Tsesarevich Nick (April-June, 1906).

Russia, the Duma and the (socialist) world]

On April 5, 1906, the Federative Socialist Republic of Italy found itself shaken when Mount Vesuvius erupted, an event that has occurred quite a few times throughout history (just to count a few years, Mount Vesuvius erupted eruption in 1660, 1682, 1694, 1698, 1707, 1737, 1760, 1767, 1779, 1794, 1822, 1834, 1839, 1850, 1855, 1861, 1868, 1872, and now in 1906).

But the Vesuvius eruption of 1906 was quite remarkable, killing more than 100 people and expelling the largest amount of lava ever recorded by the Vesuvius volcano, resulting in devastation in the city of Naples and several nearby communes.

At that time the southern socialist republics of the FSRI were in a public project, building infrastructure and modernizing agriculture mainly.

But now it was necessary to divert state funds towards the reconstruction of Naples and the surrounding communes, after this the relations between the Russian Empire and the Federative Socialist Republic of Italy became much more public, according to the Russian government of Tsar Alexander III and Sergei Witte I send humanitarian aid to Italy.

Supporting the reconstruction of Naples and other measures necessary to relieve the Italian population, marking a continuous public rapprochement between Russia and socialist Italy.

Why, and what did this mark for Russia?

Of course socialist Italy was very little recognized worldwide, but unlike the Kingdom of Italy, it was a much more practical relationship for Russia (the Kingdom of Italy had little money to buy from Russia).

Furthermore, Sergei Witte developed part of a foreign policy doctrine: "Russia must cooperate with any country willing to cooperate with her. Not yield, cooperate. This is the key to Russia exporting itself to the rest of the world"

Public image was certainly important to Witte, but the Premier was also an economy minister, and any market Russia could enter was a good market.

Socialist Italy after all still needed industry and products, so Russia kept trading in exchange for tangible profits (money and minerals, simply asking for concessions was not going to work, and private companies did not exist in socialist Italy).

For the Russian right this was somewhat complicated, on the one hand it was mostly due to the altruism of Tsar Alexander III and profits, but many still did not like socialism.

Fortunately Mikhail Skobelev existed, General Skobelev did not like socialism, but he understood that the socialists were an enemy of Germany, and Russia was also an enemy of Germany (in the general's thinking), so for the moment, the socialists and Russia were 'friends' (business partners).

Any further threats from the socialists to Russia had to be ended of course, but as long as they served, the Russian right would allow these to exist outside its borders.

At the international level, of course, there were different opinions.

"When we go to hang the last capitalist, another will appear to sell us the rope." -Vladimir Lenin, Russian-German socialist.

Socialist France and Iberia were more willing to make a rapprochement with Russia. France because Germany was very close (occupied, but it was not known for how long) and after all, both countries needed some trade (and the Russian offers were the best in the market for France and Iberia).

For other countries this was simply Russia being a stranger again, because the situation was inconvenient, Russia was a weak and Asian country approaching the socialist countries.

*******

*[ First Duma].

Another factor that contributed to the Russian right 'accepting' the relationship between socialist Italy and Russia was another of the first crises that Russian democracy suffered, undoubtedly unexpected.

The Deputy Premier of the Government of the Russian Empire, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin, was sitting waiting, there was an empty seat. Tsar Alexander III was also waiting, along with all the deputies (most were assembled, and all the ministers were also present).

Then a message reached Deputy Premier Stolypin through an assistant. "Premier Witte is ill for health reasons, we can start the session, if his highness allows us." Stolypin declares.

Tsar Alexander III nods and starts the new session of the First Duma.

"Very well, gentlemen, I have important statements. We need the great reforms, we need a Great Russia. We cannot achieve Great Russia without our reform, trade and cooperation, both within our country and outside it." Stolypin states, quite a compelling speaker for many on the Russian political spectrum at the time.

Stolypin supported the idea of the neutral cooperation with the world of the Tsar and Witte, the results of democratic and economic forms, which in his opinion made a 'Great Russia'. The right was between stealing Stolypin's words, maybe twisting them a bit for their own use, or declaring that 'Russia was not great before' was heresy.

The Russian administration-bureaucracy had been aristocratic, authoritarian and autocratic for generations (centuries), that the first years of Russian democracy suddenly meeting the absent Premier was a severe blow. A disgrace.

The deputies of the center, left and right therefore focused more on solving the issue of internal politics, and continued with the cooperative-humanitarian (and capitalist) doctrine of the Tsar and Witte.

But still, something had to be done.

Premier Witte's health was a problem at the moment, and his absences caused problems in the security of Russia. For this, Tsar Alexander III, Pyotr Stolypin (Deputy Premier) and other elements of the executive-legislative power had to take over.

Some of the right and center-right called for the need for new elections or to suspend the First Duma, while the center-left and the left were opposed, with different opinions.

Tsar Alexander III refused to abolish the First Duma.

"Stolypin has energy and capacity, for the moment, but your absence is a serious problem." Alexander III calmly explains in Moscow, meeting alongside Witte and some other members of the Russian bureaucracy.

"I understand." Witte responds. "I have already made up my mind, my czar." Count Sergei Witte exclaims shortly after.

Witte delivered his resignation letter on July 8, 1906, marking one of the shortest terms as Premier of the Russian government's Duma (for health reasons).

Which again caused the debate about succession or new elections in July 1906.

*******

[Animation]

On April 8, 1906, the first 'modern animations' were emerging throughout the world (especially after 1895 with the rise of cinematography worldwide).

Although they were not called cartoons yet and obviously the technique was quite primitive (in its early stages), but there were many pioneers.

Before the introduction of modern animation or 'true animation' (which was originally drawn by hand or stop motion, depending on who you ask), humanity throughout the world enjoyed figure shows that were manipulated by hand, like puppets, automata, shadow play or magic lantern.

In 1906 in Russia and the United States hand drawing animation emerged with greater force, aiming to become an industry by the 1910s, many copies have not survived today from the decade of the 1900s, and therefore it is difficult to know which of the two countries was the first, but various organizations in both countries claim the title as 'fathers' of modern animation.

During the same period, 1906-1910, the first stop motion animation (1906-1907) and puppet animation films (1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910) in the world were created in Russia.

In the case of Russia, some of the founders of Russian animation were Vladislav Aleksandrovich Starevich (also called Ladislas Starevich and Władysław Starewicz, because he was Russian-Polish) and Aleksander Viktorovich Shiryaev (who was also a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of dance).

They worked on the production of the world's first stop motion animation and the world's first animated puppet film. Partly working on the initiatives of the Romanov family.

Shiryaev's films reached wide screen, Shiryaev was able to complete a movie in three months and have his figures not only walk or dance, but also jump and spin through the air, which continued to impress modern animators in 1995.

Starevich on the other hand, became the first Russian animation director to have international fame (although he was also famous and with a long career, in Russia), being praised in Italy, France and the United States (just to give an example) .

*******

"Starevich and Shiryaev were put in charge of creative production, while I, or well, my administrators, mostly take care of the financial affairs." Alexander III explains. "It will be a few years before the industry grows or we can do a lot of state propaganda, but I don't care, I have fun."

"Good for you old man." Nicholas Alexandrovich Romanov answers simply. "What is the name of the company?". The Tsesarevich asks curiously.

"Nickelodeon (Никелодеон, Nikelodeon)". The tsar exclaims laughing. The Tsesarevich Nicholas (Николай, Nikolay) on the other hand has a blank face.

Nickelodeon was the first professional animation company in Russia (founded on April 18), and it marked a growth in Russian animation, in its beginnings producing segments for theaters and cinemas in Russia, before the jump to television, many years after its founding.

*******

[Investigation]

In 1906, on May 28, Tsar Alexander III gave the go-ahead to the proposal of the military man and statesman (Governor of Novgorod and hetaman of Cossack forces), Pavel Fedorovich Unterberger, to carry out research expeditions, led by Captain of the general staff, Vladimir Klavdievich Arsenyev.

The Arsenyev expeditions, as they are more commonly known in Russia, were part of Russia's economic development, archaeological-educational investigations, and part of the preparation for censuses and other measures in the Russian Empire (further continuing the economic development of the empire).

Later Arsenyev would also lead expeditions to fight illegal immigration to Russia, poachers and fight other illegal activities around the 1910s.

Arsenyev was essentially sponsored for these expeditions by members of the state. The main task of Captain Arsenyev was then:

* Carry out various topographic studies of the Russian Far East, mapping from the geology to the hydrography of the empire (the Far East, Xinjiang, Inner Manchuria, Mongolia-Tuva and some other territories).

* Systematically collect and describe material about the nature (fauna, flora, and natural resources), population and the economy of the explored regions.

* Emphasis on the ethnographic and cultural study of the native peoples of the regions of the empire, the indigenous peoples of Siberia, the Mongols and the Uyghur, among others.

* Archaeological study under the supervision of other authorities.

* Collect and send material about the economy and development of the eastern regions of the Russian Empire for the government and the Duma, part of future policies.

Arsenyev also wrote adventure books about his various expeditions under the state, books that became quite popular and served the mythical image of Captain Arsenyev in early 20th century Russian popular culture.

Although this was not the most important thing, Tsar Alexander III had made it clear that by 1910, the Russian Empire had to conduct a new population census to understand future economic development (and other developments in the Russian Empire).

For this next development, the government intended to know:

* The total population of the Russian Empire.

*Religion.

* Language / Ethnicity / Culture.

*Job.

* Property (land).

*Gender.

* Place of residence (demographic concentration).

* How Russian families were composed (number of children per couple).

And other data.

(OOC: Obviously, I'm not going to be able to explore all of this precisely XD).

Another problem for homosexuals in Russia came with the planning of the census, since in the Russian state and other spheres, it was feared that homosexuals were a threat to Russian population growth (since well, a homosexual couple does not produce offspring between they).

An illogical and baseless thought, but one that increased and was part of the homophobic tendencies of Russia at the time. All Russian citizens were the same if we talked about ethnicity, religion, socio-economic position or culture, but not in sexuality.

(OOC 2: These were thoughts during the Weimar Republic-Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, another of the reasons of homophobia in this period-state of time.)

Russia was still a hugely populated country, but not free from the ignorance and problems of the time.

This is why anti-sodomy laws and other anti-homosexual state/social trends lasted so long in Russian society.

********

[International]

April 1, the workers of the trans-Andean railroad (a railroad in Argentina and Chile), go on strike due to poor working conditions.

April 2, the Spanish (living in Puerto Rico) Jesús Felix Fernández Duro (grandson of Pedro Duro, a businessman who founded the first great Spanish steel company) returns to Europe, from where he had been expelled due to the socialist revolutions in Spain, Portugal , Andorra and France.

In this he embarks on the hot air balloon "Huracán" to cross the Mediterranean, succeeding, although Jesús Fernández Duro is criticized for violating the borders of Iberia, Italy and France during his travels.

Jesús Duro dies suddenly on August 9, some say he was murdered by the socialists but there is no proof of this. He is remembered for his contributions to aeronautics, since before he died he manufactured the first airplanes in Puerto Rico and sold some designs in Europe.

* Jesús Fernández Duro was known in Russia because he made the longest car trip in 1902, 10,000 kilometers by car from one point of Europe to Moscow.

April 8, first modern animations in Russia and the United States, according to the oldest-accurate recognized data.

April 11, after the first parliamentary elections in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Hungarian Liberal Party, dissolves due to its electoral defeats.

Pro-Russian, conservative and other forms of the right now dominate the majority in the Kingdom, albeit under the paw of the Russian bear.

April 18, the Caribbean conflict is already costing more than 700 million dollars for the United States, in the middle of this there is an earthquake in San Francisco (magnitude 7.8), on the San Andreas fault, and in case that was not enough, accompanied by a fire.

As a result between 225,000 and 300,000 people are left homeless, at least 3,000 people die and more than 350 million dollars in damages are caused.

April 20, Ecuador becomes one of the first countries to recognize Gran Colombia (union of Venezuela and Colombia), after Germany and Mexico.

Liberals dominate politics in Greater Colombia, and they have influence in Ecuador. Although this recognition marks a rapprochement, the truth is that in 1906 there was not much perspective on Ecuador joining the union of Colombia and Venezuela.

April 23, the US advance in southern Mexico is suffering severe setbacks due to anti-American guerrillas around Mexican territory.

In Germany anti-war sentiments are crushed by measures that equal martial law. But it is obvious that at least certain fronts such as the Haitian or Panamanian must be closed so that Germany can reach something on the Mexican front.

The problem is the importance of the Tehuantepec canal, the military bases of Germany and other compromises of Germany in latin america.

In the first weeks of May it is clear several problems of the American-German war, due to the distance Germany has the problem of mobilizing resources to Mexico-Cuba, Greater Colombia and Haiti.

For this reason, Germany cannot invade Hispaniola again (or the south of the USA), as a consequence they must focus only on Mexico (mainland and the island of Cuba) to help their ally, the Second Mexican Empire and give much less relief to Great Colombia.

The United States is close, yes, but the terrain and the combat situation is unsustainable for the American army (which is barely coming out of reform), due to the economic problems in the United States and the growing anti-war sentiments, the jungles of Panama and the southern Mexico, and arid northern Mexico.

In particular in Panama, cases of diseases such as yellow fever explode.

Above all, diplomatic positions did not help, the United States had an anti-war and anti-imperialist movement without a doubt, but there was another problem. The Republicans did not want the war to be for nothing, in the current state of affairs, the United States was not going to gain anything from stopping the war, and they were going to lose a lot if they continued.

The same in Germany, they lost in any case, but they had a leadership that did not help. Wilhelm II did not want to stop the war, Crown Prince Wilhelm was pro-war (a warmonger and militarist), and the civil-bureaucratic-military government could not solve the national crises in Germany.

* Crises such as the housing crisis in Prussia, the economic crisis, and civil unrest in Bohemia and parts of southern Germany such as Austria or Bavaria.

May 27, the first decolonization measures in Firipin fail, with various refusals from the colonial population to move to Taiwan or the main islands of the Japanese archipelago.

This marks a serious setback in the plans of Russia and Japan to stabilize the situation in the Philippines after the Russo-Japanese conflict.

The motives of the population are the economic, social and political situation in the Empire of Japan, personal honors, old government promises to the settlers, etc.

May 29, in various parts of the world voting rights continue to contract rather than expand, for example Norway and Sweden (with women) and the United States (African-Americans and other ethnic minorities, generally non-white).

June 7, the RNS Lusitania ship is launched in the United Kingdom, the largest ship in the world in 1906 and later years.

This sparks new technological research for the UK Royal Navy ... which is asking for more funding for such research.

This leads to some corruption and misuse of certain resources, the neglect of certain sectors, and some for projects too expensive to be useful in the short-medium term and others simply very stupid.

The Royal Navy would follow this trajectory due to the growth of the German and Russian navy in later years.

June 22, the King of the Faroe Islands, Carl (Prince of Denmark), visits the Russian Empire.

There is not much to discuss, King Carl is angry about the actions of the United Kingdom in Norway and Sweden, a threat to Denmark and all of Scandinavia.

The Russian state knows this, but in 1906, there was little to do.

June 26, the People's Republic of France initiates reforms for the transformation of France to socialism, including industrial-agricultural reforms (rebuilding France after the civil wars), labor (8 hours and security mainly), and education.

All this is quite difficult, furthermore carried out in the midst of the Jules Guesde purges, but the Guesde government goes even a little further in the People's Republic of France.

A new educational program is established, the Marxist analysis of history and other social sciences, students must be educated in the values of socialism against bourgeois-capitalist values and ideas or simply dangerous for the state.

Similar to the case of Iberia, but much simpler with the centralized government of France. Marx, Engels and some other popular theorists (Vladimir Lenin), are studied together with the French socialist theory itself, to avoid the corruption of the revolution.

June 30, President Elihu Root signs the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, one of the first consumer protection laws in national and interstate commerce, to try to prevent adulterated products (drugs and food) or mislabeled from arriving to the consumer.

This in the middle of an anti-scientific wave due to certain incidents, and the war with Germany. Now federal authorities could inspect products to report this to state prosecutors and other appropriate agencies.

Despite this, the act was not complete, as many American companies began to influence to avoid having to comply with certain levels of purity of the federal government.