July-December, 1928

Hungary's Dracula]

Hungary was the new Switzerland or its replacement, or at least that was the motto of the Hungarian right during the first decades of the 20th century after the other country, not so far away, had been transformed into a Communist republic.

The point was to make Hungary attractive to the Covenant financial classes and the entire world, as well as one that was economically stable and always marching to new heights.

This was certainly possible, with the growth of factories and real income among the Hungarian population, within the framework of the Covenant of Nations particularly.

However, the Hungarian economic growth was also accompanied by the need to make important concessions to the workers' Left, which was increasingly better organized and popular.

Result of various factors, such as freedom of travel and trade within Eastern Europe, industrialization of the countryside (leading many peasants to move to the city) and industrial growth, the population boom, and the results of massive programs throughout the Covenant. Such as the creation of social housing, education and mass mobilization, etc.

A cocktail that supports the low and medium Hungarian citizen, who obviously wants to lead more, instead of being in revolt to the old Neo-Conservative aristocracy (led at that time by Count Mihály Ádám György Miklós Károlyi of Nagykáro and other old aristocrats and landed magnates).

Although, of course, Hungarian politics has always been oscillating between this aristocratic/neo-conservative Right and the workers' Left... (The only exception to this period was World War III, where for obvious reasons the differences of the political spectrum were abandoned.)

The late 20s (July 22 of 1928) and early 30s were the turn of the workers' Left, then led by Béla Kun and Sándor Garbai, to lead the country.

In this period, supported by a curious ally, they won the heart of Hungary, in the context of the cultural explosion that occurred in the country during the growth of the economy and new technologies.

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó was born in "Lugos" (it has several names due to various ethnic groups and languages, in 1928 the Serbian Лугош/Lugoš was used - but being Hungarian, Lugosi knew the settlement as Lugos) on October 20, 1882.

The young Blaskó was drawn to the arts, a career rejected by his conservative father, which caused him to leave his home at age 12. He working as a miner and machinist before making his theatrical debut in 1902.

The following year Blaskó took the name that would identify him for the rest of his life, Béla Lugosi (in remembrance of Lugos). The critics loved him and he soon appeared in plays at the National Theater of Budapest.

During World War II, Lugosi enlisted and rose to the rank of captain in the Hungarian army. After the war ended, he returned to the theater but also began appearing in the growing Hungarian film industry.

But after the war, Lugosi protested against perceived injustices, such as low wages, labor exploitation and mistreatment of young cotres. He soon recognized the contributions artists could make to political struggles.

And Lugosi soon joined the Hungarian Communists, quickly becoming a high-profile organizer. Lugosi founded the Free Organization of Theatrical Employees, which is one of the bases of the first unions of actors and other film artists in the world.

Among Lugosi's articles published in Szinészek Lapja ("The Actor's Page") was one that discussed the exploitation of actors: "The former ruling class kept the community of actors in ignorance by means of various lies, corrupted it morally and materially, and finally scorned and despised it for what resulted from its own vices. The actor, subsisting on starvation wages and demoralized, was often driven, albeit reluctantly, to place himself at the disposal of the ruling class. Martyrdom was the price of enthusiasm for acting."

With his talent, organization and popularity, Lugosi was quick to win over the masses in many quarters of interwar Hungary, for the Communists and the fight against the enemies of the Covenant of Nations.

Lugosi was also an important fighter for other social causes, such as the fight against anti-Semitism in his homeland and supported in many ways the war against the Imperial Federation and its allies in 1937-1943 (he called for Social Aristocracy and similar ideologies " to be wiped out everywhere").

And he was not yet at the peak of his career in 1928, he wasn't yet Count Dracula (on the film screen at least). A character that, although it has its origins in Romania and has certain Slavic influence, became an icon within Hungary and the rest of the Covenant, due to the Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi.

For all this Lugosi reached an almost mythical status among the Hungarians, not only as an artist and cultural icon, but also as a social fighter and resistance figure.

Lugosi's legacy on the board of the Hungarian Ministry of Culture also lives on today.

*

[Atomic society]

The creation of the first European communist states and the reaction to these revolutions ended what was the mother nation of modern physics (Germany) at the beginning of the 20th century.

The cluster of scientists from Central Europe spread throughout the world, ending up in Russia, the United States, the European Socialist Union and Northern Europe.

Among the scientists belonging to the reaction (who were generally in the Imperial Federation, Sweden, Norway and East Germany), were the supporters of the so-called "Aryan physics" - a relatively popular idea in these countries, which were opposed to "Jewish Science."

These 'Aryan' scientists joined the ranks of various ruling parties or institutions, supporting what they believed to be a true path to progress.

They legitimately had some renowned scientists, such as Philipp Eduard Anton von Lenard and Johannes Stark in East Germany.

But one of the most unexpected and terrifying consequences of the cluster of scientists from Central Europe moving to various parts of the world, occurred in the Imperial Federation...

Around August 02-05 of 1928, James Chadwick, an English physicist at the time working under the supervision of Ernest Rutherford with various other physicists of the Empire and its sphere, confirmed the existence of neutrons (at that time only theorized, since 1920).

Which had important consequences in that later in the great powers, there arose the societies of physicists who would later be the intellectual authors of the first atomic bombs in Russia, the United States, the European Socialist Union and the Imperial Federation...

"Might not a bomb no bigger than an orange be found to possess a secret power to destroy a whole block of buildings—nay to concentrate the force of a thousand tons of cordite and blast a township at a stroke?"

-Winston Churchill, talking about the possible military implications of physics.

*

[Montenegro and Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro]

September 14 of 1928, Michael Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro, son of Prince Mirko and grandson of King Nikola I of Montenegro, abdicates the throne of the Kingdom of Montenegro.

After the death of King Nikola I, the throne had ended in Michael due to the resignation of his uncle Prince Danilo... the thing was that Michael or Mihailo I as he was called between 1921 and 1928, really wasn't interested in governing.

And these intentions had been made clear to Michael's relatives, the Romanovs in Russia and their allies in the Balkan states.

Some might compare this to the situation in Albania, which after the death of its King, with no apparent heir, became a republic, partly under the supervision and guarantee of allied countries, particularly Russia.

But the situation in Montenegro quickly became different, since the Petrović-Njegoš house was not abdicating popular sovereignty.

The throne, at least on paper, was ceded to the Serbian monarchy, led by the House of Karađorđević, at that time preceded by Alexander Karađorđević.

Why did the National Assembly of Montenegro accepted this? Well, constitutionally the King not only exercised the executive power, the King of Montenegro also shared the legislative power with the National Assembly..

And since the proclamation of said Montenegrin constitution at the beginning of the 20th century, the task of the National Assembly was actually rather the formal approval of the acts of the executive (the head of state and ministries, selected at the discretion of the head of state).

In summary it was a rather unilateral decision, especially when Michael I's decision was supported by the regency and Russia.

In short, the National Assembly did not have much choice, the orders came from much higher up...

And a good number of Montenegrins were not really against the idea of a personal union with the Serbian monarchy (even if there were technically more members of the Petrović-Njegoš dynasty or other alternatives)...

But obviously from this idea of Personal-Real Union between Serbia and Montenegro, the political unification of both countries in a single entity was eventually sought.

An issue on which a large part of Serbs and Montenegrins were relatively in agreement. They just did not agree on the form that entity should take.

There were Serbs and Montenegrins who supported the formation of a centralized unified state under the current regime.

Then there were the Montenegrins who also supported unification, but wanted the formation of a more federal state.

One that would allow Montenegro to decide its internal policy and other concessions (even according to some, allowing the Montenegrins to maintain their own dynasty).

And a conglomerate of other positions, such as independence, republicans and communists, among others. Although the previous two, called Whites and Greens, were the main ones.

It must be understood that Montenegro at this point was already a relatively well-established country, with its own industrialization, although definitely dependent on its major partners (Serbia and Russia). While pan-Slavism could be strong, so were certain interests held by different socio-economic and political classes, for example members of the old administration obviously did not want to lose all their privileges in case the centralists won.

So the division between the positions of the Whites (pro-centralists) and the Greens (pro-federalists), created quite a large polarization in Montenegrin society in the days after Prince Michael's abdication.

One that even led to violence between peasants, workers and intellectuals from all over the country.

This escalation of polarization in Montenegro implied the need for prompt and decisive intervention, due to the fart vacuum generated by the abdication.

The Serbs were the first to take advantage of the 'legality' that the abdication gave them, to go to support their candidates and allies throughout the country, in favor of the annexation of Montenegro to Serbia.

Something that Russia tacitly accepted, although maintaining forces inside Montenegro and Serbia to monitor the whole matter.

Montenegro did indeed have a series of localized mini-conflicts in various parts of its territory until December, while the Covenant and loyal Montenegrin forces keep 'peace' through force.

Meanwhile, new elections for a National Assembly were called in October of 1928, which obviously called for the unification of Serbia and Montenegro.

Some call this annexation and imperialism, others self-determination and unification, etc.

At least because this fact was accepted within the Covenant, it is partially because this event occurred between two members...the national barriers were already breaking down day by day between the Covenant countries, under the principles of cooperation and equality. Montenegro becomes one more part of Serbia and continues to be on an equal footing with respect to the rest of the Covenant countries.

There were similar unification movements with other Covenant countries within said, Bulgaria and Russia for example.

In addition to that there were other interests and alliances much bigger than Montenegrin independence, such as a new period of good relations between Hungary and Serbia.

***

[International: July-September, 1928]

July 1-6, elective period in the Free Republic of Mexico.

President Felipe Carrillo Puerto is re-elected for a second presidential term unanimously by the Communist Party and the national bodies. Contemporary and later sources (mainly aligned with the United States) obviously question the legitimacy of such a process.

Francisco José Múgica Velázquez, Minister of Economy, becomes Vice President of the Republic. He is a member of the radical (left) fraction of the Party, an ally and friend of the Minister of War Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (to which obviously promises have been made for the next government) and the ideologue Amador Salazar Jiménez. As a result of this election, groups of cadres and deputies were formed in the four great sectors of Mexican society at the time, aligned with the radical fraction of the party: Múgica's followers among the Workers and Peasants, the Cardenistas among the Military and the Zapatistas of Amador Salazar Jiménez among the Popular sectors (mainly mestizos and indigenous people from the Center-South of the country).

It was considered that Múgica would give continuity to the revolutionary ideals and would continue with his important intellectual-legislative work for the Mexican state.

During this period, important changes began in the Free Republic, which were more or less consolidated between 1928-1936, until the accelerated fall of the republic.

July 1, new criminal, civil and procedural codes for the territories of Laos approved by the local government and the Japanese and Thai-Russian governments in the condominium.

July 2, the temperance movement takes a strongly pro-Nat-Republican and anti-Democrat (and needless to say anti-Communist) stance for the 1928 US election.

July 3, animation begins to become more commercially viable and popular both in the cinema and on early television. Although at first we are mostly talking about animated commercials and small segments, and still not animated movies or serial cartoons in most cases.

This is the result of a technical evolution and the massification of the necessary technologies in a good part of the developed world.

July 4, British financier Alfred Léonard Loewenstein (from a German-Jewish family from the former Belgium, exiled from the continent during the revolutionary periods in Western Europe), dies during a flight in the North Sea.

At an altitude of 1200 m (4,000 ft), Loewenstein went to the rear of the aircraft to use the lavatory. Loewenstein opened the door on the left of the main passenger cabin, which was the aircraft's entrance door, and not the right door (the one on the right).

Which led to his death, the product of a fall from such an altitude into the North Sea. The body was never recovered.

At his time Loewenstein was one of the richest men in the world, worth more than £60 million (in modern times, equivalent to more than US$1 billion) - arguably according to some, the third richest man in the world in 1928, not counting heads of state.

There are several theories about Leowenstein's death, from that it was a suicide, to that he was murdered by his workers or by other groups (the Russians, the Euro-Communists, the British, American gangsters*, etc).

* It is argued or proposed that shortly before his death, Loewenstein had made a deal with various American crime bosses, to supply opiates to Europe.

Competing with the British drug cartels (which, in essence, were part of the state in some sectors of the Imperial Federation at this point in their history), and allowing the Americans to enter this European 'market' or the Eurasian Market via Europe.

July 6, 262 of 269 people on board of the Chilean Navy transport ship Angamos die during the sinking of the ship, which capsized in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the port of Lebu (port city and commune in central Chile).

July 8, U.S. Treasury report shows that the Internal Revenue Service collected almost $75 million less in taxes.

July 12, rescue of the last members of the Italia airship by the Russian icebreaker Svyatogor.

July 13, Peru-Bolivia and Chile agree to deepen diplomatic, economic and military ties, mainly due to obligations with the Imperial Federation.

This is technically a pretty big rapprochement, the biggest between Chile and Peru (albeit as part of Peru-Bolivia) since their previous wars and other conflicts of interests.

July 14, it is ruled in the courts of Berlin, that in the Prussian Republic of Germany, that businessmen cannot work with shirt sleeves, because it is immoral (things of the time and reactionary beliefs in the 'good past', dont ask much questions).

August 7, a tiny part of the Italian diaspora makes a return to the Italian peninsula under the promises and policies of the Italian communist government.

The results are mixed, not as bad as it might seem, but not particularly positive and utopian either.

The return of this diaspora, or well, part of it, can be explained by several factors. Among them: The deterioration of conditions in certain parts of the world and the fact that a good part of the Italian diaspora was related to the labor movements.*

*Until World War III and the first years of the post-war period, much of the Italian diaspora composed a important part of leftist movements.

Things became more divisive with the rise or influence of ultra-right groups later in the Cold War period, which also had its effects on the diasporas of certain groups.

August 9, the island of Palu'e was reported to have been virtually destroyed by the eruption of the Rokatinda volcano, the eruption resulted in the death of 1,000 people and destruction of six villages.

As this happened in the 'Indonesia' area, the old Dutch East Indies, not much could be done to rebuild or deal with the problem...

August 13, the Imperial Federation holds mock nighttime air battles in several of its most important cities (first in the British Isles and then in other parts of the Empire), to check the state of their defenses.

The official report of the time proclaimed that eight out of ten bomber raids were intercepted. Of course this officially.

Then came World War III, but that's a matter for later.

August 15-16, the Prussian Republic of Germany launches from Hamburg the SS Europa and the SS Bremen, two of the most advanced luxury ocean liners of their time.

Result of an important reconstruction and progress in the services and naval production sectors during the governments of the Red-Black Front.

It is said that even in East Germany this was celebrated...of course, because the East Germans saw Hamburg and other territories as rightfully theirs. And what was there, was also from them (expropriated and socialized sooner or later).

August 18, tropical storm swepts Haiti, resulting in 200 people dead and $1 million in property damage.

August 29, more than 10 years have passed since Albania became a Republic, after the death of King Juan Pedro Aladro y Castriota in 1914.

Some members of the republican government continue to wonder if it would be a better idea to return to the monarchy, with the danger of Communism increasing (mainly since the strengthening of Communism in the southern Balkans - and the creation of certain radical groups, although minority, for Albanians in those areas).

Due to this, the first monarchical restoration movement in Albania was created...

Although of course there is a problem for Albanian monarchists: who can and should be king of Albania?

August 31, Amelia Earhart crashed her biplane at Rogers Field (near Pittsburgh) when the landing gear broke.

Earhart and George P. Putnam (passanger) were uninjured.

September 4, the first cornerstone of the Deutsches Museum von Meisterwerken der Naturwissenschaft und Technik in Munich (Socialist Bavaria, West Germany) is laid.

One of the largest science and technology museums in the world today.

September 7, Italian-American mobster Antonio Lombardo (consigliere to Al Capone and president of the Unione Siciliana) was shot dead in broad daylight on a busy Chicago street corner.

The assassin ran into the crowd and escaped.

* His predecessors in the Unione Siciliana, a Chicago-based Sicilian-American organization, Angelo "Bloody Angelo" Genna and Samuel "Samoots" Ammatuna were also killed. In fact, at that time, the only president of the Unione Siciliana who had not been assassinated was Michele "Mike" Merlo (second president of the association)...

Unlike the rest, he died of cancer during the final days of his tenure.

**The organization continues to be quite influential among Italian-Americans today, though rivaled by other associations. In their time they controlled much of the Italian-American vote.

September 10, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies decides in favor of the elimination of all oil concessions in the country and the nationalization of the oil industry.

The Senate postpones a decision on this issue without a hearing.

September 13, the Okeechobee hurricane kills 312 people and left tens of thousands homeless in Puerto Rico.

Including later American deaths from places like Florida from the hurricane in the next days, there were more than 2,000-2,500 people killed.

September 19, the construction of the Chrysler Building in New York begins.

September 21, the 'general elections' end in Sweden, although calling them elections would be rather a mockery counting the state of the country at that time.

A. Hitler (of German origin) becomes the new leader of the country. Within what is a state actually commanded by the British, but leading at the end of the day.

September 23, more than 300 people die in a fire in a theater in Madrid, Iberia (ESU).

September 26, Chinese pirates hijack a British ship in the Gulf of Tonkin, making off with more than $40,000 in cargo and baggage from the 1,400 passengers.

During the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion, British and American fleets had had to deal with Chinese pirates, and in the following decades (circa 1860s to 1870s) the problem of pirate junk fleets was thought to have been dealt with (or at least with the great ones ceasing to exist).

Nothing could be further from the truth, saying that there were decades of poverty and problems in China, which obviously leave people on the periphery in extreme situations.

The ROC can't do much about this at the moment, after years of trouble in the country and just starting its reconstruction.

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[Euro-Communist experience vs Russian experience]

If one analyzes the first 30 years of the European socialist experiment (in the countries that make up the Communist bloc in Western Europe), one sees three concrete experiments before World War III (the post-war period is a different matter, which includes its own conditions, experiments and results).

1 - First experiment, Revolutionary Communism and War Communism: Equal distribution of poverty - which includes 'universal asceticism' and 'rough egalitarianism', criticized in the Communist Manifesto.

2 - The second experiment, the New Economic Policy of the Leninists: The belief that the economic capital of the bourgeoisie should not be subject to total expropriation, at least until it can serve the development of the national economy. Actually interpreted by some as a return to capitalism (a vision obviously rejected by the ruling Parties, little known and explored).

It ended with a mixture of internal and external situations that led to socialization, nationalization and collectivization.

3 - Economic collectivization: Partially the product of cultural revolutions and external threats to the socialist project, which led to the first steps of what is now the European advanced welfare state, but which also resulted in its own problems...

These were three totally different experiments, in a rather quick succession, but all of them were an attempt to build a post-capitalist society.

In a shorter period of time, after the Russian Civil War, the Russian Empire did its own experiment with the so-called Birdcage economy, which had just as rapid and impactful results in transforming Russia (and the world as a whole) as the European socialist experiments (with their own national and global impacts).

Focusing a little more on the Euro-communist experiments, in opposition to the Russian experience:

*The first experiment (in the revolutionary phases of European countries), was actually well received by some devout Catholic Christians in Western-Central Europe (Catholics like the French, Pierre Pascal [*] - not usually mentioned by Catholics or Communists alike).

"The rich are gone: only the poor and the very poor [remain]" - These strange Catholics and friends of Communism saw the widespread poverty and deprivation, not as wretchedness caused by collapse and war, but as purity and moral excellence.

Poverty and want should be equally distributed among all (a society of the poor and the very poor is free of the tensions and rifts caused by inequality and social polarisation), while affluence and wealth are sin...

The Communists criticized this as simply a desire to give Christian asceticism a coat of red paint, and they moved away from the idea that Socialism was the collectivization of poverty.

The Russians, for their part, as a country with a capitalist and imperialist character, but also collectivist, integrationist and cooperative in nature (in the mark of the Covenant of Nations and more), realized that: "Being rich is glorious."

Although better explained would be: "Being a rich country is glorious." (Build the wealth of the nation).

*A few years later the NEP took up the reconstruction work in the socialist countries after the initial revolutionary period. It sought to repair the damage and seal the possible gaps with the surrounding capitalist economies.

The economic foundation of the previous capitalist economies had been damaged (though not completely destroyed) and it was necessary to eliminate the mass poverty and famine caused by the revolutionary wars.

In addition, these new policies should improve the living conditions of the people and broaden the social basis of consensus on revolutionary power.

All of this entailed concessions to private initiatives and bourgeois elements, which were generously rewarded for their technical expertise, technology, and capital.

Domestically things improved enormously, and at least things held steady internationally.

Social wealth increased, there were more than just "the poor and the very poor". Which also meant the increase in social inequalities.

Causing feelings of betrayal among a certain part of the population, tens of thousands of Communist workers tore up their party cards in disgust at the NEP, which they humorously re-named the "New Extortion from the Proletariat."

"We young Communists had all grown up in the belief that money was done away with once and for all. […] If money was reappearing, wouldn't rich people reappear too? Weren't we on the slippery slope that led back to capitalism?"

-Memories of the post-revolutionary atmosphere and the NEP in the 1940s. Obviously the young Communists thought that the horror of war caused by imperialist competition in plundering Third World lands in order to conquer markets and acquire raw materials, as well as the domestic horror caused by capitalists searching for profit and super-profit, was over...

A certain lingering feeling of repugnance to the capitalist market and the comfort economy of the NEP developed...perhaps explaining why the youth took so hard on the subsequent Great Cultural Revolution.

There is not a good comparison with the Russian experience in this respect, although it is true that there was a period of reconstruction in the Russian Empire after its civil war, they are still two fundamentally different experiences.

The Russians had a Five Year Plan for reconstruction, but their domestic and international situation was completely different.

Even with a civil war, the Russian economy proceeded marvelously and the Covenant as a whole made progress in Eurasian integration.

* Collectivization, nationalization and socialization eliminated with it every trace of the private economy. We could argue that it was actually quite a violent process, where everyone involved fought ruthlessly from the countryside to society.

Not only because of the innate violence between the struggles of different social groups, but also because of the entire process of the Great Cultural Revolution that sought to shake the socio-cultural pillars of 'Western civilization', during this economic transformation.

Victory meant the advance of modern industry, the supremacy of collective farms, and the guarantee of economic and social rights like never before seen in much of Western Europe, including the construction of a fuller welfare state.

Which sounds good at first, but the Communist youth ran into problems...

After World War III (in which almost entire generations perished) came a period of relative normality and "peaceful" co-existence in the context of the Great Cold War.

The youth and masses had lost a certain enthusiasm and commitment to production and work, which led to stagnation, absenteeism and disengagement.

The youth that was born in the 10s and 20s, who lived and struggled in the 30s and 40s, by the 50s and 60s were no longer so young... and a certain anarchy spread in the labor sector and others, like universities. Even one of the fundamental principles of the European Socialist Union and of Marx and Engels had been lost: remuneration according to the quantity and quality of work delivered.

But this is already a completely different matter.

The Russian experience was certainly different, although it shares certain aspects such as the struggle between certain social sectors (which exists in every society), the mobilization of society in its own economic-political-social experiments and the construction of a modern welfare state.

One has to understand that the Russian government had, in a sense, more than 300 continuous years in power, unlike the Euro-Communist Parties, which simply took power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And there are Russian administrative regions the size of entire small and medium-sized European countries.

Although, of course, Russian industrialization had been relatively recent (with Tsar Alexander III), I still assumed that the Russian homeland had seen quite a bit of change in productive relations and its environment in recent generations.

In very broad strokes, from Feudalism to early Capitalism and State Capitalism, which finally concluded in what was called the 'Birdcage economy'.

Some authors would argue that the Russian economy became a mixture of private capitalism, state capitalism, and even primitive socialism.

Private enterprise exists and is even encouraged, the State owns and operates enterprises of all kinds (such as oil, salt, and coal), in some without establishing a monopoly on the industry and its products. Every private enterprise in theory can, and to some extent does, compete with the commodities of the state on the market. And finally there is the third kind of economy, made up of the establishment of cooperatives, in which the government and the masses participate as partners, competing not only with private capitalism but also with state capitalism.

Some argue that the Russian state then became not so much the manager of a planned state capitalist economy within a "birdcage", but an overseer of a "significant private economy", which also included their own "large private holdings."

It is essentially the existence of various forms of property and production, and the use of material incentives, which stimulate production through competition not only between individuals but also between different forms of ownership in the country, counterbalanced by strict state control directed by a joint dictatorship of various social strata (which would explain the co-existence of the Tsar, the Churches, the army, intellectuals, workers and peasants in a single state) with the RSDLP at the front of the national government.

A model that later emerges in other countries like India and modern Colombia, with their respective local changes and other different trends.

The Russian economic and demographic boom under this particular mode of production was accompanied by a phenomenon that is partly the cause of the end of the 'Colombian epoch' (roughly, some 500 years of history since the discovery of America) and that overshadowed many events. of the 20th century, Eurasian integration.

[*] Some of this, mostly French ones, even wanted to reunite the Western Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Very weird people.

*

[Death in the Family]

October 13 of 1928 - Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia died at the age of 80.

A funeral was held accompanied by all official luxury, foreign commemorations and days of mourning were held for the former-wife of Tsar Alexander III and the mother of Tsar Nicholas II.

Her remains were interred in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral alongside those of her husband, accompanying the other imperial tombs.

"In the orphaned Russia abandoned by Her, the meek, ideal image of the Royal Christian woman, surrounded by a bright halo of people's love and gratitude, will forever live."

-Comments similar to those made regarding the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II in his time.

Although the figure of the Empress Maria Feodorovna is enormously eclipsed by the figure of her husband and her first son, like other Russian Empresses she had considerable philanthropic-charitable work and had won the love of a good part of the Russian people.

She sponsored art (particularly painting), societies dedicated to health and aid to the needy, educational institutions, charities, and more.

She was survived by almost all of her children (Nicholas, Alexander, Xenia, Mikhail and Olga).

It is also interesting to know the effect of his death on his son Emperor Nicholas II.

Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov, at this point was one of the longest sitting monarchs on the European continent - he had outlived both his parents, his wife and two children...and in 1928 he obviously didn't know it, but he was also going to outlive many other people, like the rest of his siblings and a few political allies, but specially political enemies.

Which had its effect, especially in the personal life of the Emperor according to the primary sources of the time. Particularly the emperor, a teetotaler until he was 60 years old, began to drink Vodka in common ammount and increased the number of his eccentricities.

Almost ironically, late in his life Nicholas II was informally nicknamed 'the Deathless' (Бессме́ртный), similar to the Russian folkloric antagonist Koschei.

*[Perspective]

Cyril has noticed that his father almost hasn't left his office since the death and burial of the Dowager Empress...the only things constantly going in and out of the office are papers and workers (including among them, those assigned to deliver food to the emperor - he wouldn't eat anything otherwise).

Abandoning his thought of letting his father work while he minded his own business, the Grand Duke entered the office of the Tsar and autocrat of all Russia...

There was a certain smell of alcohol, very strange because the Tsar had been an ascetic all his life, but obviously the Tsar had undergone certain... changes after the death of the Dowager Empress.

-...Why is there a coin and a dinosaur?- Cyril asks, looking at the pot-like sized objects. They were a very strange decoration for the emperor's office anyway.

-You wouldn't understand, but your grandfather would have found it very funny.- Nicholas II insists, and it's really the only explanation he gives to the replicas of a Ruble and a dinosaur skeleton in his office.

***

[International: October-December, 1928]

October 2, the Catholic organization 'Opus Dei' is formed by the exiled Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás.

The organization during its relatively brief existence (a few decades), was involved in secrecy, elitism, cult-like practices, support for Christian right movements, and child abuse/protection of child molesters within its ranks.

Or at least that is the official version of the Catholic Church, a vision that some maintain is more founded on the political rivalries of the time within the Church, than on theological issues and facts.

October 5, publication of the book Undiscovered Australia by explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins (Australian polar explorer, ornithologist, pilot, soldier, geographer and photographer).

In the book, interestingly Wilkins claimed that during an expedition to northern Australia, natives with tails were found on Milingimbi Island (Yurruwi, the largest of the Crocodile Islands).

The island was a base for Imperial Federation forces during World War III and was also bombarded by the country's enemies during it.

October 7, conference of popular art in Prague held by the Covenant of Nations.

October 10, King-Emperor Edward VIII opens the Tyne Bridge, the largest steel arch in Britain.

October 12, a negative pressure ventilator (NPV) or better known as iron lung is used for the first time on a polio victim in Boston Children's Hospital.

October 13, declaration of 10 days of mourning in the Imperial Federation for the death of the Dowager Empress Marie of Russia, widow wife of Alexander III and mother of the then Emperor Nicholas II.

Just courtesy and diplomacy between the British and the Russians, and their royal families, but they all quite hated each other (and what's more, they only reached a higher point of hating each other since WWII, when they declared war on each other, again).

October 16, despite the national mourning, a general strike takes place in the Russian city of Łódź as a result of the mobilization of textile workers and the sympathy towards them on the part of the city workers.

Local authorities asked for state intervention in the matter.

October 20, Thomas Alva Edison was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

October 25, the Daily Express (newspaper of the Imperial Federation) reveals an alleged plot of Balkan origin (among Macedonians, Montenegrins and other discontented peoples or elements) for the assassination of the Serbian king.

This is quite debatable, at least from Belgrade's point of view...

October 29, most of Venice was flooded two feet deep after a gale.

November 2, after months of earthquakes and collapses of Mount Etna's central crater in Sicily (Italy), a lateral fault located halfway up the northeast slope of the volcano ripped open.

Toads and a portion of the Circumetnea train track were covered in molten rock over the course of the next three weeks. Nearly two-thousand acres of historic vineyards and agricultural space were destroyed, and the village of Mascali was buried.

November 4, unknown assailants shoot Arnold Rothstein, figure of the American criminal world.

It is alleged that Rothstein masterminded the transformation of organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a corporation-like big business, and that he was the first to see Prohibition as a great financial opportunity.

He dies 2 days later on November 6.

November 5, the final nationwide radio addresses are given for voters in the 1928 United States elections.

November 6, the new president of the United States is decided, the winning candidate is: William Gibbs McAdoo Jr (Democrat).

This marks the first Democratic victory in about 12 years after the National Republican Party's three presidential terms under Henry Ford.

The second most voted party is the Communists (threateningly close to victory, for a part of the polarized American population), leaving the National Republicans in third place.

In theory this promises a major shift in what might be expected in US domestic politics, with the end of Fordist rule...but it's hard to say if the Democrats can solve the problems plaguing the country.

It sounds especially difficult to try in just 4 years, with the very real possibility that the next administration will simply reverse all the Democrat decisions (for better and worse).

November 10, the MGM lion roar was first heard at the beginning of a film in the adventure romance film White Shadows in the South Seas.

November 16, record day for stock trading on Wall Street (6.6 million shares are bought and sold).

November 18, first appearance of the character Mickey Mouse in the animated short Steamboat Willie, by Walt Disney and others involved.

November 19, more or less sporadic massive 'celebrations' (rallies and more) by the KKK in various parts of the United States after the victory of William Gibbs McAdoo in the 1928 presidential election.

November 22, inauguration of the restored Hall of London's Inn.

November 24, first attempts to develop a commercial air service in the Republic of China.

November 27, at least 100 were reported dead in the western European storms of the past four days.

December 1, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake affects Chile, resulting in the death of 279 people (Talca earthquake).

December 4th, Henry Ford delivered his last State of the Union Address to the Congress of the United States of America.

An insistently optimistic discourse, about how the country is in the midst of more extensive prosperity, and more permanent peace, than has ever been experienced before...

An optimism that the Fordists of the past and modern support, although it is revisionist with respect to material realities (in part said 'prosperity and peace' allows them to blame the Crack of 1933 on the Democrats and other opponents).

Perhaps the best explanation is that for many Americans, the United States has always been too big to fail.

And if it does they just need to change the definition of failure.

December 6, armed forces in Gran Colombia shoot at workers of the United Fruit Company who were on strike in the Ciénaga region. The strike began on November 12, asking for decent working conditions.

47 workers are killed in the so-called Banana Massacre.

*United Fruit Company has not attempted a coup against a Latin American government since the 1950s - [Advertisement by Chiquita Brands International]

December 7, birth of the linguist and philosopher Avram Chomsky, in Kupel, Volhynia (Russia).

One of the fathers of modern linguistics.

December 8, Slight expansion of Prohibition before Henry Ford leaves presidential seat - making wine at home, or selling concentrated grapes with instructions for making wine from them at home, is considered illegal under the Volstead Act.

December 10, Montreal General Hospital badly damaged in fire.

December 11, during a National League meeting, President John Heydler proposed that baseball have a designated hitter rule.

John McGraw (MLB player and manager) approved of the idea, but it had little support otherwise, as run scoring was already at high levels at the time.

The position of designated hitter (a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher) would not be adopted in law until 1973 by the American League - and it would take much longer for it to be adopted by the National League.

December 15, certain fights in the area of the East German foreign ministry, between the most critical and the most silent, to the treatment of the Germans in the old territories now held by Russia.

The most outspoken critics (usually Red Baron supporters) obviously oppose positive relations with Russia as a result of Russification of such important areas as Königsberg (Korolgrad).

While the less critical (generally part of the followers of the Strassers brothers), maintain that for the moment it is more positive for East Germany to have good relations with Russia than to take action against the situation in the old territories.

December 19, Heinrich Brandler is purged in West Germany (ESU), for seditious activities after rejecting Party decisions and accusing the government of the People's Chancellor (Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann) of various crimes, including alleged embezzlement.

Brandler was one of the old leftists of the SPD, who had followed the founding father of the Free Republic (Karl Liebknecht) during the revolutionary period.

After Brandler's purge came that of other associates such as August Thalheimer, seen as 'fractional' in the context of the European cultural revolutions.

December 20, Sir Hubert Wilkins and Carl Ben Eielson mapped out more than 64.4 km (40 miles) of previously uncharted territory in Antarctica from the air during a 10-hour flight.

Casey Glacier, Stefansson Strait, Hearst Island, Mobiloil Inlet, Scripps Heights, Cape Northrop, Wilkins Coast and Eielson Peninsula were among the many topographical features discovered and named.

December 24, the Federative Socialist Republic of Italy begins draining the Pontine marshes, part of one of many projects in the country.

The plan on the Pontine marshes in general includes the elimination of diseases such as malaria in the region, creating arable land and settlements of various types, construction of infrastructure such as dikes and canals, etc.

December 27, unkown saboteurs derailed a train on the Santa Fe Railway at Hesperia, California, resulting in two persons injured (but there are no fatalities in the accident).

December 30, Scottish anatomist and anthropologist Sir Arthur Keith said that 45 to 50 was the age that humans were naturally meant to live to.

Sir Keith claimed: "Civilization, acting as the world's hothouse, gradually extended this age to between 65 and 75... Nowadays some even desire it to be prolonged over the century mark. I think it is one of the most foolish of things for man to want such a long life." Which he described as selfish (for older generations to "hang on too long" and block younger generations from getting their chance in life), and that it would be in the world's best interests to restrict human life to an age at which each human would produce at maximum ability.