Man this sucks (January-March, 1904).

Economics: Poaching]

"Poaching", if we take the literal meaning, we speak of a horrible practice that continues to occur today, metaphorically we also refer to an 'aggressive' buying style of industries, which some consider was invented by developed capitalism in Russia.

Tsar Alexander III and other Russian capitalists, faced with another decline in the world economy that caused some blows and deficiencies in the Russian economy, began the purchase and mobilization of factories, technologies and brilliant people, businessmen and some workers from abroad to Russia.

It is not the same as Russia did in the Russosphere (carried out through state policies and treaties between minor countries and Russia), it was towards countries outside the Russian sphere of influence, so this was later called "poaching".

Due to the aforementioned world economic crises, there was a wave of companies going bankrupt, especially in Germany, Scandinavia and some other parts of Europe (where there was no socialism or state capitalism).

Russia took advantage of this to take control of the German means of production and bring them to Russia, taking a certain part of the regional industrial production that was falling. This obviously moved to the industrial centers of European Russia (except for the majority of the Polish Congress).

This 'aggressive' take (as described later) meant that Russia was able to make up part of its lost production and obtain technologies and developments in which it was weaker.

Why (in the case of Germany) did the German government accept this? Well, although there were protectionist measures, they did not go far enough to avoid this and also Germany still needed Russian products to continue its war economy in the Haitian conflict.

The other governments simply did not have the strength to do much more.

Russia had strong industrial sectors and technologies of course, but no country is perfect, and because of its conditions, all have errors and advantages in various sectors.

Russia simply decided to go the easy way to seize German advantages and fill in Russian disadvantages, allowing growth in Russia's weak sectors and technologies.

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[Economics: Other Measures of the Great Depression]

The closure of the Tehuantepec Canal (which by treaty was in Mexican hands although Germany financed it and had troops there) was the trigger for major declines in international trade and the global market, some historians and economists consider this the Great Depression while others They insist that the Great Depression began with the collapse of the stock markets in France, London and New York.

Russia and some other large economies had managed to stay relatively afloat, but further steps had to be taken to prevent the national situation from further deteriorating.

So far the Russian Empire took the route of carrying out large public projects (in Russia and the Russosphere) to keep the workforce productive and move the economy, but Tsar Alexander III and Sergei Witte (minister of finance, trade and industry) had to delve into other measures.

That is why Russia's state banks began offering low-interest loans to private corporations and the state began to buy excess agricultural products from the agricultural sector.

In exchange for these loans, the corporations and their employees would stay afloat (with low interest, although still generating a debt with the state).

Regarding the purchase of agricultural products, this kept the Russian sector moving and allowed the government to generate food reserves for the population or humanitarian causes (and to some extent control prices).

While this could be extended to the international sector, the truth is that Russia in general only began to subsidize the agricultural sector of the Federation of Rio Grande do Sul.

Of course, other measures already established continued, and Russian capitalism, although battered, continued to save itself from most of the great problems at the international level.

The reason these changes were not accepted or imitated elsewhere was because other countries did not have the post-Fashoda money cushion that Russia had (so Latin American or poor European countries could not adopt it), and those countries they were busy with other matters (Germany and the United States in the Haitian conflict, the civil war in France, or the poverty that existed in the countries).

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[Slavic Africa: Namibia and Madagascar]

*Namibia.

The truth is that Namibia was little affected by the international crisis, a product of being for the most part a geographically difficult territory and which depended mostly on Russia. Namibia was precisely a port of escalation for the Russian navy (armed forces and the Russian commercial fleet) and trade on the Russian trade routes (the New Silk Road).

So Namibia simply received the consequences of the economic blows in Russia, but did not receive other consequences as such, since Namibia did not have much trade with the British Empire or other countries.

During this time, in January 12th, in northern Namibia, through diplomacy between Russian settlers, native workers and local Herero tribes (inhabitants of north-central Namibia, who generally practice herding), they chose an individual to be the spokesperson for the Herero within Russian Namibia.

This was Samuil (Самуил, in Russian, although it can also be translated as Samuel or Shamil) Maharero, the son of Maharero kaTjamuaha, a wealthy rancher (cattle raiding ended under Russian colonial rule) and a Herero soldier.

Also Samuil Maharero would be accompanied by the king (chief) of the Nama, Nanseb Gâbemab (currently born in Cape Colony, for which he was also known as Hendrik Witbooi).

These renowned natives were sent to Russia to represent the Namibian colony, as there would no longer be Grand Meetings.

Certain matters had to be discussed, although these representations were achieved by democratic means, they were due to economic discussions.

On the one hand, labor protections for the growing cotton industry, and more importantly, the defense of the new diamond deposits discovered in Namibia.

Faced with these issues, the native militias of Namibia continued to receive modernized weapons and training. They were not properly an army, but Samuil Maharero and Nanseb Gâbemab managed to build a remarkable disciplined force.

Regarding the economic sector, the Namibian economy increased in prosperity with the discovery of diamonds, although the conditions of the cotton industry improved only slightly.

As a result of the technological conditions of the time, mechanization still had much room for improvement in the face of the inefficient technology of the early twentieth century and human labor.

(OOC: Still, without a Herero genocide, the local population must be somewhat larger).

Fortunately, water management in Namibia became more responsible, and deaths from dehydration became less common.

This undoubtedly caused a small population increase, but not very noticeable, after all Namibia was still a very difficult place.

This is why the region was Russian Australia.

*******

*Madagascar.

Similar to the case of the feudal Russian Empire and the Qing dynasty, the island of Madagascar suffered a series of historical famines, little documented but existing.

In 1904, after years of Russia bringing food, machinery and agricultural products to the region, the last regional famine occurred on the island of Madascar.

This is obviously a historical milestone caused during the Russian colonial administration (as opposed to the British colonial administration, where certainly preventable deaths continued for centuries or decades).

It does not mean that colonialism is good, but it indicates that the administration of the Alexandrian period left something good out of its imperialism.

This event was obviously accompanied by local population growth, Russian and native settlers generally increased after these events.

But this was a serious national damage to the Malagasy, more specifically to the native monarchies, although this occurred under the Malagasy monarchy it was due to the action of the Russian economic administration.

And it is obvious that the growing Malagasy Orthodox, the island's army and economic elites, certainly preferred Saint Petersburg and Tsar Alexander III, than the Malagasy monarchy itself.

Supported because unlike Queen Ranavalona III, Tsar Alexander III did have direct heirs, while in the case of the death of the queen, the Malagasy monarchy had to pass to another relative.

Above all, a lack of segregation and the prohibitions of colonial racism between Russians and natives helped, there was simply a greater admiration of the natives for the figure of Russian tsarism.

This is why there was a growing group of Malagasy people who, at the beginning of the 20th century, wanted the Tsar of Russia as head of state.

*******

[Russian Culture: Social Realism]

Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov was an increasingly popular and rising writer, already becoming popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known as a creator of popular literary movements in the golden age of Russian culture / literature. By this time Peshkov was already becoming increasingly known by the name of Maxim Gorky, between 1904 and 1906.

He was initially known simply as "Gorky" (which can be translated to 'bitter') when he published his first short story in 1892, "Makar Chudra".

Gorky was a playwright, writer, and honorary Academician of Literature, but had experience as a loader, carpenter, dyer, baker, builder, reporter, security guard, etc.

One of Gorky's charms is that he grew up and traveled, usually on foot, through Alexandrian Russia in the midst of the reforms of the 1870s and 1880s before the writing of Makar Chudra, with an acid style that became more positive with the passage of time.

So Gorky went from fame to national recognition, but from January 22, 1904 to 1905, Maxim Gorky became the "proletarian writer" and started the 'Social Realism' movement. The root of the 'Socialist Realism' movements in other parts of the world.

Gorky simply demonstrated his affiliation with the new socialist and social democratic ideas in Russia, their ideals, and the life of the Russian worker at this time and during Russia's historical past.

*To be honest, in times of the Great Depression, the life of the ordinary Russian worker could be pretty idyllic for some. After all we are talking about the time when bread was a luxury in increment.

However, the most outspoken criticisms of the Russian state and its policies were not allowed, forcing Gorky to export some of his works that could not be produced domestically.

Gorky remained popular domestically in the Russian Empire, but in reality his works simply became more and more popular abroad, especially Iberia, Italy, France, the United States and parts of the Balkans (Greece, Serbia or Romania mainly) .

The translations were not always accurate but the Italian, Serbian and French versions are quite good.

Which is why Gorky became quite famous around certain parts of the world. A remarkable and certainly unexpected export of Russian culture, which he had many other things to offer such as the ballet, circuses and other playwrights-writers.

Gorky is not forgotten in Russia of course, but his influence and popularity is more present in some foreign areas.

*******

[Diplomacy]

Between February 8 and 9, a series of raids occurred in Korea and Manchuria, provinces of the Russian Empire. These raids put an end to attempts to form smuggling circles of Japanese criminals in Russia (and among them not only criminals, but also spies).

While the authorities do what they can to prevent anti-Japanese attacks on the Russian Empire, as there are true hardworking and innocent immigrants, the truth is that relations between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire continued to deteriorate despite trade between both empires.

It is simply because of the radicalization of the Japanese army and political-administrative elements in the midst of the global economic crisis, the growth of anti-Russian societies and the growing popularity of anti-Japanese cliques in Russia (desires to expand in the area of the Russian Empire). Japan).

Of course the Okhrana and the army, among others, fought and generally defeated the most notable elements of Japanese infiltration in the Russian Empire, but this did not mean that conflict was avoided.

In the midst of the international crisis, the most liberal policy of the Japanese diet was being defeated by the Prime Minister, who was part of the spheres of the Japanese imperial army, in opposition to the liberals and the Japanese imperial navy (generally pro-Russian).

And it is because of all these tensions, developments and actions, both Russian and Japanese, that the anti-Japanese lobbies in Russia and the anti-Russian lobbies in Japan, grew.

The Japanese ultra-nationalists wanted Manchuria and Korea, while the immediate Russian interests were Sakhalin and the Kuril, although there were more ambitious people who wanted more.

Similar to this Japanese situation, there was the nationalist government in Greece, which had growing tensions with Ionia and Russia.

There were attempts at diplomacy with Japan and Greece. Greece in particular generally relented, but the situation in Japan did not improve in particular. Partly because of the inaction of the Emperor of Japan and the lack of Russian control in the main islands of Japan.

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[International]

January 7, the Marconi International Marine Communication Company creates the distress signal 'CQD'. A short time later it is replaced by the distress signal 'SOS'.

January 8, the Blackstone Library is created, which starts the public library system in Chicago, United States.

January 12, Henry Ford as well as other disgruntled anti-imperialists and republicans again oppose the Caribbean conflict, the war between the United States and Germany.

January 16, great losses in the southern United States between both sides. The logistics of the US and German armed forces are complicated by various geographic and local factors (such as hippopotamuses).

Thousands of locals take up arms to join the US military against the Germans, but the American South is vast and there are plenty of places to hide.

In addition to this, the threats in the Mississippi delta cause great economic problems in the region and beyond, due to problems in transportation and nearby affected industries.

January 23, fire in Ålesund, Norway. This fire leaves more than 10,000 people homeless due to the destruction of their homes and / or other shelters.

January 25, after years of notable comments, Halford Mackinder officially presents articles about "The Geographical Pivot of History" or also called 'Heartland theory'.

This article, one of the foundations of geopolitics, explained the existence of Heartland, the center of the World-Island (made up of most of Europe, Africa and Asia).

"Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland;

who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island;

who rules the World-Island commands the world. "

-Halford Mackinder.

According to Mackinder, Russia was now seriously a threat more than ever before, as the Russian industrial revolution meant that Russia had equaled (or nearly equaled, to maintain Anglo-Saxon pride) the West in equipment and organization (causing the recent failures of the 'civilized' countries in containing Russian expansion into the Ottoman Empire and China).

Although Mackinder continued to insist that Eastern Europe was inferior in culture and 'manhood' (in a context of a more backward society due to Russian autocracy and other cultural aspects seen as inferior).

He stating that Russia was a serious threat to the British Empire, whether Russia allied with Japan or China, or Germany. In fact, Russia was practically already a threat, and one that was very difficult to attack due to Russia's geography and economy.

These ideas, which were part of the basis of geopolitics, certainly influenced many of the political and social aspects in the United Kingdom of the Social Aristocrats.

Some insisted that Russia should be turned into a "geographic term" and therefore for this the division of Russia as a country was needed, forever.

February 7-29 (1904 was a leap year), great battles in Aquitaine ended with the victory of Charles Maurras, certainly forcing the Iberians to take more defensive positions near the Pyrenees (where they began to harass the rebel supply lines) .

This ends with the destruction of more than 1500 settlements at the hands of the Maurras forces over 3 weeks.

Maurras' victories in Aquitaine allowed him to focus his attacks on central France to attack the central government (based in Paris, with Pierre Curie as de-facto leader).

February 10, the fleet of the Kingdom of Italy is defeated by the socialists in Italy, and with this they basically condemn even more the participation of the Italian royalists in the war and force Maurras to re-organize their Mediterranean supply lines.

Basically the attempt to re-conquer failed enormously, and the Italian socialists actually managed to give more space to their French and Iberian allies.

February 17, despite the elections approaching, it seems obvious that the end of the Caribbean conflict is not about to approach, especially when the Mexican front has just begun.

Due to this in the United States there were several attacks against people of Mexican or German origin in the United States (present above all in the South in the Mexican case, and in the Midwest in the German case).

Some propose the need for concentration camps to deal with potential problems, but many still oppose it, such as Governor Robert La Follete or Senator Henry Ford (who come from areas with a large Germanic presence).

February 18, the Baja Calfornia peninsula is briefly taken over by anarchist-libertarians led by the Flores Magón brothers, Jesus, Ricardo and Enrique.

The Americans thought that the fight would be easy, after all in a short time they abolished the Anarchist-libertarian California of the Flores Magón. They did not advance as much as they expected in northern Mexico (they did not reach Mexico City as in previous conflicts, a product of Mexican industrialization) but they advanced in border territories.

But then in the occupied territory pockets of resistance began to emerge, attacking soldiers and destroying US supply lines, caused precisely by the 'collaborators' and criminals that the United States had financed.

Nationalist uprisings erupted throughout northern Mexico, attacking the American outpost and seriously delaying them. These pockets of resistance, while not pro-Porfirio Diaz or pro-imperial, were still strongly Mexican nationalists opposed to the United States if they invaded Mexican soil again.

Among these were, for example, Francisco Villa (also known as Pancho Villa) and Emiliano Zapata.

Venustiano Carranza and Álvaro Obregón were part of anti-Porfirista forces but also anti-United States, so they formed a brief coalition with other forces from northern Mexico and the imperial government to fight against them.

Francisco I. Madero, although he originally obtained arms from the United States, gave in to unite with the government and guerrillas from the north to fight against the United States.

As a result, some of Madero's forces deserted from his side, joining Victoriano Huerta, a loyal military man to the United States.

February 22, guerrilla Francisco Villa achieves a remarkable victory over US forces, and on February 28 he advances on Texas-American soil, attacking a nearby village and retreating to return to the Mexican border.

Of course this was not a strategic or major victory, but it was a symbolic victory for the Mexicans and had its impact on the American psyche, like the German invasion of the American South.

The US military immediately put rewards on many of the guerrilla leaders, thinking that many Mexicans would hand them over on a silver platter.

February 23, the Haitian front ends when the northern rebel government finally takes control of the southern government, forcing the Republic of Haiti into exile in German Suriname.

Despite this, the war does not end, with more than 10 million dollars spent in this conflict, Germans in the southern United States and Americans in northern Mexico.

For this reason some begin to call the conflict the Great Caribbean War, the Fashoda of America or the Great American War.

February 28, the iberian mobilization continues, forces from Portugal and Andalusia arrive to cause more problems for the French rebels of Charles Maurras, who had achieved successes in the center of France.

March 3, Kaiser Wilhelm II rejects US peace proposals to end the conflict, marking this in a speech, which is one of the first recorded German political documents (via Thomas Edison's cylinder).

The German Empire intends to 'teach a lesson' to the young America for its interference in European affairs, a direct mockery of the Monroe Doctrine.

March 4 to 26, Charles Maurras proclaims "the Crusade for Paris", the rapid mobilization and series of victories of the rebel forces towards Paris, the old capital of the "legitimate" French state.

The victories were mostly against semi-rebellious states and not against the central government, which on the other hand was withdrawing forces towards northern France, destroying supplies and roads.

On March 26 the forces of Maurras had tried to besiege and take Paris, the government of Pierre Curie was still there after all, it seemed the final battle for many.

But Maurras, like Pierre to be honest, was not the best military genius. These quick victories were mostly against anarchists, liberals and others (states or rebellions of a few days or weeks, not the central government) and the loyalists made a scorched earth tactic that made rebel logistics quite difficult.

For this and other reasons the 'Miracle of Paris' occurs, the force of the central government supported by the intransigent socialists of Jules Guesde and voluntary legions defend the French capital against the rebels, resulting in their victory over Maurras, whose forces are forced to run back from the legitimists.

In the midst of this, the Iberian and Italian socialists achieve serious victories in the south of France, cutting off and encircling the rebel forces to the south and north.

Maurras and the deserters were in Algeria, but soon after came news of the surrender of almost all the rebel forces in mainland France. These were captured and locked up or executed-assassinated.

The civil war in France was not quite over, but it was obvious that the rebels would never have another chance like this to take Paris.

On the same day 80,000 demonstrators in British South Africa oppose the import of Chinese labor into the region.

March 31st, a small uprising of Tibetans opposed to British colonialism is crushed in the Battle of Guru by British authorities and their Tibetan puppets.

Horrible punishments and torture are meted out to the captured rebels, in general British Tibet was so horrible for applying many of the traditional practices of the Tibetan theocracy, the French-boulangerist Africa and the Anglo-Saxon Social Aristocratic cruelty itself.

*******

*Perspective.

Franz and Claus were somewhere in the American bayou (the Mississippi delta), the German squad was part of the Germanic invasion of the United States. No one could tell if it was a disaster or a success, but it was costly for everyone.

"Man, this place sucks." Franz exclaims forgetting his work while using US bills to fuel the fire (the dollars were also suffering more and more inflation, just like the German mark by the way).

"Stop distracting yourself and check this out, there Americans over there." Claus promptly insists, watching through his binoculars as the fire promptly goes out. Those Americans were part of the American militiamen.

Franz was pointing at them. "Let me know when."

"Wait, stop. Check this out." Claus exclaims having fun when he passes the binoculars to Franz, a herd of hippopotamuses was appearing, scaring the Americans, who although they tried to respond with their weapons, they did not have much opportunity in front of one of the behemoths of nature.

"Hahaha! Amazing." Franz claims when then the germans got surprised by a big reptile, but less scary than the hippopotamuses.