The Russian problems and opportunities (July-September, 1872).

National ideas]

The government of Emperor Alexander III still had various problems with ethnic minorities, some were more pacified than others. The eternal Russian problem was the Poles and Lithuanians in the west, and various tribes of the North Caucasus.

On the one hand there were the Poles and Lithuanians in the western territories, part of the Lithuanian problem had been solved by dividing the nationalist movement and throwing advantages to other important groups in the region.

However at the university level, where now Russian was mandatory.

It was obvious that Poles and Lithuanians were opposed to this measure, generally more than in other sections of the Empire. But why?

It is relatively simple, the other regions were much more peaceful and "integrated" in the idea of the Russian Empire, or at least its elites were less prone to revolt during these years. And they generally had no choice but to accept Russian in tertiary education.

In Central Asia tertiary education was few and far between, but adequate leadership from the administration had achieved a certain level of integrated administrators who kept the region loyal.

Siberia, in its enormous size, was made up of hundreds of different and dispersed ethnic groups, many of them endorsed by the political, military and economic authority of Russia for some time. Many did not attend tertiary university and were "basic literate", with some freedom.

In Finland, the Russian had supported the Finns in educational reform, and local autonomy reduced the desire for independence (the Fennomans focused on going against the Svecoman).

In Estonia and Latvia the presence of the Baltic Germans and their conflicts with the natives is precisely what created the right situation for Russian rule.

Bessarabia was supported by state money, the Moldovan lords depended on the Russian army, etc.

In the triune nation of Great Russians, Little Russian-Ukrainians, and White Russians or Belarusians, the situation did not have much of a problem, as many of the Little Russians and White Russians also spoke the Russian of the Great Russians (either by necessity , education or relatives). Ukrainian nationalism was mainly related to the Greeks who inhabited the Malorossiya region.

The southern Caucasus held closer together with the Armenians (more focused against the Ottomans) and the generally loyal Orthodox Georgians.

The Poles and Lithuanians still held the idea of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or Self-Determination, which was therefore opposed to Russia.

On the other hand, in the North Caucasus, the various tribes of regions such as Dagestan or Chechnya fought the Russians for a long time, rivalries of centuries do not end on the first day.

In the North Caucasus and some parts of the South Caucasus there was also the problem of religion, orthodoxy against Islam was present in the Russian-Caucasian conflict.

Although there were undoubtedly Muslim peoples and tribes of the northern Caucasus loyal to Russia.

There would always be regional independence movements, but most were extremely small, and a time of increased education, economic and political prosperity calmed much of these.

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[Anti-Semitism]

Peter Alexandrovich Cherevin took a long drink of alcohol, while the Tsar on his side was reading one of the articles found by one of his guards.

'Jewish circles', an anonymous article about the supposed economic and political domination of the Jews in Russia, in addition to their meetings (secret of course ...) at the Pale of Settlement, where they discuss world domination (or the rule of Russia, or the recovery of Palestine, and things like that).

The evidence was supposedly the economic and "political" rise that Jews were having, with families like the Gintsburgs and Polyakovs, the fact that some Jews now participated in town halls, and so on.

"What do you think of this, Cherevin?" The tsar asked the military man.

"Well, I think some claims should be investigated. Look for those alleged Jewish gatherings." Cherevin exclaims, he was anti-Semitic. It wasn't reason enough (at the time) to fire him, but Tsar Alexander III was concerned that Cherevin's first thought would be to want to investigate such conspiracies.

A considerable part of the population was also anti-Semitic still of course.

It was obvious that any reform where a minority such as the Jews were in some way benefited would be hunted down by conservatives and nationalists.

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[The cautious court]

"The cautious court" was the name of the Russian government during much of the reign of Tsar Alexander III, and it was for very simple reasons, the members of said court were mostly moderate people, extremely cautious in acting.

Any action was planned to a certain extent, Tsar Alexander III was a cautious man in himself, remaining largely neutral in foreign affairs most of the time.

The thing was the home front.

Russia was a nation of nations, an empire of ideologies and the largest continuous country on earth. The thought was diverse, it traveled throughout the Empire in many forms.

There were radicals and liberals who saw the czar and his government as too conservative, conservatives who saw the czar and his government as too liberal, and there are hundreds of other examples.

The government of Tsar Alexander III however, like many governments before him, was sustained in a very simple way, the army, the secret police, the economy and the administration.

Many dangerous elements were caught by the army, the police or the Okhrana.

The Russian state was growing economically, the improvement in the quality of life meant that the majority of the peasantry was happy, and therefore fewer opportunities to radicalize.

Although radicals still existed of course, and were growing in some areas.

The administration and various elites (such as the Baltic Germans, the leadership of the vassals of Central Asia, Finland, etc) were loyal, or at least not brave enough to rebel.

And the army and navy were loyal, food, money and various benefits came to them, there was no particular general aspiring to become emperor, etc.

The church was guarded by the Holy Synod, so Orthodoxy, the majority religion, was on the side of the state while Tsar Alexander III wouldn't go overboard on some blasphemy or something.

With the army, money, the church, the administration, and the media, maintaining order was possible. With order came prosperity and economic progress, with low terrorist problems.

This was very advantageous for Russia.

Although of course there were still many problems, corruption and ineptitude will never be eliminated from governments, they can only be lessened over time.

That was actually the main objective of Alexander III, who had capable ministers, military and administrators, but underneath all of them there was still a certain level of corruption or ineptitude.

But the foundations of something great had been laid.

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[Production]

Despite all the troubles, the Russian Empire still had opportunities, the possibility of a remarkable future. In mid-August, the son of a pair of former serfs, Fyodor Abramovich Blinov, presented his prototype of the first fully Russian tractor and the world's first crawler tractor.

In September the invention was completed, and it was found that the two steam engine machine was effectively used for agriculture and freight transport.

The Russian Imperial Technical Society and Tsar Alexander III himself rewarded Blinov for his achievement, many would not like to admit it, but in part, there was considerable jealousy of a class society towards Blinov.

Most scientists and teachers up to that time were nobles, impoverished nobles for the most part, but they were still nobles. Now a peasant who worked as a firefighter, boat tug and mechanic from the lowest of Russia had reached such a height.

In a sense this made Blinov a symbol of Russia's potential and future. That even in difficult or precarious situations, someone could go far.

But there were important business to do.

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"Some administrators will take care of the financial aspect, while you and a team receive a budget for research and development." Emperor Alexander III explains to Blinov.

"I understand, but I have some concerns. How are we going to produce tractors quickly?" Blinov asks curiously, perhaps coming up with an idea himself.

"It's a good question, and I have an answer. Very similar to some activities that have been done in the past, but never in the vehicle industry." Tsar Alexander III explains to Blinov. Then both move to a location in the city of Stavropol, which would become the first headquarters of the Russian Carriage Works (Русско вагонный завод).

Russian Carriage Works started the practice of an assembly line, they were not the first to carry out a practice with industrial products. In this a series of workers (alone or in a group) each carried out a part of the assembly of a tractor.

It was manufactured from the engine to other parts of the vehicle.

Blinov tractors first began their agricultural tasks in Russia, mainly on state farms and private land that bought them.

But eventually it would start to be bought in other regions outside of Russia as well, albeit at a relatively slow pace.

With the great expansion of railway lines in Russia, the company also began to locally produce railway wagons for the transport of goods or people.

These were selling faster both within Russia and abroad.

Blinov himself for his part began to work on new projects regarding the automotive industry in Russia, where he is currently remembered as the father of it.

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[Sports culture]

Four other Russian teams stand as winners for their spot in the first ever Russian Soccer League, an event that is attracting more and more national attention for government approval, patronage of nobles and industrialists, love of the sport and local pride. .

* Vladivostok: The youngest team in the Siberia region, but despite all this they should not be underestimated. Middle class team sponsored by local industrialists from the region.

* Moscow: Similar to the Saint Petersburg team, the former capital of Russia's Tsardom has legally entered the league. Supported by the great city of Moscow, its nobility, upper-middle class and industrialists.

* Murmansk: The growing city of the White Sea was not far behind, joining soccer after the city of Arkhangelsk and entering into obvious rivalry. Team supported mainly by industrialists in the city.

* Riga: Riga's major railway junction (a sprawling hub of railways) resulted in a lower-middle-class team of workers (mainly Latvians). Sponsored by industrialists and nobles (Baltic Germans) from the region, in competition with other Baltic teams.

Only four more cities remain before the spots for Russia's first soccer league run out.

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[Russian Arctic Expedition]

The Russian Arctic expedition comes to an end when they find the last new territories on the routes planned by the Russian Geographical Society, having found two new territories (which do not seem to have much material wealth, but have scientific potential, like the others).

These territories have been named Emperor Alexander II Land and Emperor Alexander III Land.

The Russian Empire basically repeated the same process as on previous occasions, planting a flag and proclaiming the annexation of the Arctic territory to the Russian Empire.

And since they were not of interest, nobody gave it more importance.

The bulk of the Arctic expedition left for the Russian Empire where they would return to Saint Petersburg, however two teams from the expedition were left in Medvezhiy and Kholadya as a scientific base.

New orders would arrive later from the Russian Empire to the islands in the near future as scientists collected information about the North Pole.

(OOC: The discovered lands are OTL Land of Franz Josef and Northern Land / Emperor Nicholas II Land.).

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[International]

During this period it is only when Japan led by the Meiji Emperor begins to pay its economic debts with foreign nations, complicating several of the reforms that the Meiji Emperor wanted to establish (such as the creation of the Tsukuba University, a teacher training college, which will be delayed 5 years).

Economically speaking the day-to-day population also has some problems, some of the first Japanese businesses collapse, others by novelty become famous, such as the Hochi Mail News, the first Japanese sports newspaper (and in fact the first modern newspaper in Japan). Japan).

In the Second Mexican Empire, a notable event of political importance occurs that will mark the coming decades, Emperor Maximiliano I of Mexico sponsors the first elections during his reign of him, in order to allow Mexicans to choose a leader within Maximiliano's cabinet.

A position that receives the name of Minister-President, position that existed in the Austrian Empire until the commitment with the Hungarians (after the commitment Austria-Hungary had a "Chairman of the Ministers' Conference").

In those elections, the liberal candidate Porfirio Diaz demonstrated a better campaign and talent than his conservative opponents (there was a notable lack of other liberals after the war). José Manuel del Refugio Gonzáles Flores rejoined the Liberal ranks after the Liberal defeat in the second intervention due to the request of Porfirio Diaz.

The election of Porfirio Diaz would be the beginning of the Porfiriato framework, Maximiliano I was happy (at first) with the election, thinking that Diaz could be a mind related to the liberal enlightenment (although Porfirio Diaz was liberal, he leaned more towards positivism than to the illustrated thoughts of Maximiliano).

King Charles XV of Sweden-Norway dies, being succeeded by his brother, now King Oscar II.

The European monarchies send their congratulations and congratulations and gifts to the new king.

In France rurality begins to join the forces of the Legitimist-Orleanist claimant Henry V, while the cities / urban centers cling to the young emperor Napoleon IV.

The Bonapartist government begins to regroup in the west of France while the Legitimist-Orleanist government begins to strengthen in the east, winning against Bonapartist resistance in the urban areas of the region and Paris.

On the other hand, the German Empire secretly begins to pass German weapons to republican and socialist groups, opponents of both sides of the current French civil war, growing in the discontented working-class neighborhoods.

German forces secure their border from Luxembourg to Elsaß-Lothringen with a small mobilization that does not attract the attention of most European countries, with the exception of Austria-Hungary, whose expedition leaves the Adriatic for the south of France to support the young emperor Napoleon IV.

In the north of the Iberian Peninsula, the Carlists had a new motto: "Down with the foreigner! Long live Spain!"

With the successes of the Navarre campaign, the Carlists are heading towards the Basque Country or also called the Basque provinces, while the Kingdom of Spain under Leopold I still holds most of the peninsular territory, they have once again suffered defeats against the Carlists.

The Basque Country has joined, for the most part, the Carlist revolt against King Leopold I, who for his part continues to be a bundle of nerves, leaving most of the military decisions to his loyal generals while continuing to ask for help in the Foreign.

But at that moment no one was listening to his call, thinking of this as something the government could easily crush.