The History of almost Everything. Practical guide of the eaters of Time. Lim Word
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are rolling through them. The number of deaths, according to official figures – 1,383 people, according to unofficial – 4,000, in addition, about 1,500 injured and injured.
By noon, the place of the catastrophe has been cleared of traces of drama that has taken place. At two o’clock on the field comes Nicholas II, he is met by new crowds and sounds of the orchestra. In the evening, festivities continue in the Kremlin Palace, then crowned wives are dancing at the ball of the French ambassador. For reasons of the king, although the Khodynka disaster is the greatest misfortune, it should not overshadow the bright coronation holiday. The entry in the diary of Nicholas II; «I learned about this at 10 1/2 o’clock before the report of Vannovsky; A disgusting impression left of this news. … Skirting tables, went to the Kremlin. … Let’s go to the ball to Montebello. It was very beautifully arranged, but the heat was unbearable.»
The imperial family sacrificed 90,000 rubles to the victims (100 million were spent for the coronation all over the country) and 1,000 left after all the banquets and bottles of Madeira.
The principle of building relations between the royal family and the people is quite clearly represented from the correspondence of Alexandra Feodorovna with her grandmother, the British Queen Victoria:
Victoria: «I’ve been ruling for more than 50 years, and yet, every day I have to think about what I need to do to keep the love of my subjects and make it stronger… Your main duty is to win their love and respect.»
Alexander-Alisa: «You are mistaken, dear grandmother. Russia is not England. Here we do not have to do anything to deserve the people’s love. The Russian people revere their king as a divine creature.»
In March 1905, the long-standing dream of Nicholas II again comes to life: to go to monkhood, of course, with a good view of becoming a Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. This idea breaks out at a meeting with the metropolitans of St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, and also the deputy chief procurator of the Holy Synod, V. Sabler, at the very moment when the priests are promoting their own, also long-thought-out idea of the restoration of the patriarchate. The king suddenly proposes his candidacy: implying that at the same time there will be a renunciation of the throne in favor of Tsarevich Alexei. The Synods respond with silence.
The economy of the country is developing very well. Russia ranks first in the production and export of grain, butter, per capita GDP is 3, 3 times less than that of world leaders – Britain and the US, and this gap is constantly decreasing. The duration of the working day of «ordinary people» since 1903 is limited to «only» 11.5 hours, on Saturday – 10 hours. The average salary is 26 rubles, with a living wage of 21 rubles for an idle man; if transferred to gold, 27 modern (early 2016) thousand rubles. A kilogram of lamb or beef in 1915 costs 25 kopecks. A glass of vodka in the tavern 10 cents, a bottle of vodka «Moscow Special» – 17.5 kopecks, a loaf of bread 5 cents. Perhaps this is acceptable, but about 40% of the worker’s salary goes to arbitrarily assigned fines.
Budgetaries – officials, doctors, as well as engineers at state-owned plants, receive a state pension. Only to the most military in 1914, this cash grant, on the length of service or a serious illness acquired and ordinary workers. To get a «full salary» should work, in total, 35 years, half – from 25. Condition – labor activity throughout its entire length should be «immaculate». If the employee is «removed from office» by a court decision, a simple order from his superiors, or has served a sentence for a crime, the pension is simply reset. It can be earned again by settling on some other enterprise, but in this case the count of the service starts from the same scratch.
Russia produces a lot of grain, but its eaters also have a lot – 125 million. The government encourages the export of grain abroad, in the course put forward by Minister Vyshnegradsky the slogan «We will not eat, but we will take it out.» The peasants still have less land, the yield grows 1.25 times (three times less than in England). In 1891, the food crisis occurred in the Chernozem and Volga regions; a crop failure, in the absence of peasants significant stocks of bread (an average per capita rate of 190 kilograms of grain a year). At first the government does not believe in «panic-stricken zemstvos», then, it must be admitted, it is taking urgent measures to save people. As a result, about 300 thousand people die, not actually from alimentary dystrophy (hunger), but satellites of malnutrition – various diseases (mainly cholera and typhus).
In the reign of Nicholas II such a famine will not happen again, however, questions of grain exports, stripes, periodic malnutrition, are put, and the government has no answer to them.
In December 1904, Russian troops hand over the Japanese to Port Arthur. This news shakes Russian society, but his emperor at that moment is merry, laughs, listens to anecdotes, recalls scenes of past hunts.
Patriotic mood in the country is replaced by despondency, the popularity of the emperor is reduced to a critical level.
Meanwhile, the acquaintance of the imperial family with Grigory Rasputin will take place. Prior to that, the «holy old man» travels extensively through the sacred places of Russia, visits Mount Athos and Jerusalem. Further, he comes to Moscow, where he is received by Orthodox bishops, they spread a rumor about the extraordinary abilities of «God’s man.» News reaches the ears of the empress.
So, on November 1, 1905, on a tea party, the first meeting of the emperor and two high-society ladies with Grigory Rasputin takes place.
Further meetings, already with the whole imperial family, take place about once a month. It’s not that the king loved a pilgrim, but he’s the only one who can stop the hysteria of his Alix. Grigory publishes naive, but, for his time, perhaps, readable works – «The Life of an Experienced Wanderer,» «My Thoughts and Reflections.» Many are convinced; in the words of a wanderer, there is something like that. Among the prophecies, the main thing is a will: «… I feel that I must die before the New Year. But I want, nevertheless, to open the Russian people, the Father, Mother Russian and the Children, what they will. If I am killed by simple robbers, by my brothers – Russian peasants, then you, the Tsar of Russia, do not be afraid, stay on the throne and reign, and do not be afraid for your children, for they will reign for another hundred years and beyond that. If the nobles kill me, then my blood will remain in their hands, and 25 years (before 1941 – the author) they can not wash it off. They will have to leave Russia. Then the brothers will kill the brothers, and they will kill each other. And 25 years there will be no nobles in the state. … If your relatives lead to my death, then none of your family – neither children nor relatives will survive two years later. They will all be killed by the Russian people…».
There are also prophecies about the death of plants, that «a lot of spirits will return to earth and take the forms that they already had in the past.» Interesting is the prophecy, reminiscent of genetic experiments: «Irresponsible human alchemy, in the end, will turn ants into huge monsters that will destroy houses and entire countries, fire and water will be against them. In the end, you will see flying frogs, and butterflies will become vultures, and bees will crawl along the earth like snakes. And snakes will take possession of many cities… Mice and snakes will rule over the earth. Mice will hunt mice; and lost and stunned people will have to leave whole cities and villages under the onslaught of hordes of huge mice that will destroy everything and infect the earth.
…Plants, animals and people were created to be divided. But there will come a day when there will be no more borders. And then the person will become a half-human, half-plant. And the beast will become a beast, a plant and a man. In these boundless fields a monster, called a Cobaca…».
In 1912, the Second Balkan War began. Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro enter into taste, squeeze Porto, strive to pinch a piece from each other. The forces of the parties – Turkey 475 thousand people, the Balkan Union – 620 thousand. The battles are fierce, for the first time combat airplanes are deployed, only 8 years after the flight of the Wright brothers’ fragile shelves; they drop bombs