diffuse family relationships - with contradictory data scattered far and wide.
And it is consequently difficult to say how much Andropov's roots affected his later thoughts.
What we do know is that, similar to at least one of his father figures, Andropov ended up serving in the Russian army—in his case, during World War III (since the start of the conflict in 1937).
And that not long after he was accepted into the state apparatus.
Originally Andropov was part of the circles of Russian liberals, a supporter of the theories of a quasi-utopian democracy that upheld social progress, equality of opportunity, morality, national institutions, positive rights and the rights of the individual, which rejected Russian leftism.
Andropov even had criticisms of early Stalinism and the RSDLP, although he accepted that the decisions of the time were rather "a necessary evil".
This changed when Andropov visited the United States and some other foreign countries in the period of 1951-1962. This led to a rather radical change, in the opinion of foreigners, regarding Andropov's original ideological positions.
Andropov became a 'neo-authoritarian' (or neo-conservative) political 'ideologue' and policy-making, as foreign experts have called it.
Andropov simply went on to oppose any form of 'Russian liberalism' or 'liberalization' of the country (understood as classical liberalism or post-World War III neo-liberalism).
Andropov's experience abroad led to the development of new nationalist positions, and other theoretical developments.
In Andropov's opinion, the main force behind the commodification of everything material and spiritual is 'nihilism' - thus leading to the corruption of society and the creation of almost or fully irreconcilable differences between society and the individual, between individuals, or different generations.
In the absence of 'direction', values, or autochthonous cultural references, the population 'displaces' - rejects the institutions of the state, and leads to significant negative consequences for a country, such as extreme inequality or 'human loneliness'.
Leading to a society that will decline and explode sooner or later - Andropov made certain predictions about America based on these ideas.
Despite opposing capitalist nihilism and commodification, as he described it, Andropov thought that the Marxist' orthodox materialist analysis also fell somewhat short.
For Andropov the culture, values and attitudes of the people were as important as the economy, institutions and the system itself.
The point of leadership should not only be external regulation (regulating human action through legal systems, political systems, power relations, etc. to achieve political and social objectives), but also the creation of a social culture. A culture that can generate new behaviors and change the psychological conditions of the rulers and the ruled, and the relationship between them, new forms of collective consciousness as some would describe it (inextricably linked to family life, social life, moral life, and ethical life).
For Andropov this meant the creation of a 'proud civilization', culturally unified, and governed by a powerful* single Party (one-Party state) encompassing all Russians (rossiyane).
*By 'powerful', it means: to preserve and centralize Party authority, renew and expand faith in the Party's ideology and line, and recalibrate any necessary systems to be more conducive to Party survival.
Andropov was an "ideologue" in the sense that his views emphasized the importance of values to conform to the Party strategic interests regardless of domain - rather than propaganda or ideological education by itself. The salvation of the nation is attainable only through the unceasing transformation of those who live within and beneath it.
Much is said about Andropov's personality, whether he was an intellectual indifferent to flattery and luxury, who did not tolerate bribery or embezzlement, or that he was surly, a workaholic, and pathologically suspicious person.
The truth probably lies somewhere in between or unknown...
"The renewal of political culture is the fundamental basis for the construction of democratic politics in Russia and an important condition for the Russian system to demonstrate its superiority."
-Yuri Andropov.
(OOC: My idea is that Andropov synthesized or put into words and actions some behaviors of Russia - before, during and after him)
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Subculture of hooliganism in the post-war British Isles (1940s-1950s).
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"Hooliganism" also refers to a particular semi-criminal youth subculture that spread, especially in the British Isles after World War III - originating in the big cities, and later spreading to all sorts of centers and provinces.
These gangs were known for their antisocial behavior, which included loitering day and night, singing obscene songs, throwing rocks at windows, harassing women, harassing domestic animals, stealing small amounts of money, and destroying public property.
London hooligans were renowned for their style of dress, which included a torn sailor cap, red jacket, tight trousers, and high boots.
These were organized into a code of conduct and a strict hierarchy, although of course this could depend on the particular city or group.
Glasgow, Liverpool and Belfast also experienced episodes of hooliganism comparable to revolutionary terror: they held demonstrations that prevented flights, dismantled train tracks in cases of 'rail wars' and broke up meetings of all kinds of organisations.
During the early post-war years, some streets were impassable and policemen had trouble entering certain neighborhoods after dark - overall there was an almost-unstoppable rise in crime.
The causes of this phenomenon are varied, but mainly are the events of the third world war.
Most of the hooligans were between the ages of 12 and 25, and physically, mentally, and morally traumatized.
Psychiatrists from the islands and continental Europe stated that young people whose childhood and adolescence coincided with a period of social unrest showed greater nervousness and hysteria.
A study at the time noted that among the hooligans surveyed, 56.1% had "traumatic neurosis" and 32% were neurasthenics and hysterics.
Although we should say that the social upheaval experienced by these young people is not only due to the third world war, but also due to the cementing of the post-war governments - which would also have been a period of upheaval in itself.
There was a 'lack of authority' among marginalized youth in the British Isles. Alcoholism and venereal diseases proliferated.
At the end of the 40s, the citizens were discontented and demanded a maximum hardening of the punitive policy against hooligans.
Therefore, measures against hooliganism were adopted, with the creation of youth organizations and school political education.
In addition, legal measures were taken and street security was reinforced to prevent acts of vandalism.
They weren't very successful, the culture of British hooliganism never completely disappeared, it continued strong until the 50s and then moderated a bit - it continues to exist in modern times, albeit with its differences.
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Mao Zedong last years.
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After starring in The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972) and The Way of the Dragon (1972), Southern Chinese actor Brucee Lee (who had already made his debut in The Kid, 1950) caught the attention of the director Mao Zedong, cultural eminence in North China and the Russosphere in general.
It is said that the director would burst into eulogies when he got excited during the movies, and he watched the movie Fist of Fury several times (something Mao was not used to doing, according to aides).
Director Mao Zedong soon wanted to work with Bruce Lee, whom he saw as a figure to look up to in the entertainment industry.
Bruce Lee's movies often depict good vs. evil, and since Lee represents good, he is relatable to most audiences—a hero and role model for the Good Samaritan.
Bruce Lee became one of the last figures exalted by Mao Zedong, although we must say that his figure would have crossed borders even without the director-whose health by the 70s was already in decline.
In 1974, Mao was diagnosed with cataracts, and writing and scriptwriting became practically impossible because of this.
The director's later projects veered less towards epics and fiction, and he turned more towards historical drama adaptation and biopics, relatively more straightforward at his age.
Some of the best-known works from this final period include biopics of US President Abraham Lincoln and French General Napoleon Bonaparte.