The world is a small place (July-September, 1889)
Women and universities]
The first higher (tertiary) education courses for women began in the educational reforms of the Alexander III government in the early 1870s, but 1889 is when Tsar Alexander III now put a little more emphasis on the idea.
With this, the regulations, tools and organizations of the Moscow Higher Courses for Women for women (Московские Высшие женские курсы, Moskovskiye Vysshiye zhenskiye kursy, MVZHK) were expanded and configured.
The courses were mainly focused on Moscow and the Tsar established branches of the MVZHK in other cities such as St. Petersburg.
The subjects taught in the courses were primarily factual science, physics, mathematics, biology, and chemistry, although history, languages, and literature were also given.
Literacy throughout the Russian Empire was growing, and there were various women or institutions interested in the higher education of Russian women.
Empress Maria Feodorovna was also excited by the idea, as a patron of medicine (the Russian Red Cross), the empress supported various nurses to participate in higher education courses.
With the empress and the emperor on board, there was little that could be done, the Orthodox Church was certainly conservative and obviously Russian society was still highly conservative but the courses were mainly established in the big European cities where there was a much more open mass to the people. ideas, and women with more time and money to pursue tertiary education.
So at least in the cities there was a public willing and able to enter the aforementioned courses.
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[Imperatorskaya Gazeta]
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Empress Maria Feodorovna asks something dubious.
"Absolutely, people will be excited to read some articles written by you." Emperor Alexander III assures with emotion.
With the growth of the Imperial Newspaper (Imperatorskaya Gazeta) there was a lot of potential for propaganda and various articles, among this came the suggestion (from some readers of the Saint Petersburg society), of certain articles for women and related topics.
This gave Emperor Alexander III to continue to increase public relations by meddling his wife (and she meddling some ladies of the court and nobility) in the Imperatorskaya Gazeta.
Empress Maria Feodorovna began to write some articles about cooking, the importance of health, philanthropy and the work of the Red Cross, etc.
They were quite successful among women, and in turn Emperor Alexander III had an idea. Among the many articles written by the empress and the first female writers of the Imperatorskaya Gazeta, there were many food recipes (some foreign and some Russian).
That is why the Emperor Alexander III began to compile all this into a private project, a recipe book divided into volumes. The first volume was All Russia (Вся россия, Vsya Rossiya) which involved good, traditional cuisine from the Russian Empire and its colonies.
The goal was to help promote national cuisine, tourism (possibly attract diners to Russia), multiculturalism of the Russian state, and even promote Russia's New Silk Road (as many recipes included spices that came from the Russian project).
Later would come volumes about Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, or particular divisions, etc.
*******
*Just a little family time.
"What are you doing father?" Grand Duchess Xenia asks curiously after having entered with her mother, Maria Feodorovna, into a room where Tsar Alexander III was.
"I am testing some projects." Tsar Alexander III exclaims tiredly, in front of him there was a table with some figures of soldiers.
"You've been in here for a few hours darling, wouldn't it be better to go out and get some air?" The empress calmly contends.
"If that sounds like a good idea. But first, look." Emperor Alexander III exclaims and shows a series of photos that he pasted one next to the other, photos of the little soldiers, moving the photos quickly gave rise to the impression that the figures were moving by themselves.
"What?!". Xenia exclaims in surprise.
"I was moving the figures little by little and taking some pictures ... more than 300 ... I'm tired." The emperor exclaims.
*******
The emperor was outside on an impromptu picnic with his family (present at the time, the empress, Xenia, Michael, and Olga). Michael and his father were playing cards while the empress and her daughters chatted.
"I wonder what Nicholas and Alexander are doing, they must feel very lonely in Manchuria, surely there is nothing familiar to eat there." Empress Maria Feodorovna quickly argues worried.
"Nicholas and Alexander will be fine, they know how to take care of themselves. I heard that they now know several of the Trans-Siberian officers, if they have a problem they will send a message." Alexander III calmly contends.
"I hope you are right." The empress adds.
(OOC: I have to do more about Alexander III and Michael when he grows a little XD).
*******
[Novo Alexandria]
July 15.
A shot ran through Rio de Janeiro, Empire of Brazil, the emperor Don Pedro II had been assassinated, this shocked the Brazilian population, where the monarchy was considerably popular after the emperor's trips to the north of the country to meet with the governors and other personalities of the region.
Princess Isabel Cristina Leopoldina Augusta Micaela Gabriela Rafaela Gonzaga de Borbón-Dos Sicilias y Braganza ascends as Isabel I of Brazil, and her husband Prince Gaston of Orleans, Count of Eu, ascends as Gastón I.
The situation seemed positive, Isabel was not as popular as her father but she tried to solve that with a trip to the south of the country, the coffee harvest was successful, and the abolition of slavery did not present as many problems as had been planned.
Afonso Celso de Assis Figuereido, Viscount of Ouro Preto, was called in to establish the new Brazilian government cabinet, Ouro Preto being a staunch monarchist who supports the regime at any cost.
But the rise of Elizabeth I and Gaston as empress and emperor (she not so popular, he a European) was an almost perfect excuse for the anti-monarchical officials, religious authorities and oligarchs, who were preparing their next plays regarding the future of the Empire. from Brazil.
In Novo Alexandria the event came through messages and was published in the local newspaper, nothing too rare, the Brazilian population and the local Russian-Brazilian authorities carried out the pertinent processes to dismiss the late emperor.
Emperor Alexander III sent a message to the Empire of Brazil, "May God grant the last wishes of Don Pedro II, peace and prosperity for Brazil".
But then various officers and members of the Brazilian navy arrived across the Amazon River, officers under Custódio José de Melo and Luís Filipe de Saldanha da Gama.
*******
-Diary of Carlos Fermín Contamana.
"Admiral da Gama had ordered us to inspect the city of Novo Alexandria after the assassination of Don Pedro II to find out how the situation was, at first we feared that it could be a source of rebellion or foreign interests against Isabel I.
But on the contrary, in fact we and the admiral himself were surprised by the 'Venice of the Amazon', perhaps an exaggerated name, yes, but it was not a poor and small town.
Not only rubber thrived there, but there were also small businesses, some bars, a few churches and schools, even a theater. The wealthiest Russian-Brazilian barons could afford cars and luxuries, but the population was not exactly that poor, they had food (sometimes purchased and other times obtained through subsistence farming), shelter, clothing, and some extra cash a drink every now and then.
The city had more than 22,000 inhabitants but continued to grow at a rapid rate, mainly by ex-slaves (quite pro-monarchists) moving for work and economic success.
The Russians weren't bad people either, they were only interested in getting rubber, Brazilian politics mattered little to them as long as they could trade and Isabel I had no reason to alter the order of things.
The problem came when Admiral da Gama and other officers discovered some army officers trying to sell ... dangerous ideas, in Novo Alexandria. A dictatorial republic was better than a monarchy according to that official. "
Photos of Novo Alexandria, Brazil.
International]
On April 8, after a 75-round match, the last official match is given under the London Prize Ring Rules, John Lawrence Sullivan (heavyweight category) becomes the winner of said match.
On July 14, due to the difficult situation in France, the International Workers Congress takes place in Brussels on this occasion, giving rise to the Second International.
Formed by organizations of socialist and labor parties, with delegates from 20 countries. Unlike the First International, the Second International leaves out the anarcho-syndicalist and syndicalist movements.
On August 3, in southern Egypt, Anglo-Egyptian forces are defeated by Sudanese forces at the Battle of Toski, marking the end of the Anglo-Sudanese battles.
The Sudan Mahdist won and undoubtedly wanted to expand into Egypt, but after Toski they were occupying the largest independent region in Africa, and their logistics did not allow for more.
After Toski the war would simply be skirmishes and occasional border conflicts, but the English had effectively lost control of Sudan and more importantly, much of the Nile.
August 4, after the destruction of 32 blocks in a fire, begins a great process of architectural reconstruction in Spokane, Washington.
August 6, the Hotel Saboya opens in London.
On August 10, Kaiser Franz Ferdinand I gives the official opening of the Imperial Natural History Museum (K.k. Naturhistorisches Hofmuseum) in Vienna.
Between August 14 and September 15, a strike by dock workers of London begins for a minimum wage of sixpence an hour. They will eventually succeed.
August 26, the UK adopts the Prevention of Cruelty to, and Protection of, Children Act, which for the first time gives legal sanctions to child abuse.
Sometime in late August, the Moisés Ville commune was founded in San Cristobal, Santa Fe, Argentina.
September 10, Albert Honoré Charles Grimaldi is promoted as Albert I, Prince of Monaco.
*******
[Companies]
* SEiPK.
It is the mid-late 1889, after two years of work, the SEiPK of Nikola Tesla and associates begins to mass-produce its three-phase induction motor, the company carries out some demonstrations of its project in the city of Vladivostok to start the sale of the device.
The device has some success, especially with the growth of electricity use in Russia and various parts of Europe, but with the goal achieved, the Serbian-Russian inventor soon turns to other issues.
Tesla heard of Hertz and Popov's theoretical advances in electromagnetic waves and other scientific fields, finding it "refreshing."
For this reason, the inventor decided to focus on starting to develop radios (something that the Russian army was also doing independently).
SEiPK generally handled the sale of utilities, light bulbs, machine parts, electric motors, transformers and batteries, now induction motors, etc.
But this raised the possibility of going to other sectors of the civil industry and obtaining new recognition in telecommunications after the SEiPK had succeeded in creating the Transpacific telegraph.
*******
*Cards and board games.
On September 23, Tsar Alexander III buys the Nintendo Koppai company, that he just re-name as simply Nintento Company, from Fusajiro Yamauchi.
This seems to have had several strategies, on the one hand in a certain sense it continued the Russian-Japanese ties at an economic level, by simple market some businessmen and wealthy Japanese began to go to the Russian Far East, sometimes having their saunas and luxurious hotels, or moving entire companies to produce to the huge Russian market.
The Russians (or at least the Russian state) understood that Japan had quality producers and particular talents, which they did not hesitate to borrow, and the new Japanese economic classes enjoyed going to Russia for various reasons, a strong trading partner, many potential buyers , and a growing tourism industry that was close to home, etc.
On the other hand, Tsar Alexander III decided to try some experiments with the company, such as starting to manufacture card games and board games.
Quite experimental games for the time, which went through reviews of the Russian Orthodox Church and some censors. Thus the church made sure that it was not sinful at all, but actually something healthy to supposedly drive the youth away from sin.
Nintento in its early years began to make games related to Russian history and Slavic mythology (quite ... washed with elements of orthodoxy of course), for example the Siberian Trail (a group of Siberian settlers going to the Pacific coast ), games about the Napoleonic invasion of Russia, bogatyr's adventures, etc.
*******
*Alexander III and Nicholas.
Tsar Alexander III came to review in person the progress of his heir the Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich in the late september, and incidentally to discuss various matters.
"I'll be honest old man, I think buying Nintento was not very important at the moment." The Tsesarevich laughs drinking some fermented milk while he was riding with his father.
"Can't an adult have fun?" Alexander III argues nonchalantly.
"Well, you are the tsar." Nicholas exclaims. "But hey, let's talk business. What do you think?"
"... Not bad. When do your administrators say the Transmanchurian should be finished?" The emperor asks.
"At best, 1891." The Tsesarevich responds.
"... It's a good prognosis." Tsar Alexander III accepts simply.
*******
[Action Française]
*Perspective of Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras.
The French journalist took a photograph of the building, a slow and costly process but it would be the front page of the newspaper, a police raid had recently occurred where various dangerous socialists had been captured.
"Sir, sir wait. A word for the newspaper?" Charles Maurras, barely 20 years old, asks one of those in charge of the raid.
"Sure sir." The officer responds promptly, after all, it was a propaganda opportunity for the regime.
The Action Française, for which Maurras would be recognized, had not yet been founded, but he already worked in various newspapers controlled by the state, all of a Bonapartist-Boulangisme, Catholic-Christian and nationalist nature.
Despite this, Maurras was a personality ... curious, he wrote texts against left terrorism, Marxism, Zionism and Jews, leftist ideologies, republicans, etc.
But he himself had been an Orleanist (who had not been purged by a miracle), he did not like Boulangisme at all and he abandoned Christianity for agnosticism a few years ago.
We can see a hypocritical person abandoning his ideals to survive and pursue power, or we can see someone with certain ideas ... Maurras's ideas included putting the nation above oneself and everything else.
Maurras believed that he was doing a service to France by spreading state messages against leftist groups, some ethnic minorities and "enemies of the state" in the press.
With a growing talent for oratory, and being a "useful" element for the Boulanger regime, Maurras would begin to integrate and rise within the French propaganda machine in the 1890s.
*******
[The Bullmoose]
* Theodore Roosevelt perspective.
"The Travels of Theodore Roosevelt Jr".
"Late July.
From Vladivostok I traveled to Skovorodino, with the intention of taking a detour north towards Tynda. My goal was to reach one of the most interesting nature reserves in the Russian Empire, 'Pleistocene Park'.
For the journey buy some food reserves and take the Trans-Siberian, it would be a waste to visit the region and not use the longest railway in the world.
On the trip one can observe three types of landscapes:
1-The tundra and other landscapes of wild and natural Siberia, its forests, lakes, animals, mountains and more.
2-Russian rurality, small villages and other growing settlements, populated by hardworking and hard-working people from the cold climate and culture of the region. Some were white and some were diverse Asian tribes, so many that it would be difficult to list.
3-The large cities in which most of the stops are made, economic and industrial centers and large population centers. There were more amenities like education, electricity and services.
I must say that each place had its peculiarities, for example in many Russian cities I saw its lighted streets and luxurious buildings, neighborhoods and businesses with Asian influences but traditional European churches. In rural and native villages one can see cultural expressions that one would not normally see in the city. And in the taiga one can observe all kinds of occurrences, animals and the unique geography of the place.
I thought about after going to Yakutia to see the Pleistocene Park, I should go to Lake Baikal. "
*******
"Has someone else died?" One of the Trans-Siberian officials asks.
"A wedding this time, Princess Louise is marrying the Duke of Fife." The Tsesarevich Nicholas exclaims with some annoyance at being called again to an event in Europe. The official didn't know what was the duchy of Fife or just Fife but he didn't care.
Roosevelt was climbing behind the young man and his little conversation seemed important but his military escort was somewhat small, full of uniformed 'Cossack' men.
It turns out that Roosevelt ended up in a train car with one of these escorts. "Do you want some alcohol?" The Cossack promptly offers.
"Sure." Roosevelt readily agrees and invites something of his own reserve to the man.
Unknowingly, the American was drinking with one of the Tsesarevich's guards, just a few steps away in the train car.
*******
*In Pleistocene Park.
"I must admit, this is really interesting." Roosevelt adds by looking at a list of all the animals present in the Pleistocene Park preserve. "What is the purpose of such a large reserve?"
"The goal is to make Siberia a more productive steppe area, over time obviously. The tsar has been discussing the introduction of a few more animal species in the future." One of the managers reports to Roosevelt.
"This tsar seems like an interesting person. One of this cossack men talked a little about him in the travel" Roosevelt mentions before going to explore the nature reserve and make some observations of the place, its native species, etc.
*******
[Sports culture: Semifinals]
*Saint Petersburg vs Arkhahgelsk: The Saint Petersburg teams wins in a 3 to 1.
*Baku vs Minsk: The Minsk team wins in a 2 to 1.