That update before coming close to the elections (April-June, 1930).

Russian futurism]

The First World War and the Second World War caused the rise of certain artistic movements called "Avant-garde", which used to break with many of the normative aesthetic-cultural trends of their time.

In some countries they were more successful, and in others they were directly repressed for various reasons.

In the European Socialist Union these movements triumphed for a while - depending on the context (for example, they never were really too popular in Italy, curiously one of the parent countries of said movements) - until they were replaced by the so-called Socialist Realism, which seems to have gone down better with the authorities and arguably, with the masses.

In the Prussian Republic of Germany, these movements were poorly received almost from the start, due to their ideological-nationalist tendencies, which also promoted a particular aesthetic. The fact that the Vanguardists also had some leanings that could be perceived as leftist did not help, in the case of East Germany.

As a result of these avant-garde movements, a Russian Vanguardist movement also arises - among which are the 'Futurists' or Cubo-Futurists (although there are also other currents such as Abstractionism, Suprematism, Constructivism and Organic Direction).

They were characterized by:

*Rebellion, an anarchic perspective, and a expression of the mass mood of the crowd.

*Denial of cultural traditions, an attempt to create art that looks to the future.

*Rebellion against the usual norms of poetic discourse, experimentation in the field of rhythm, rhyme, orientation towards spoken verse, slogan, poster.

*The search for a liberated "self-made" word, experiments to create an "abstruse" language (abstruse - a literary technique that consists in the total or partial rejection of all or some elements of natural language and their substitution by other elements or constructions).

*Cult to the technology of industrial cities

Igor Severyanin, a Russian poet, is the first Russian to use the word "Futurism", and he proposes the term 'ego-futurism' in particular (circa early 1910s).

Although before Severyanin there was a group of futurist tendencies (their members adhered to cubo-futurism and invented abstruse poetry), Будетля́не (Budetlyánе, which derives from будет - will), which will transform in Гиле́я (Giléya, or Gilea - which comes from Гилеей/Hylaea, a forest area mentioned in "Histories" by Herodotus, supposedly in Scythia).

Publishers of A Slap in the Face to Public Taste (1912-1914), a collection of poetry declaring literally "We alone are the face of our time. Time's trumpet blares in our art of words. The past is stifling…Throw Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, etc, overboard" This work was the debut of poet Vladimir Mayakovsky by the way.

The Giléya group defended certain 'poets' rights', which included: To increase the vocabulary in its volume with arbitrary and derivative words (Слово-новшество, "word-innovation"), "an irresistible hate for the language that existed before them", and another bunch of alleged rights whose translation is probably lost to common people without the same sensibilities or worries.

The heyday of most of these Russian Futurists didn't last that long, not only because the normatives of the time - but also as plenty killed themselves* ("died voluntarily") in the period of World War II or later - some for rather unknown reasons.

*Others left the country, abandoned Futurism, or died of natural causes, etc.

As expected, in the first half of the 20th century in Russia, that moment of the 'golden age' of traditional culture during the reign of Nicholas II, or the massification of cultural products in the context of an industrial capitalist economy (which included the industries of comic books, films, radio and early television) - the prevailing cultural establishment did not receive Russian Futurism entirely well.

One author who always had problems with this cultural establishment of 'elites, experts, critics', etc. - even if he enjoyed some relationship with the state itself - was the aforementioned Vladimir Mayakovsky, the only Futurist to made it into the mainstream current of Russian popular culture.

An agitation propaganda creator and artist in his own right, with the image of a hooligan and a stormy romantic life.

Mayakovsky was characterized by contemporaries as one of the greatest Russian poets of the time, and was also heavily criticized, as was to be expected from such a position.

With works that kept in this Futurist trend, but could also could delve towards populism and Russian patriotism, not completely foreign to the masses - or to the bad and silly works from time to time, we must also say (supposedly Tsar Nicholas II himself called one of Mayakovsky's poems 'trash', but that means the Tsar read it, which is something).

With these features, Mayakovsky inspired an artistic trend, or rather a sensitivity and style, that survived him for decades to come - whereby the heirs of avant-garde Russia, which lived through the early decades of the birdcage economy and subsequent cultural policies, mixed elements from various media. emerging (cinema, television and radio - Russian Futurism has always been characterized by being mostly present in the literary world, not outside of it) and the Russian ideological trends of the moment, and/or World War Three.

There is a slight inspiration from Mayakovsky and futurist ideas or aesthetics in Russia that become more present with the second half of the century, and the popularization of Science Fiction or new ideas - as is precisely the exploration of space and Russian culture around this.

Possibly as a result of technology having advanced to the point of being able to better transmit these ideas, or socio-cultural changes of the moment.

Mayakovsky killed himself on April 14 of 1930.

"Do not blame anyone for my death and please do not gossip. The deceased terribly dislike this sort of thing. Mamma, sisters and comrades, forgive me — this is not a way out (I do not recommend it to others), but I have none other. Lily — love me…Comrades — do not think me weak-spirited. Seriously — there was nothing else I could do. Greetings."

Russian authorities re-named his native town of Baghdati (ბაღდათი), "Mayakovsky" (მაიაკოვსკი/Маяковский) in the 10th anniversary of his death - it gained the status of city some decades later in the 1960s.

"For Workers of Kursk" - Photomontages by Y. Rozhkov (1924), inspired by 'To the Workers of Kursk' of Vladimir Mayakovsky.

(OOC: For those interested, the source is this).

***

[Tourism]

A brief story of tourism as we understand it in current contexts:

From the 19th and 20th centuries, new forms of tourism began to emerge, in developed and semi-developed countries in particular, companies specialized in tourist services began to emerge - responding to a new mass and social tourism.

Giving rise to a rapid development of the tourism sector, and mass tourism infrastructure - which depended on other factors such as the evolution of means of transport (increasingly faster and more efficient, just to put some characteristics - and quantitative changes too, such as the appearance of more roads and highways).

The first luxury hotels appeared in Germany and Switzerland already at the beginning of the 19th century, then travel agencies and paid holidays appeared.

Mass recreation, sports tourism and military application sports were stimulated in some countries during the interwar period, before World War III (particularly in Russia, the Imperial Federation, the ESU and the USA).

After the Third World War a new stage begins from the late 40s, 50s and 60s - with the even more active development of travel companies, massive construction of hotels and various entertainment establishments.

The Russians also have their own local history of tourism, already regulated by the state around the early 18th century - although of course we would have examples of earlier tourism such as pilgrimages and travel in the Age of Discovery, 15th-17th century.

In 1717, Peter I signs the Personal Decree N.3092, "On the search for mineral waters in Russia" - which some historians consider the beginning of state regulation in the field of tourism.

On January 19 of 1719, the Russian sovereign left with the entire court to the mineral springs that had opened in Olonets ...

By the 18th century there was already a hotel industry (inns and guest houses, including its state hospitality system), health trips (more common in these centuries than in modern times), and educational tourism (also supported by legislation).

This early regulated tourism tended more to the Enlightenment era - with the development of industrial capitalism in Russia under Alexander III, "Entrepreneurial" tourism appeared, precisely related to this change in the modes of production.

At the end of the XIX century in Russia there were more than 36 tourist centers and 60 sanatoriums, which did not stop increasing.

During the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, trends that were already seen at the end of the reign of Alexander III will be completed, the centralization and regulation of tourism will take place - within the context of the Russian Empire of Tsar Nicholas II and the RSDLP, and the Covenant of Nations.

Originally tourism, depending on the type, depended on one ministry or another (generally education or health) - although decades later we will see the development of a Central Council of Tourism and Excursions, under the hands of union structures of the Empire.

Although that would be getting a bit ahead of us.

In the early 20s in the tourism industry work was done around the tasks of attracting young people to local history, sightseeing tours, resorts/resort companies, sanatoriums and health, extracurricular work, etc.

During the early years of the birdcage economy in the late 1920s, under these conditions, the regulation and institutions of mass tourism in Russia developed.

Especially among young people and families, with destinations such as Yalta/Crimea, Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk, Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa - and excursion routes through Siberia, the Caucasus, etc. - and industries such as metallurgical industry (ferrous metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy, electrical industry, mechanical engineering), mining (coal, copper ore, salt, petroleum), chemical (basic, phosphorus, porcelain), silk, wool, cotton, and others.

And where do Russians like to go abroad?

Well, despite having the largest country in the world, and almost every possible climate or ecosystem, Russians are also very fond of traveling abroad - particularly to the Emirate of Ha'il, India and Southern China.

*Perspective.

May 8 - 1930, Crimea.

Tsar Nicholas II is with his sons on the Black Sea coast...well, with Sergei - Cyril fell asleep in one of the estates of the Romanov family in the peninsula and spends his time more with other people than family in this 'vacations'.

-I don't know how you two convinced me to come, I hate the beach- The czar insists on his chair, while he continues reading.

Not far away is the Grand Duke Sergei, between sunbathing and jumping into the Black Sea.

-I'm not complaining, for a few years I hardly left Siberia and I need sun, sand and all that- Sergei mentions, it's good to spend some time with his family... although his father is more of a curmudgeon than what he remembers (good that at least he isn't asking him to hurry up and get married, yet) - and his brother became even more of a snob (Sergei did not think that was possible) - and Maria...well he has hardly see Maria enough to appreciate the changes.

-Grow a little though-skin... I prefer Siberia to the beach- Nicholas Alexandrovich responds, as he tries to refocus on his book.

-You seem like a grumpy old man- Sergei warns as he dives a bit into the water.

-I am.- Nicholas mentions before reading on, muttering a bit under his breath.

***

[Mladorossi]

"God is not in power, but in truth!"

-Union of Mladorossi youth wing motto.

A few months before the 1930 elections in the Russian Empire, among mainly young people -mostly born after 1895-, a new political group was formed on June 1.

Result of the material and subjective realities of Russia at the time.

Have you seen that type of group that claims to be 'neither left nor right, forward'? And/or groups that actually they tend to be another part of the center-right spectrum, while at best taking on certain progressive aesthetics...

Yes, Russia also has such groups.

These were the Младоро́ссы/Mladorossi, or also called the Union of Young Russians or the Party of Young Russians.

A group that at least in word, tried to unite the hegemonic left (represented by the RSDLP) and the right (actually a bunch of factions after the Russian civil war) tendencies in Russia.

Led by the hitherto largely unknown Alexander Lvovich Kazembek, who claimed to be an heir to Alexandrian 'apolitical' thought, Stolypin, Premier Stalin - and a lot of people with whom he never had any real relation, but as propaganda, it served well enough.

He was just graduated from political sciences in 1925, we could not asked much of him.

As can be supposed, this movement was eclectic (it tried to gather and reconcile values, ideas, tendencies and others, from different systems), and actually had several internal factions.

But it soon expanded to include some other organizations, such as:

*The Младоросский студенческий союз/Union of Young Russian Students

*The Казачий центр младороссов/Young Russian Cossack Center

*La Молодёжный спортивный союз;/Youth Sports Union

*The Женский союз содействия младоросскому движению/Women's Union for Assistance to the Movement of Russian Youth

*And the Ассоциация русских ассирийцев/Association of Russian Assyrians.

And publish newspapers like: Бодрость! (Cheerfulness!), Младоросская искра (Mladorosskaya Iskra), К молодой России (To Young Russia), Казачий набат (Cossack Alarm) and Казачий путь (Cossack Way).

The major trends that can be recognized, especially in its early years, are simply Russian nationalism, political populism (both from 'left' and 'right'), and certain forms of orthodox-leaning clericalism.

Although inside there were also Eurasianists, some types of Conservatives, Socialists and Progressives, and Corporativists/Solidarists*.

In a certain sense, the Mladorossi proposed the idea of the "Tsar and Council" (Veche and/or Soviet) - for the Party, Russia already lived in its near-perfect society: an autocratic and "ideocratic" monarchy (a social system based not on tradition and not on material interests, but on conscious ideas - ideology, which points to the breadth of its influence, to the full inclusion of minds).

As Peter I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II were exemplifying - what was needed was a "party of order" (in charge of the spiritual education of the nation, and led by the head of government - not directly in charge of managing of the state), and the Councils (as non-partisan self-government bodies, which interact with local authorities, and the central authority, headed by the monarch - without true parliamentarism, which supposes representative elections).

Of course they wanted to be the ruling party, instead of conforming with living in their already almost-perfect society (according to such ideas).

*At least they said they were Corporativists in a 'Christian Democrat' sense (in this sense, Corporatism as a political theory according to which the elementary cells of society are certain social groups, not individuals - association of brotherhood and solidarity of individuals on a professional basis, not as a joint-stock company).

During World War III, not wanting to be confused with the Anglo-Saxon ultra-right Corporatists, they called themselves "Solidarists" (a political theory about the need for solidarity and the desire for commitment, social cooperation and spiritual trust between various sectors of society, including classes, parties and interest groups - through the construction of mutually beneficial agreements centered on common interests, or on a set of voluntary communities).

***

[Romanov dynasty]

Status of the Romanov dynasty at 1930.

Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov (Nicholas II, 1868 - ????) + Jelena Petrović Njegoš (Elena of Montenegro) †

Nicholas Nikolaevich Romanov †

Mikhail Nikolaevich Romanov †

Maria Nikolaevna Romanova (1901 - ????) + Nicholas of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (Principele Nicolae al României/Prince Nicholas of Romania)

Konstantin Nikolaevich Romanov (1924- ????)

Alexander Nikolaevich Romanov (b. June 8 of 1930 - ????)

Cyril Nikolaevich Romanov (1903 - ????) + Maria of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.

Anastasia Kirillovna Romanova (1926 - ????)

Nicholas Kirillovich Romanov (1928 - ????)

Sergei Nikolaevich Romanov (1906 - ????)

(OOC: Just added two more - I know I did not update this in a while but oh well I wanted to do it now).

***

[International]

April 2, almost 100 passengers and crew on the Japanese ferry ship Wakato Maru die after the vessel capsized in a gale off Kyushu - we must add that the small ferry was overcrowded beyond its normal capacity.

April 3, for the first time, the ceremony of the Academy Awards is broadcast live on the radio (hosted by Los Angeles station KNX), unlike the previous year (in fact, first Academy Awards) the winners are not announced in advance.

April 4, the American Interplanetary Society was founded to conduct rocket experiments.

Years later, around 1937 or later years, the organization would change its name to the American Rocket Society - its final name until merging with the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences, to become the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

Death of Queen Victoria, recognized among Swedish monarchists as queen of Sweden - as wife of King Gustaf V (Oscar Gustaf Adolf, of the Bernadotte dynasty).

The Swedish government (then led by Adolf Hitler), and the Russian government (where the former ruling dynasty lived), did not comment on it - in Sweden at the time, the news seems not to have caused much of a stir, although in the Faroe Islands and Denmark there were some expressions of solidarity.

April 6, the twinkie, a popular snack consisting of a (then banana) cream-filled sponge cake, is created at the Continental Baking Company in the Chicago suburb of River Forest (Illinois, USA).

April 9, sell of Brunswick Records to Warner Bros by Brunswick-Balke-Collander Company.

April 10, several police raids by the British government take place in the city of Bombay, against Indian independentist organizations.

April 11, closure of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the late Japanese Empire, as a result of one of the usual economic declines during this period.

Years later the stock market would close completely - never to reopen, at least for the moment.

American scientists predicted that man would land on the moon by 2050.

Mankind was ahead of this prediction by 83 years (1967).

Pin of 50 years of the first moonlanding, 2017.

(OOC: This is my pin, they give it to me back in high school).

April 16, the first time a 'red baptism' has been seen in various parts of the European Socialist Union (in a moment of popularity, it seems), a tradition that had only existed in the Spanish Pyrenees and Italian-Austrian Alps regions since the 1920s.

After the communist revolutions, some of the traditionally Catholic towns (such as those in Northern Iberia and Italy), carried out the secularization and 'socialization' of some rites and ceremonies, such as Christian baptism.

Of these strange rites a few words still survive: "We cover thee not with a cross, not with water and prayer-the inheritance of slavery and darkness, but with our Red banner of struggle and labor, pierced by bullets and torn by bayonets... We bid the parents of the newborn child: bring up thy child to be a devoted fighter for the liberation of the toilers of the entire world, an advocate of science and labor, an enemy of darkness and ignorance... To the patron of the newborn child, comrade [name], we give these instructions: as far as possible, aid and assist the parents in their educational work and in their concerns for the future heiress of our general cause."

-Document of the first red baptism (a girl's baptism), Circa. 1923.

This is another sample of the Christian tendencies still surviving somehow in the later Communist countries.

April 18, a typhoon swept through the island of Leyte (Philippines) causing extensive damage.

The BBC announcer announces that "there is absolutely no news to tell the listener today"; instead of news, the radio played piano music all day, which is a rare event for a news channel

April 19, first Looney Toons cartoon is released (Sinkin' in the Bathtub) by Warner Bros.

April 21, worst prison fire in US history takes place in the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, leading to the death of 320 inmates.

The Presbyterian General Assembly (a church governance from the US) publicized the findings of a commission appointed to investigate marriage and divorce in America. One section of the study blamed rising divorce rates on cultural tendencies such as jazz due to its "primeval jungle tom tom" which "inspires contortions of dance unfitting to incipient rheumatics", as well as stage plays and films in which adultery was "the fashionable theme".

April 23, "public enemies" enters in the general lexicon as the Chicago Crime Commission used it in 28 gangsters.

As curious fact, Chicago north side mob leader Al Capone is identified as "Public Enemy Number 1" - tho he isn't the first person to receive said 'title'.

April 25, Ralph Capone (Al Capone's older brother) is found 'not guilty' on four counts of tax fraud..

April 28, a solar eclipse takes place, with the path of totality passing through the northwestern United States and across central and eastern Canada (Imperial Federation).

May 1, 18 people die in the Hippo Wars in the South of the US.

May 5, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck southern Burma (now called Myanmar since its independence), killing at least 500 people.

May 6, a 7.1 magnitude strucks northwestern Persia and southeastern Anatolia, killing at least 1,360 people.

May 10, the National Pan-Hellenic Council is formed on the campus of Howard University in Washington - this is an umbrella council-organization composed of historically African American fraternities and sororities, also referred to as Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs).

May 11, in the USA, New York Police Commissioner Whalen issued a report saying that the city's violent crime in 1929 went down 11% (compared to the previous year of 1928), although the number of murders increased from 339 to 357.

May 14, Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico) is established as a National Park of the US.

May 19, some white women are given the right to vote in the state of South Africa, Imperial Federation - which un-ironically makes South Africa (in which the Apartheid already existed as a term) slightly more progressive than other parts of the Empire, the marvel of relativity.

May 26, the International Olympic Committee selected Madrid to be the host of the 1936 Summer Olympics (Madrid 1936) - which Iberia (part of the European Socialist Union) called the 'Olimpiadas Populares' (People's Olympics).

The name was used mostly nationally, rather than internationally.

Reportedly, rioting in various sections of British India left 35 deaths - very possibly more.

May 27, the Chrysler Building in New York City opened to the public.

It was the new tallest building in the world at the time, but this was rather briefly, as the Empire State Building replaced it a year later, when it was completed.

May 29, despite being illegal at the time, there is a case of bullfighting in Iberia - this ended in 17 arrests, the promoters of said event, who in their defense said that it was not illegal because "it was not going to be bloodshed" (it is more difficult to explain how there wasn't going to be any bloodshed).

June 4, the National Bank of India and several shops in Delhi are burned in a "mysterious fire".

June 5, suicide of Bulgarian painter Julius Mordecai Pincas - the child of one of the richest families of the city of Vidin.

June 9, reporter Jake Lingle of the Chicago Tribune is shot to death by mobsters in the Illinois Central station, in front of many witnesses - after his death, newspapers of Chicago offered over $55,000 in reward for information leading to the conviction of the killer/s.

The man convicted of the murder was mob associate Leo Vincent Brothers - the "plot twist" of the story is that actually Lingle wasn't killed because of his journalism, but because of his own criminal activities (he was involved in racketeering with the Capone), as revealed later.

June 11, the state of the UK (Imperial Federation) launches three new R-class submarines (the Regent, Regulus and Rover), the last of a new class of patrol submarines in the early 1930s.

June 13, death of Sir Henry Segrave (pioneer in land speed and water speed records) in a boating accident.

June 20, implementation of some protectionist tariffs on imported goods, in the United States of America during the McAdoo administration.

June 21, some incidents are reported between the border of communist Mexico and the United Mexican States (the north, puppet of the United States).

The Emirate of Ha'il, whose territories include Egypt, offers some statues to East Germany in exchange for recovering Ancient Egyptian statues - among the most famous statues that Ha'il wants to recover is the bust of Nefertiti (the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten), which ended up in Germany during the times leading up to World War II.

The German-Prussians refused.

The Russians would return some of the objects to Ha'il after World War III - some said this was illegal, but Ha'il claims that the objects should never have left Egyptian territory in the first place.

Ha'il has still asked Russia to return other Egyptian objects to them by the way, Russia of course, also refused in most cases.

June 24, 40 Burmese prisoners and 5 guards are killed in a prison riot in Rangoon (largest city in the British colony of Burma).

June 25, king-emperor Edward VIII, members of the Imperial cabinet and 160 bishops attend a service in St Paul's Cathedral, celebrating its lengthy restoration.

June 27, American businessman and politician Ross Perot is born.

Some have accused him of being a Russian asset - the Russians don't have much problem in joking about this, tho is possibly true.

June 29, canonization of the Canadian/North American Martyrs (eight Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie, ritually tortured and killed in the mid-17th century) as saints by Pope Pius XI (Pietro La Fontaine of Venice).