Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

172 II. Россия — Восток were taken to promote the Russian language and culture. Government control over internal affairs was strengthened, andmeasures were taken to “limit the isolation” of the provinces of the empire. OnNovember 1, 1894, Alexander III died and was succeeded by his son, Nicholas II, who, as time has shown, was completely unprepared for his high mission. At the first stage he continued the existing line of policy in domestic and foreign affairs. But, notwithstanding, in his actions throughout the entire period of his reign it is difficult to discern any inclination to pursue policy in general, both internal and external. The only exception can be considered the initiative to hold an international conference on arms limitation in The Hague in 1898. The sovereign consistently strove only to preserve the firm power of themonarch. At the highest level of government, such a line of behavior of the autocrat was frankly outdated and turned out to be unacceptable in view of external and internal threats. However, a completely opposite position was taken by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna (nee Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt), who showed an active interest in state affairs, filled the emperor’s chambers with random people and exerted enormous influence on her husband. As a result, the imperial family was led to the tragic outcome of 1918 by a mixture of endless absolutism, with a touch of theological mysticism and fatalism. Meanwhile, the vector of British foreign policy has shifted south, and attentive contemporary observers could not help but notice the fact that the future of the independent Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State was in great doubt. However, it must be admitted that the need for the development of mining, realized by all participants in the process, led to the fact that, inmodern terms, people and technology poured into the south of the African continent. It is not a secret that mining and railway engineers, etc. came to the south of the continent among the others who wanted to get rich. Quite a few of them included immigrants from Russia. “One might have imagined that all the volunteers were united by a single overriding motivation, but this was not so. The reasons that brought them to South Africa to fight for the Boers were actually quite varied. Some