The power of friendship and integration (January-March, 1908).

Caucasus]

12th of January.

More cultural developments in Russia, in the city of Baku (more specifically in a theater of the oil magnate and philanthropist Haji Zeynalabdin Tagiyev) the opera "Leyli and Majnun" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov (Uzeyir bey Abdul Huseyn oglu Hajibeyli) is performed for the first time.

Leyli and Majnun has the achievement of being the first Azerbaijani opera, and whose production launches various musical and public figures of Russian Azerbaijan to fame. The opera in fact not only does this, it lays the foundation for the Azerbaijani opera in general and the Mugham opera (folk music of the Azeris).

Hajibeyov (until then more of a professor) rises to fame as products, composer, playwright, author (dictionaries, scientific articles and collections, satirical and journalistic articles) and public figure. He also created the first Baku opera company in 1908 and would teach many relevant figures in Azerbaijani music in Russia.

Russia had many important cultural developments going on in various parts of a gigantic empire, geographically and culturally speaking.

But this is not the only important thing that happens in the South Caucasus during these periods in Russia, the cultural development was accompanied by many political and economic developments.

On January 20, many of the great railway lines of the Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian and Azerbaijani regions in the Russian Empire are officially terminated.

Kilometers and kilometers (more than 3,000 kilometers) of railways and infrastructure, connecting the conquered parts of Anatolia, Russian Kurdistan and the major cities of the South Caucasus, branching out to other cities and connecting to the Russosphere in the Middle East (and to a lesser measure towards Persia).

Tbilisi, Kars, Erivan, Baku, Van, Trebizond, and many other cities within the Empire and on the coasts of the Caspian (Azerbaijan) and the Black Sea.

In a period of 10 to 11 years (13 in the largest of cases) the main and most complicated stages of this were complicated, and it was a huge advance.

Oil from the Middle East (in the Russian Caucasus-Armania and Iraq, Shiite Iraq, Kuwait and other areas of the Russosphere) flowed, but not only this, so did the development of other industries, both extractive (gold, other mineral resources and raw materials) as more elaborate (textile, automotive, automobile, consumer goods, metallurgy and military production).

In Greater Armenia especially, the Armenians lived through golden years, from their developed commercial tradition (trade, financial services, extractive industries) taking advantage of how Russia's internal markets and internal transportation expanded, making everything much easier.

The control of Tsargrad meant the export of products to the Mediterranean at low cost and the internal railway system of Russia allowed the mobilization of human and economic resources.

The Armenian upper class was allowed to send their future generations to the best education in Moscow, the lower-middle class on the other hand had more local services thanks to the development in infrastructure or could go looking for work.

Also from the Russosphere in the Middle East and Anatolia (Ionia, Cilicia), many trained people (the brain drain) or cheap labor came to the Russian Empire, who obviously had to pass through these areas of the Russian Empire (the great Armenian, Russian Anatolia and the South Caucasus).

The Kurds of the Russian Empire for the most part had no intention of unification with independent Kurdistan (under the Russian sphere), because the living conditions in the empire were much better than in Kurdistan.

The Azeris and Georgians had their favorite developments, although in particular the Georgians from time to time had problems with the Armenian bourgeoisie and the Azeris with other ethnic groups.

There were some other problems of course.

Some Russian citizens, especially those from the western Anatolian territories and eastern Tsargrad territories, had problems with the Turkish refugee crisis arriving from the Republic of Turkey.

The republic was in the midst of a civil war and revolutionary conflict, leading to the border movement of Turks escaping from this. It was partly the fault of the actions of Russia, but in turn certain citizens did not want to deal with the consequences of the Russian actions (partition and destruction of the Ottoman Empire and creation of the Republic of Turkey).

The government decided to resolve this some time later.

*******

Suren Spandarovich Spandaryan, an Armenian critic and publicist, met with Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, one of the leaders of the RSDLP troika. Suren was one of the party's assets in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and southern Russia.

"Spandaryan! Good friend." Iosif exclaims, patting the Armenian on the back, with the emotion of a meeting among friends.

"It is a pleasure to have you here, my comrade, I received your letters. Very good news for us." Suren Spandaryan exclaims in response, catching up with the Georgian before discussing business.

"So? How did the discussions with the Armenians and Azeris go?" Dzhugashvili asks curiously.

"Most of the Armenian and Azerbaijani social democratic and socialist parties have decided to start integrating within the RSDLP, but I have had some problems regarding uniting more Georgians to our cause." Suren calmly reports.

"Unsurprisingly, Mensheviks are very popular with Georgians." Dzhugashvili responds. "But the union of Armenians and Azeris is just as important. Let's party a bit!"

Following the imperative need for a collective government, the RSDLP began to unify other left-wing groups under its wing, similar to what the Pan-Russian National Union had done.

The advantage of the RSDLP against the right and center, was the ability not only to attract Russians and Orthodox, but also the attraction of elements of the left and their loyalty, Russians, Orthodox and all other peoples of the Russian Empire.

Because of this there was a strong Jewish and Muslim component, the RSDLP began to integrate local parties such as those of the South Caucasus and Central Asia (Turkestan) and the like.

Even the RSDLP managed to divide the separatist and autonomist elements because of its strong attraction to minorities and non-Russian elements of the Empire.

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Suren Spandaryan and Iosif Dzhugashvili in 1915.

Spandaryan was a good administrator and friend of the socialist leader.

*******

[First Duma]

"Any policy that is not strictly defensive would currently be the delusion of an abnormal government, and would pose a danger to the dynasty."

-Premier Pyotr Stolypin, second premier of the Russian Empire.

Stolypin had support and popularity within the majority of the Duma and the approval of Tsar Alexander III (among other prominent figures), but even so it was difficult to overcome the problems between parties and party factions, ideological-social-economic opposition, and other problems .

On February 3, the stagnation observed in the First Duma in 1907 had finally come to a halt.

Premier Stolypin was vigorously and fiercely active, so between the reform laws proposed by Premier Stolypin and approval-activity of Tsar Alexander III (whose legislative initiative, executive-administrative power and popularity allowed him to move things more easily), the Duma lost certain capacities.

* The Duma could not, not consider a bill without valid explanation.

* A bill could not be discussed (and without a vote) for more than 3-4 years (although if it failed, it could always be proposed again).

This eliminated many of the problems of possible deadlocks in the Duma, and also meant that bills were not in limbo for more than one or two Premiership (which is 5 years).

Of course there were still a lot of discussions, but it was a decent advance in the early years of Russian democracy.

The Stolypin penal regulations were not approved in the Duma, nor were the income taxes or the reform of religious societies.

Although other bills proposed by Stolypin did pass.

* Reform of rural societies and rural administration (nothing more than a simplification and continuation of the agrarian reform).

* Educational reform proposed by Stolypin.

* In March 1908 the "On the provision of workers in case of illness" was approved, only applicable to the textile, construction and vodka industries.

* Reform of the laws of town halls.

* Politics of Central Siberia and Alyáska.

There are several reasons why Stolypin's proposals were successful, in addition to the help of important figures, the factionalisms between the Pan-Russian National Union, the centrists, Septembrists and Kadets also helped, which led to favorable results to different degrees.

The land reform was relatively simple, it was the continuation of the agricultural development already begun under Premier Stolypin, so it was not a surprise.

The educational reform, although it was attacked by certain classists and conservatives, was supported by the nationalist parts of the Pan-Russian National Union and the right due to the institutionalization of Russian classes in secondary education.

The expansion of industrialization and settlement policies were an expansion and improvement of the previous policies proposed by Stolypin. Western Siberia and Eastern Siberia (the two extremes of Siberia) were the main target in the first stage, building on previous Alexandrian developments that had led to the large increase in Vladivostok, Port Arthur, and other cities or regions of the Far East.

But obviously work had to be done in Central Siberia (a re-organization to make Stolypin's policies more easily enforced in the region) and Alyáska (expansion of Stolypin's policies into this governorship).

There was already work like railways and industry, but there was still a lot of room for improvement, which Stolypin wanted to do.

One of the most difficult laws to pass was the reform of town halls, especially by the anti-Semitic right in Russia (the right-wing populists or Greens, the Black Hundreds and other right-wing nationalists). It was simply seen that the reduction of the number of Jews in municipalities was something positive.

However, thanks to the autonomists and other minorities, the left, the more moderate right, independents, some centrists and liberals, the reform finally managed to pass despite the opposition of many of the factions of the Pan-Russian National Union.

This meant that in the next municipal elections in Russia, there was no cap on Jewish participation. Of course this would actually only affect cities with a large Jewish population and local Jewish politicians participating.

* Years later, one of the Greens would propose to eliminate Jews from any administrative position, no matter how small.

The most curious case of law was the "On the provision of workers in case of illness", there were already pensions in Russia yes, but this was another advance towards the welfare states in Russia (although it was based on cooperative administration of workers and business fees).

Very limited for its beginnings, but no less important on a historical, social and political level (for the time and for Russia).

In the period 1910-1915 (5 years + 2 years after the law was passed), 2 million Russian workers had received help through the law. Demonstrating success in these developments.

By April of 1908, Stolypin proposed a vote in the Duma on banking reform in Russia (bimetallism, gold standard, or abandon both) and by October some reforms on construction rights in Russia.

Stolypin also proposed during this period "Provisions on the inviolability of the person, the home and the privacy of correspondence", one of his other proposals that failed.

We can see various reasons why some of Stolypin's proposals failed, be it the lack of interest from the Duma, opposition, or simply controversial issues at the time.

The Russian government and its intelligence services (which had their own factions and interests within the government) were strongly vigilant about their citizens, which is why certain laws about the inviolability of the person or private rights did not pass.

Religiosity affected the results of proposals to reform religious societies and similar laws about religious life in Russia.

Criminal reform and income tax reform became quite controversial and difficult to carry out for several reasons.

*******

[Tripartite agreement]

On February 18, finally after the end of the war without restrictions from Germany and the Haitian-Dominican and Panamanian fronts, the United States, Russia and Japan were able to sit down to discuss immigration matters.

Obviously the federal government now had certain problems with Asian immigration to the United States (first with the Chinese, and later with the Japanese and Koreans).

This is why the Gentlemen's Tripartite Agreement of 1908 was reached.

The agreement was not precisely ratified by any of the three parties, but all complied with the informal agreement, putting an end to Japanese immigration to the United States and avoiding Korean immigration (Russian citizens of Korean origin) to that country.

This caused problems and even some benefits for certain parties.

The anti-Japanese and anti-Koreans in the United States were happy, but they were missing a valuable workforce opportunity and 'model ethnicities' (Japanese) that had been integrating well into the United States.

The Japanese were insulted and lost a possible place to immigrate. The recent Japanese isolation contributed to the fact that the situation in the Philippines did not improve.

On the other hand, Russian citizens were discriminated against in the USA (it was not strange, but it had never reached the point of being so banned) and Russia gained an increase in Japanese immigration to its territories, which was advantageous for its continued development.

Korean-Russian citizens did not immigrate much to other countries, especially with the development in the Korean peninsula and Russia, what is more, this prohibition so strange for them discouraged them from moving a lot outside the Russian Empire.

Part of the Korean tradition of being a hermit kingdom and a result of foreign parties discriminating against them.

The Koreans remained in the governorship of Korea or moved to other parts of Russia, such as Vladivostok, Port Arthur, Saint Petersburg or Moscow.

Japanese communities in the Far East grew exponentially again with this, returning to normal or even higher levels than before the Russo-Japanese war.

Many Japanese adopted orthodoxy and integrated relatively well in Russia, but without losing all its peculiarities. There were manga produced by the Japanese communities in Russia, which in particular would have their influence on Russian Far Eastern comics for decades to come.

*******

[Albania and Russia]

On March 18, the Kingdom of Albania (led by King Juan Pedro Aladro y Castriota y Pérez y Velasco) and the Russian Empire (led by Tsar Alexander III, with Premier Pyotr Stolypin) reached certain agreements.

Since the Ottoman dissolution, King Juan Pedro Kastriota was a curious monarch, despite the Muslim and Orthodox population of Albania, the Catholic king was almost universally loved by Albanians, regardless of his origin and religion.

Product of the strong nationalism and love for Albania professed by the king, education taught the Albanian people that Albanian identity was now more important than religious differences within Albanians.

The propaganda was good and education was advancing slowly, but Albania was still a country mostly rural, with a huge illiterate population and with serious economic problems (at an industrial level, lack of agricultural equipment and the like) and military (especially being afraid of a possible Greek assault after the Russian intervention in Greece).

Albania needed stability, since after King Juan Pedro Kastriota, there would be no other king in Albania (lack of children on his part).

The Albanian government and King Juan Pedro wanted to avoid a possible civil war or other form of instability after the death of the king. Which would mean, according to the king's plans, the establishment of a democratic republic led by a president or perhaps a parliament (it depended on the results of the first Albanian elections).

So the solution was to put Albania more firmly in the Russian sphere, Russian capital was already putting railways in Albania, and Albania already had certain trade-customs deals with Russia, but obviously this was not enough.

They were the first steps of Albanian development.

Albania was mainly agricultural, but at the moment the world market was very bad, and Russia was already the largest agricultural exporter in Europe so competition with the neighboring giant and influential was useless.

With the treaties between Alexander III and Juan Pedro, a special Albanian delegation was made to Russia, and Russia began to make deals similar to those with Montenegro and other Balkan countries, but for Albania.

Albanian officers began to be trained by the Russian army, Albanian citizens began to have more access to educational scholarships in Russia, and Albania received certain Russian investments in important sectors.

Albania received tractors and agricultural equipment, some improvements in communications and infrastructure, and the Russian influence became greater in certain aspects of Albanian life.

Russian skilled workers on certain projects, Russian economic guides and Russian officials training certain Albanians. Also Albania, Serbia and Montenegro began to get a little closer, due to the aforementioned Albanian fear of another war in Greece and Russian influence.

Albanian sovereignty over Kosovo caused some problems with Serbia, but it was nothing violent at the time.

At the moment no Russian troops were placed on Albanian soil, but it was a possibility established by the government of King Juan Pedro and Tsar Alexander III.

*******

[War Ministry: Enigma]

At some point in this period in 1908, Russia finally finished its military firewall and Enigma Machine (Загадочная машина, Zagadochnaya Mashina).

Very important events in scientific development and military defense, the Russian firewall meant an early defense against infiltration attempts and detection of civic-military radio transmissions in Russia.

On the other hand, the Zagadochnaya Mashina was an advance in encryption machines for communication. Of course by definition, no cipher is unbreakable, but certain historical advancements were difficult to resolve in their day.

The Russian army (led by Tsar Alexander III and Minister Mikhail Skobelev) was the first Russian body to use the Zagadochnaya Mashina for the encryption of messages, although later certain economic-diplomatic organizations would also use the machine.

Radio communication was a vital part of the Russian armed forces, for this reason the high command put an emphasis on the protection of communications, and the encryption-encoding of messages was constantly advancing to prevent the leakage of information into possible enemies.

Technological advancement and global militarization were part of the cause and consequence of many events after the Fashoda war, the creation of the Zagadochnaya Mashina is just another example.

Shortly after the invention of the Zagadochnaya Mashina, it was proposed to encode messages in certain minority languages of the Russian Empire (mainly in the Tartar language) to make it even more difficult for enemies to decipher Russian communications, but it had not yet been accepted in 1908.

The next immediate goal of the Rostov-on-Don investigation was to resolve procedural flaws, train operators to avoid errors, introduce systematic changes to encryption processes, and prevent the capture of important hardware and key tables.

There were also some cryptographic weaknesses, but as mentioned, there were already some ideas and in itself, no code is indecipherable.

Many people participated in the development of the machine, Russians and foreigners. It would not be marketed to the civilian and non-Russian public until about 5 years later.

The Zagadochnaya Mashina or similar equivalents would be taken over by some other countries, and it was generally 'unbreakable' for some years ...

********

[International]

* [Imperial Federation]

On January 1, 1908, by virtue of a decision of the London Parliament under Louis Alexander Mountbatten and Albert Victor I, in addition to the aristocratic-conservative social governments of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the Imperial Federation was officially created.

This means that the Cape Colony (South Africa), Australia, New Zealand, Canada (plus Newfoundland) and the United Kingdom are united into a single state, with the rest of the British colonial empire still being a colony.

The pound is the official currency of the Imperial Federation and the head of state is King Albert Victor of the United Kingdom, but new particular organs are created that dominate the government.

The Imperial Parliament is created, with headquarters in the city of London, in charge of internal trade, foreign relations, defense and other diverse matters that affect the entire federation. As for example, the Imperial Parliament directly governs the British Raj (which has no representation).

South Africa (Cape), Canada (and Newfoundland), Australia and New Zealand have internal self-government, but they have to send and vote for representatives in the Imperial Parliament.

As mentioned, the Raj has no voice or vote (it is still administered by the white European man) but neither does Ireland, which does not gain a shred of autonomy.

A common force is created, especially in the aspect of the imperial navy (and each part of the federation contributes men and budget to the army, but the most important thing was the navy).

Even more free trade is created between the parties involved, common public officials and services, travel facilities between members, and more.

The 1908 decision was incredibly popular in Australia, the UK, and Canada, with more neutral views in New Zealand and South Africa (whose governments were in favor).

British nationalism was in the air, and for a few moments Anglo-Saxon regional identities were minimized in the face of the empire where the sun never set for the civilized white man.

This undoubtedly caused some surprise worldwide, it was a reform with consequences unknown in the British Empire.

The unpopularity of the nationalist regime in the Home Islands was fading in areas that were not strongly socialist (northern England) or separatist (Ireland, Bengal, Punjab, and some other parts of India).

*******

January 3, a total solar eclipse occurs in the Pacific Ocean.

January 13, the US government crushes the Pennsylvania general strike, again, causing about 170 deaths and 230 injuries this time.

The popularity of the Republican party is still not the best, but it is clear that the federal government is still very pro-business.

January 18, Vladimir Klavdiyevich Arsenyev's second expedition to the Russian Far East ends, which helps the 1910 census and is the inspiration for some of Arsenyev's most famous works.

January 21, New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, the council of councils proposed to prohibit women from smoking in public places (they were not prohibited from smoking in general or smoking in public, just not smoking in public places in New York).

Two weeks later the ordinance is vetoed by the mayor, only one woman was fined and jailed (for refusing to pay the fine) for violating the ordinance. Interestingly, the ordinance did not mention any fines or imprisonment.

Later similar things would be tried in other cities, places or countries.

January 24, the book "Scouting for Boys" by Robert Baden-Powell is published in London, launching the Boy Scout movement worldwide (eventually the book would sell more than 100 million copies).

The movement also triggered doctrines in the Imperial Federation, the boy scout movements within the country took oaths to the king, the state and God.

February 1, King Luis Felipe of Portugal holds a meeting with other rulers and monarchists expelled from Europe, including Carlos VII of Puerto Rico, some expelled Andorran, Victor Emmanuel III, Leopold II of Belgium and Franz II of Austria-Hungary.

Napoleon IV and the French do not participate at the insistence of Albert Victor and the United Kingdom, obviously still resentful against the French.

Although the Italians were against the British, they are viewed as neutral by the government now that they have been expelled.

The French betrayal and the French imperial rule of Suez is a greater offense than anything done by the Italian monarchist-loyalists.

The reunion doesn't mean much, just another club of losers and expats complaining about the 'degeneration' in Europe.

On February 12, the socialists of Western Europe coordinate the Lisbon-Madrid-Andorra la Vieja-Paris-Milan tour, which runs through the Portuguese Socialist Republic, the Spanish Federative Socialist Republic, the Catalan Socialist Republic, the Catalan Socialist Republic, the Socialist Andorra, the People's Republic of France and the Federative Socialist Republic of Italy.

A bike tour through the socialist countries of Western Europe, promoting all the sporting activities carried out in those countries.

Promoting local socialist fervor and healthy living amid the reconstructions of France and other countries.

On March 1, the publication of The Children's Encyclopædia begins in London, Imperial Federation.

March 4, fire at Collinwood School in Cleveland, Ohio. About 174 people die.

March 9 (there are different accounts, some say the 3 of March, but most people accept March 9 as the date), in the midst of the aforementioned sports fervor of the socialist nations, the soccer club "Inter Milan" or Internazionale was founded, which during the following decades practically dominated the soccer scene in socialist Italy.

The Internazionale has a very clear name, Internacional, in honor of causes of Italian socialism.

The fervor for football/soccer in socialism began in the Iberian peninsula with the sports clubs of Spain and Portugal, which spread to socialist Italy and later to the People's Republic of France.

Resulting in incredible popularity in the rebuilding times (people cling to and love the sport) and in decades after, some very notable players.

(OOC: Due to Fashoda and the revolutions, the Associazione Calcio Milan was never founded by ITL, but ITL the 'Internazionale' was, by the socialists).

Some foreign spectators believed that the sport was not only policies that helped improve people's lives, but also a form of escape and happiness (similar to what happened in Latin America).

In the end, soccer is a people's sport, a sport of skill where even people of low socio-economic status could reach international fame.

March 23, some terrorist attacks occur in the United States, the diplomat Durham Stevens is assassinated by two Japanese immigrants (who arrived in the Americas before the Russia-Japan-USA treaty of 1908) after the American bans on Japanese immigration.

Apart from the fact that this incident explodes other diplomatic problems between the USA and Japan, it is an inspiration for several Mexicans in their fight against the United States.

The Mexican resistance in the north is having some problems, especially as conflicts increase between the violent Emiliano Zapata and Emilio Madero, both want to reform and expel the Americans, but they have problems.

In the center (Carranza and Villa) and south, the Mexican guerrillas are more successful.

March 27, the first boy scout movements outside the Imperial Federation are founded.

March 29, the People's Republic of France has notable successes in part of rebuilding its manufacture of agricultural equipment (tractors and other equipment).