Russia under heaven (October-December, 1885).

Tsardom of Bulgaria]

It is on October 13, 1885, the Tsardom of Bulgaria celebrates the visit of the Russian imperial family, led by Tsar Alexander III, to Veliko Tarnovo, capital of Bulgaria. The Tsar is visiting to speak with his cousin, Sergei I of Bulgaria.

What was initially an informal meeting, had quickly become a business meeting between families.

"You see, we want to celebrate the first 10 years of Bulgarian independence, we already have some preparations and it would be nice to have you as a guest of honor." Tsar Sergei introduces his cousin.

"Ah, it would be an honor." Tsar Alexander III gladly accepts.

*******

"Well then. How should we deal with Greece and the Ottomans?" The friendly discussions between cousins soon involved not only Sergei of Bulgaria and Russophile associates, but also some pro-Russian Serbs (Nikola Pašić leading) ousted by King Milan Obrenović, and delegates from Romania and Montenegro.

"Are you planning an intervention in the Greek affair?" Tsar Alexander III questions seriously.

"Well, it depends." Sergei I responds.

"We can't do it ... alone. Probably." The Montenegrin delegate inquires.

"Of course ... But you see, a Balkan intervention in the Greco-Ottoman conflicts is not the best situation at the moment." Tsar Alexander III assures.

"Why? The deterioration of the Ottoman Empire can only be of benefit to us." One of the Bulgarian officers exclaims, supported by some people present.

"The deterioration of Anglo-Greek relations also benefits us all." Tsar Alexander III responds. "The English cannot allow further losses for the Ottomans at the moment. If the English intervene then Greece falters. If George of Greece accepts the English demands, his popularity decreases among its population and creates social problems in Greece. If George of Greece does not accept the English demands, that means that he breaks vital ties with the English, and the English lose soft power over the Greeks, more problems between and for them. "

"... And what happens if the English don't intervene?" The Romanian delegate asks.

"So the Ottomans just continue to bleed to death, there is no situation where we do not lose, except when we intervene directly." Tsar Alexander III responds. "If you are not satisfied with my answer, then I regret that Russia will not be ready to lend its full support."

"..." The Bulgarian officers were the first to support the Russian idea, the Montenegrins followed, then the Serbs and finally the Romanians.

Russian influence in the Balkans was considerable in two of the four Slavic states, except mainly in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The young Bulgarian army was forged by Russian officers, the Bulgarian officers understood that Bulgarian independence was partly a consequence of Russian intervention, diplomatic and dynastic ties between Sergei I and Alexander III, etc.

Montenegro on the other hand obtained useful subsidies for its economy through Russian investment in the region.

Unfortunately although Rudolf I stayed away from Bosnia and Serbia, King Milan of Serbia was pro-Austrian and supported the liberals opposed to the radicals, generally pro-Russian.

Bosnia was simply far away for geographical reasons.

*******

Speaking of lateral Balkan diplomacies, Tsar Alexander III considered and discussed some marriages between Balkan royalty and the Romanovs of Russia.

In 1889 by this diplomacy the Montenegrin princesses (daughters of Nikola Petrović-Njegoš of Montenegro) Milica Petrović-Njegoš (born in 1866) and Anastasia Petrović-Njegoš (born in 1867) would marry the Grand Dukes Peter Nicolaevich (born in 1864) and Nicholas Nikolaevich (born 1856) on July 26 and August 7.

On the other hand Tsar Alexander III discussed a marriage for his second son, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich, with Princess Marie of Romania.

(OOC: In case you don't remember, ITL she is alive).

*******

[Work for the Tsesarevich]

The Tsesarevich Nicholas was working on some papers during his stay in Veliko Tarnovo along with the rest of his family, unlike his siblings who were hanging out, the Tsesarevich was currently doing 'chores'.

"What are you doing?". Tsarina Joana (Yana) of Bulgaria appears, asking a bit confused about seeing her family member working instead of having fun on his vacation. Pulling on her hair is the newborn Tsesarevich of Bulgaria.

"Oh, I'm just doing some reports for the Ministry of Finance. We have a 3,000-sheet report that seriously needs to be cut down." The Tsesarevich Nicholas responds.

"Are you already working? You are still young, go and enjoy yourself a little, surely there is a girl who would not be bothered with your company." The Tsarina exclaims playfully annoying the Tsesarevich.

"I'm not exactly working yet, not officially at least. But I want to make a good impression." The Tsesarevich Nicholas assures.

Jan Gotlib (Bogumił) Bloch's report sponsored by General Mikhail Skobelev was quickly accepted by Tsar Alexander III of Russia, and the Tsesarevich paid particular attention. Now the Ministry of Finance, Trade and Industry and associates were doing the job of compacting more than 3000 pages of information relevant to future Russian wars.

The Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov, on the other hand, understood that he would soon have to work for his father's government, and decided to fix his attention on the task of compacting or helping to compact the report to work in the ministry of finance, commerce and industry. .

This in the opinion of the Tsesarevich would allow him to gain experience, and potentially contacts or a good image for his own future government.

Tsar Alexander III simply supported the 'working spirit' of his son.

[Annex: Family of Russia and Bulgaria]

The Imperial House of Russia, or simply the House of Romanov (after the reforms of Alexander III) is made up of the legitimate line descended from Nicholas I of Russia.

* Alexander III of Russia + Maria Feodorovna.

** Tsesarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov (born May 18, 1868).

** Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich Romanov (born June 7, 1869).

** Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna Romanova (born April 6, 1875).

** Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich Romanov (born December 4, 1878).

** Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna Romanova (born June 13, 1882).

(OOC: Obviously ignores many other descendants of Nicholas I lol)

The royal family of Bulgaria is descended from the dynasty of the 'de Beauharnais' of Leuchtenberg and the Romanov dynasty, Tsar Sergei I in particular is the grandson of Nicholas I of Russia, through his mother Maria Nikolaevna (sister of Alexander II) , wife of Maximilian de Beauharnais, 3rd Duke of Leuchtenberg, Prince Romanowsky

* Sergei I of Bulgaria (Sergei Maximilianovich Romanovsky / de Beauharnais, born December 20, 1849) + Joana of Bulgaria.

** Tsesareivch Alexander Sergeyevich Romanovsky / de Beauharnais (born June 15, 1885).

*******

[Ministry of Interior]

Interior Minister Mikhail Loris-Melikov had obviously spent years working on the jubilee of 20 years of Tsar Alexander III's rule, the celebration this time going beyond the second Grand Meeting of April.

The celebration would be present especially in Saint Petersburg, included in many parts of Russia, that meant significant reserves of vodka, some holidays, propaganda, gifts, etc.

But there were also other important matters, state meetings, diplomatic talks (courtesies), and a lot of security for Tsar Alexander III, etc.

The event would bring together obviously senior state personnel and provincial envoys, it was a huge opportunity in short, but they couldn't afford mistakes.

Public transportation and services still had to run efficiently and on time, etc.

Meanwhile Loris-Melikov and Tsar Alexander III himself had lists of various matters to be discussed:

(OOC: Not in any particular order or importance).

* Technological and other recent developments in the navy.

* Technological and other recent developments in the army and associates of the Ministry of War (aviation experiments, mechanized units, the Bloch report, etc).

* Surveys of literacy results in the Russian Empire.

* Colonial programs in Cameroon, Madagascar, the Horn of Africa and Namibia.

* New developments of industrialization and Russian economic development.

* Programs of infrastructure, architecture and other developments of the Russian Empire.

* Alexandrian project of possible special economic zones.

*New Silk Road.

*Discussions about labor rights.

* Discussions about medical security in the colonies and Russia.

* Discussions about universal healthcare system or similar (at least dental care).

Among many other possible topics for discussion.

*******

[Pleistocene Park]

Tsar Alexander III continues his natural projects in Russia, when he creates what he calls "Pleistocene Park", in ancient times there was a biome called "Mammoth Steppe" (which is essentially the same as a Tundra Steppe, but with different animals) that it stretched from Spain to Canada, and from the Arctic to parts of China.

Unlike the modern Siberian taiga, the Mammoth Steppe was predominantly highly productive grasses, grasses, and shrubs (as opposed to hard-to-eat Siberian forests for animals, after the extinction of species such as mammoths).

The Mammoth Steppe had thrived for 100,000 years almost unchanged, until it was simply over. But parts of the ancient steppe or the like remained in, for example, the Altai region (due to its geography).

Tsar Alexander III simply decided to do something similar in his Yakutia reservation (Pleistocene Park), simulating the conditions of the aforementioned Pleistocene epoch.

The reservation in 1885 includes:

* Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus).

* Elk / Moose (Alces alces).

* Yakutian horse.

* European bison (Bison bonasus, present in other reserves of Tsar Alexander III).

* Mountain hare (Lepus timidus).

* Black-capped marmot (Marmota camtschatica).

* Arctic ground squirrel (Spermophilus parryii).

* Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus.

* Diverse species of voles.

* Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx).

* Tundra wolf (Canis lupus albus).

* Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus).

* Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos).

* Wolverine (Gulo gulo).

* Sable (Tuesday zibellina).

* Stoat (Mustela erminea).

*******

[Pleistocene Park: Military Moves]

Despite the fact that in essence Tsar Alexander III quasi-unlimited power to make decisions in many respects, to maintain some support in his 'small' Yakutia project, Tsar Alexander III decided to do some tests in the region.

Russian Carriage Works (Российский вагоностроительный завод, Rossiyskiy vagonostroitel'nyy zavod), a state-owned company headed by Fyodor Abramovich Blinov began to work on the idea of 'mechanized units' for the war ministry.

The job of the former would be to mobilize troops and supplies through territories that would not necessarily always be efficient or prepared.

Also experiments regarding the armor of these vehicles to protect them against projectiles.

After the first successes of mechanized units were obtained, Tsar Alexander III thought to evolve this made more offensive possibilities.

In the process, some areas of the Pleistocene Park were cleared of nuisance trees (not very productive and of little nutritional value for native animals) and the armies were able to practice maneuvers and experiment with the aforementioned mechanized projects.

*******

[Russian Indonesia]

Russian Indonesia for its part continued to grow, obviously with Russian investment and its objectives towards Africa, the Russians, colonies and their protectorates followed their agreements regarding various joint developments, Russia obtained rights to exploit resources, various goods, etc.

Novaya Gvineya grew, while Bali and Aceh continued to modernize their power and defense structures, their economy (innately linked and dependent on the Russian in many respects) and Lanfang obtained weapons.

This meant that the percentage of Russians and Russian speakers (members of the Russosphere) increased in the region, especially in Novaya Gvineya and Aceh as older regions of Russian Indonesia of course.

This represented a new development of the 'New Silk Road' (Новый шелковый путь, Novyy shelkovyy put ') produced by Russia. From Indonesia came spices, dragon beans, and various other materials. Silk came from the Far East, Korea and Japan, and porcelain and other materials could travel from China and Russia.

Not only that but the Russian railway network allowed that from Vladivostok and any other part connected to the Trans-Siberian and more, products could travel from the east to the west (Europe).

Central Asia, the Caucasus, etc., various regions of Europe far from the European part could now send goods to European markets, this also included the more developed colonies of Russia.

But there was still a lot of work to do.

Speaking of trade and the development of Russian capitalism in general, the participation of Russian commercial fleets generated the formation of new companies, mainly of Slavic origins (Russians, small Russians and White Russians) and Finns.

Many of them dedicated to the transport of goods, but others that also invested in local extractive, agricultural or manufacturing industries.

*******

* Perspective of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.

The international community had accepted that Russia's Maydel Expedition was the first expedition to reach the center of the North Pole, very relevant and important news in its own right.

But on the other hand, from his boat, Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld watched his homeland, Finland.

In his time (1850s) Nordenskiöld was expelled from Russia for his views on the dark future of Finland within the Russian Empire, and the loss for Finland by the deterioration of its ties with Sweden.

However, Finland was not as Nordenskiöld himself remembered it, ships of all kinds flowed, there were many more buildings, a much larger economy, Finnish and Russian were more and more dominant, more universities, etc.

The people were undoubtedly still happy, the emperor's flags were fluttering in the wind, the famines had stopped, there were more railways, better infrastructure, etc.

More importantly, the people seemed happy ...

Nordenskiöld was left thinking. How different was Alexander III from Alexander II?

*******

[International]

The Royal Navy begins to discreetly mobilize troops to Greece to avoid or resolve a conflict in Northern Epirus on October 12, similar to how the Greeks were arming (without the consent of their government) serious problems on the border with the Ottoman Empire.

At the beginning of November the third Anglo-Burmese war begins, which marks the end of Burma (the Third Burmese Empire or Konbaung Dynasty) as an independent state, since the remains of its territory are integrated into British India.

This obviously marks pressures in Siam and to some extent in German Indochina, which has interests not only to the north but also to the west (Laos) now that they have undoubtedly been able to defeat Qing (although the Sino-German war has not yet come at its end of course, the Germans have simply continued to win against the Vietnamese now abandoned by the Qing).

November 14, a Greek people's army (made up exclusively of civilians in this context) crosses Ottoman territory to unite with its brothers and sisters in Northern Epirus, proclaiming the union of this land with the Kingdom of Greece of course.

In a beginning between days 14 and 16, the army of Greeks effectively defeats the Albanian-Ottoman forces in combat, but the English do not plan to allow further dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, as they fear that other Balkan states will take advantage.

This undoubtedly marks the English intervention in the Northern Epirus region, leading to an Anglo-Greek battle on November 17, where the Greek people's army is defeated by English forces.

The battle involves 20,000 English marines against between 32,000 and 40,000 Greeks, of whom approximately half and a little more die (more than 16.000-20.000).

The battle is undoubtedly bloody and breaks out within the international press, but the United Kingdom effectively ends the conflict about 10 days later, allowing Epirus of the North and some other territories to join the Principality of Albania (Ottoman vassal).

But obviously causing cracks in the Balkans, the Greek population could not be more angry, the government itself is angry and in protest some of its members resign when part of the diplomatic service is trying to keep Greece pro-British.

December 1, Dr Pepper is served for the first time.

December 28, a group of Indian lawyers, academics and journalists come together in Bombay to form the Congress Party, or Indian National Congress.

*******

[Terrorism]

The Narodnaya Volya was de-facto dead for years, this included other terrorist groups of populist origin from Russia, other anti-tsarist groups were now mostly of foreign origin (made up of émigrés who escaped or simply left Russia).

Yet there were obviously still anti-tsarist people within the Russian Empire, even within the Russian gentry and certain parts of society.

Some against the government of Alexander III were younger than others, for example there was Aleksandr Ilyich Ulyanov, barely 19 years old (born on April 16, 1866).

The young man was not doing much at the moment, but in December 1885 he would win a gold medal in his studies in zoology. Young Ulyanov had spent many parts of his summer collecting material on his own about segmented freshwater leeches.

The following year Ulyanov would sell the medal to complete his terrorist objectives.

*******

[Last 4 of soccer]

The last four times for the 5th edition of the Russian Soccer League are selected.

*Yuriev.

*Vladivostok.

*Sevastopol.

*Grozny.