1909
The Bosnian Crisis vastly increases tensions between Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia, and forms a pro-war movement in the Russian government, and a move to boost the Russian Army. The Romanian Peasant's Revolt is interrupted with an assassination and ends with an agrarian reform. The Portuguese Republican Revolution begins a civil war in the country.
January - US troops finally leave Cuba after being there since the Spanish-American War.
February - The Bosnian Crisis: The Young Turks Revolution convinces the A-H Empire that they could regain the northerly provinces. They feel they need to move, and desire to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina, but first he needed to convince Russia not to side with Serbia against it. Tsar Nicholas had a navy that he had been building since the defeats of 1905, and desperately wanted to attain passage through the Dardanelles. They came to a secret agreement that if the A-H Empire would back the Russians, the Russians would allow the annexation.
This would be largely backed by Alexander Izvolsky, the Foreign Minister of Russia. He felt shocked and personally betrayed when Austria-Hungary moved first, annexing Bosnia without mention towards Russia, and allowing Russia's attempt to open up the Bosporus to be blocked by other powers. Pan-Slavists were personally betrayed and the Russians humiliated. But they could not move to war now, still partially weakened from the loss in the Russo-Japanese War.
Izvolsky would become a major individual in calling for war, and would largely carry the entire Russian government in expecting and moving towards war. Furthermore, Tsar Nicholas abandoned his more radical moves to build a serious navy, saying furiously, "What good is it when our warships are blocked everywhere by continents, Turks and icebergs?" Seizing upon Izvolsky's enthusiasm, they would begin focusing on building up the Russian Army, eager to make up for lost time. The Russians were gearing for war.
Meanwhile, in Serbia, many feel extremely humiliated by Austria-Hungary and call for war, even moving troops to the border. Austria-Hungary feels empowered and invincible, and continually romantic by seizing new territory without having to pay off the Russians.
March 1st - The 1909 Ango-Siamese Treaty is signed, Siam ceding provinces to British Malaysia for protection against the French.
April 3rd - Romanian Peasants' Revolt: After a legal argument in Wallachia with landless peasants, a land lord's intermediary is killed, triggering a revolution of the peasants, which spreads like wildfire throughout the countryside, especially in Moldavia. This is largely due to the great unrest in the country over the fact that the huge population of the peasants owned very little land between themselves.
April 8th - Romanian Peasants' Revolt: The Conservative government steps down, leading the rise of the Liberals and Ion I. C. Bratianu as prime minister.
April 11th - RPR: A state emergency is called within the country, along with a general mobilization. More than 45,000 peasants storm estates and seize land, cause chaos.
April 22nd - RPR: By order of the King, Carol the First, 110,000 Romanian soldiers march on various villages, towns, and cities throughout the country, opening up fire on any unabiding peasant. Sweeping arrests are made as well.
June 10th - RPR: Nicolae Iliescu, a Romanian land-owner's intermediary sympathizing with the peasants who was inspired by the teachings of the peasant-socialist nurodnik, working alone, assassinates King Carol I of Romania and then escapes. Rebellious activity increases.
June 11th - RPR: Ferdinand I of Romania becomes the King of Romania. He is important for two things. A) Unlike the late King Carol I, he was strongly nationalist, greatly loving the Romanian people and the country and B) his parents-in-law were British and Russian nobles. He cares about his country, and he sympathizes with the Entente. Furthermore, there is no King Carol to block decisions made by the Liberal Party.
Ferdinand I makes an address to the people outside of his royal palace, with PM Ion Bratianu at his side, urging the peasantry to settle down, and promising land reform and a new constitution (largely pushed to the table by Bratianu). Some of the unruly peasantry relaxes, waiting to see what would happen. Of 10,000 peasants arrested so far, 3,000 are let free, as a symbol to the opposition.
July 8th - RPR: Partial agrarian reform begins in Romania under Ion Bratian to appease the masses, which are still looting in some parts of the country.
August - The Portuguese Republican Revolution: The Portuguese Republican Party convenes to accelerate the revolution and overthrow the entirety of the monarchy. Huge demonstration of 150,000 in Lisbon.
August 6th - Romanian Peasants' Revolt: Most soldiers return home or back into garrisons. Land reforms, however slight, pacify the masses. Furthermore, the Parliament becomes embroiled in discussion over the reforms and how to manage them, which will keep them very busy. King Ferdinand and Bratianu debate a new constitution with democratic leanings for the next two years, urged on by steady representation by the peasants who feel they can trust the new monarchy.
September - The Portuguese Republican Revolution: Radicals in Portugal burn down a noble's house, triggering the Portuguese Revolution, which is also something of a civil war between the monarchists and liberals. Mass movement of Portuguese nobles to other countries. The first battle includes Republican artillery firing on a monarchist village, causing a massacre of nineteen men, causing further monarchist sentiment.
October 9th - Two US warships depart for Nicaragua after 400 revolutionaries are executed by dictator Jose Zelaya.
November - PRR: Monarchist power becomes concentrated under Portuguese Captain Henrique Mitchel de Paiva Couceiro, the charismatic tall blond military officer who loathes the Republicans. Many men move to Galicia where he is concentrating an army of those that would oppose the Revolution. While collecting weapons, funds, and personnel, he prints the A Dever e a Virtude ("To Duty and to Virtue"), a small pamphlet that is spread throught north and western villages to rally monarchist sentiment. The Republicans discover this, and send soldiers throughout the villages and small townships to collect such propaganda (causing no sum of sympathy to the commoners).
