Overview of the Venetian Republic in 1900
Foreign Relations
[The Great powers at the dawn of the 20th century]
The Republic of Venice kept to its policy of Armed Neutrality throughout the 1800s. As the years turned to the 1900s, they kept to do the same as well. They had managed to stay out of the conflicts that were driving Europe to war. Yet time would tell if they had to pick a side or if they could remain neutral.
Europe
[Europe in the year 1900]
Coming into the 20th century there were 2 major regions in Europe that drove foreign relations: Germany and Italy. However the rest of Europe as not ignored by the great council.
The commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania was a shadow of its former-self. Defeat by the Russians and Scandinavians had ruined it. Moreover by 1900 the commonwealth had adopted a more republican form of government. The question of it could survive was a topic that many had. It survived so far but only barely.
Scandinavia was a nation that had also been somewhat battered. It lost the Grand Duchy of Finland to the Russians, though many sought to gain it back. They however were looking to the commonwealth to form a ring around the Baltic, their sea that they claimed. Unfortunately the Russian empire sought to expand in that direction as well. Conflict was something everyone saw coming.
In the rest of western Europe there were far few changes. The kingdoms of Catalonia, Burgundy and the Dual Monarchy as well as the republic of Spain didn't lose or gain territories in Europe. Most of these countries were focused on the conflicts in Central and Eastern Europe as well as their oversees colonies.
The Balkans were the bastion of Serenity and calm in Europe. Where other nations planned for war or were engaged in war, the Balkans were peaceful. Principally that was due to the fact that they were all in Venice's sphere of influence and she sought to protect that influence. Yet Venice had also promoted trade in those regions. The peace also allowed many Railroad companies to push to expand into Illyria or Macedonia or Albania.
Germany
The rise of the Danubian Confederation was the biggest shake up to European Politics. The annexation of Bavaria and the resolution of the Tyrol Crisis proved that the Confederation was here to stay. The confederation though was a force that was quickly annexing many of the age old states of the Holy Roman Empire; which was laughed at just being a meaningless title of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
For Venice, the Confederation's shake up was concerning. They had little interest in Germany however the Confederation had plans on uniting all of Germany under her borders. Which meant it was going to go to war with at least Burgundy, Scandinavia and Bohemia. There were some who thought that a German-Venetian alliance would be one of the better things for both countries as their power would be hard to match. The principal of Armed Neutrality dominated over such suggestions.
Italy
While most of Europe focused on the rise of the Danube Confederation, Venice's more pressing concern was Tuscany. The kingdom of Tuscany originating had modernized her armies and taken control of most of central and northern Italy. The conquest of Genoa brought in the Genoese Colonies. While Tuscany left the administration largely in check, the vast amount of resources that flowed in allowed it to push forward with its plans to unite Italy.
The Italian question was one that both Venetians and other Italians had in the late 1800s and still had as the 20th century dawned. That Question was what was Venice's relation to Italy. The Great Council largely ignored the question or if members of the council or Senate answered generally saw Venice as something apart from Italy. It was in the mainland though that had people thought they should be part of a united Italy. Though usually the dialogue was arguing for Venice to take the role of uniting Italy.
However the internal dispute if Venice was a part of Italy or not was not as big of a concern as what Tuscany wanted. Tuscany was positioning itself as the force to unite Italy. With the exception of Venice, Tuscany was the predominate power in Italy. The question that the Great Council had would a united Italy be a friend to the Venetian republic or her enemy at the back.
Africa
[Africa in 1900]
By the turn of the 20th century most of Africa was colonized by the European powers. There were a few remaining kingdoms in West Africa and around Lake San Marco.
The areas where colonialism didn't for the most part take place was in North Africa and Ethiopia. The North African Kingdoms of the Maghreb, Hafsid and Egypt had all remained strong to some extent or at least strong enough to hold their own and modernize. Ethiopia had emerged as one of the more dominate powers in Africa dominating most of Africa.
West Africa was largely dominated by the Dual-Monarchy which sought to expand further into West Africa and conquer the native kingdoms in the area. The Dual-Monarchy also was the dominate power of the Congo. Tuscany cut off the dual-monarchy west African provinces from their Congolese provinces. Scandinavia also had a handful of colonies in West Africa.
In Southern Africa it was largely dominated by Burgundy and her colonies, specifically the Duchy of the Cape and Vyrland. The rest of Southern Africa was largely dominated by Scandinavia. The regions known as Namaqualand and Hereroland were the only remaining uncolonized regions of South Africa. The question just was would Burgundy and one of her colonies take them or would Scandinavia take them.
The republic of Spain held a few colonies mostly in North Africa. As well as the kingdom of Catalonia also held a number of North African provinces. These were territories that the Maghreb in particular desired, though the kingdom of the Hafsids also desired them.
The republic of Venice kept to her policy of largely ignoring the mad rush for colonies in Africa. She much preferred the Pacific Islands over Africa. Though the Terra d'oro was slowly expanding as they pushed north and west. Though it was the Island of Madagascar which was the principal colonial in the African region that was regarded as one of the Main jewels for the republic.
[Southern Africa in 1900]
Near East
With the dawn of the 20th century, The Republic of Turkey had stopped being a big concern for the Republic of Venice. Turkey was largely protected by the Republic of Vinland. Neither Vinland nor Venice sought to go to war and thus largely kept their spheres from going to war against one another. Turkey focused instead on fighting with Persia instead.
The main change was that Venice added the kingdoms of Yemen and Oman to her Sphere of Influence. Largely so that she could have friendly docking on the way to and from the Pacific as well as Madagascar.
Pacific
It was the Pacific that dominated the oversees focus of the Republic of Venice. Where most nations looked to Africa for colonies, Venice looked to the Pacific. She saw the islands as a new Aegean for her to guide and rule. To help with guiding in that section was the kingdom of Zhourao which was also added to the Venetian sphere of Influence.
The Dual-Monarchy as well as the empire of Japan were the other powers in the Region that sought to control the islands. Venice wished to avoid conflict for the islands but there was concern in the Great Council conflict would come. In particular the Eastern part of the island of New Guinea was sought by all three powers.
Arcadia
[Arcadia in 1900]
While the Republic of Venice largely ignored the affairs of Arcadia and Amergia that didn't mean they completely ignored it.
The kingdom of Plantantgia and the Republic of Vinland had emerged as the principal powers in Arcadia. The constant warfare between them and the Belgian Confederation lead to the Belgian's downfall. In particular Vinland had emerged as the most powerful and influential of the powers in the western Hemisphere; being the only great Power located in this section of the world.
Yet the republic did keep an ear to the fact that the Belgian Confederation was currently undergoing a revolution; a communist revolution. The Great Council had little desire for these ideas to be transported down south to their holdings in the Caribbean.
Domestic Politics and Internal Affairs
\
[The Political Parties at the turn of the century]
Women's Suffrage
The recent social progress made in the 1880s and 1890s brought great progress to the republic. However in the area of suffrage for women, the republic did not budge. This issue more so then temperance was the biggest thing on everyone's mind coming into the 20th century.
For those who promoted woman's suffrage such as the reformer Alaide Gualberta Beccari who owned the newspaper 'La Donna' it was common to counter conservative arguments with famous women from Venice's past. Works of renaissance and early modern women were reprinted, some for the first time in centuries as they found new life. Women such as Arcangela Tarabotti, Lucrezia Marinella, and Moderata Fonte, were all women from the 16th and 17th centuries who wrote about women's rights then that in the modern struggle for women's suffrage found new and eager audiences.
This seeped into different politics throughout the republic and every party weighed in. Not surprising those in the Left, such as the various socialists, communist and social-liberal parties were for the voting rights while those on the right such as the conservatives and reactionaries were against it. The Liberal party itself which dominates politics was split on the issue; though far more supported it then opposed it.
Temperance movement
While Women's suffrage was the biggest issue dominating the politics. The second largest issue was Temperance. The Temperance movement sought to ban or at least curtail alcohol.
It was strongly supported by religious groups. Both Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches supported the movement; with the Patriarch of Venice, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, and the Archbishop of Athens, Procopius Economides, coming out in favor of the Temperance movement. This religious connection also made some strange bedfellows with the conservatives working with the socialists of the Liga Veneta Popolo Party with some of the liberals supporting it. The far right reactionaries were split though tended to oppose it as it was going against tradition.
Though they tended to support the movement for different reasons. The conservatives blamed it for causing moral decay in society. The Socialists saw it as harming the poor most of it all and allowing unfettered capitalism to profit off of the misery they brought to the common man.
As part of the movement the focus on other drinks became important and getting good drinking water to the people, particularly the poor was something that was picked up with vigor by many even those that were ambivalent to the movement.
Illyrism/Yugoslavism
In Trieste and Dalmatia the Yugoslavism movement was growing. The kingdom of Illyria which was founded on the idea of Illyrism had morphed into a pan south-Slavic movement called Yugoslavism. Most of the south Slavs were admittedly in the kingdom of Illyria but there was also the principality of Montenegro and the Venetian Slavic territories.
The republic though for her part had little desire to give them up. Not only were they some of the oldest territories in the republic, being part of the Venetian republic before even the mainland was added. Many of the people declared themselves to be Venetian, even if ethnically they were ethnically Slavic. The near millennium of rule over here made many proud to be Venetian.
Yet many also had begun to be attracted to the idea of Yugoslavism. The rise of nationalism made many feel as if they should be part of their own Slavic nation. As this was an issue that the Kingdom of Illyria promoted, the Great Council was concerned that they would seek to go to war over this issue; despite the great relations between the two countries.
It should be noted that in 1900 of all the nations in Venice's sphere of influence it was Illyria that was undoubtedly the strongest of them all. Thus councilors and senators began talks to figure out how to solve this issue without war.
Stato Da Mar
[the Jewel of the Indian Ocean - Madagascar]
As the 20th century dawned the Stato Da Mar had grown larger and faster in the past few decades then it has in the Republic's entire history. The Pacific Islands in particular where the central focus of the expansion of the Stato Da Mar. Their were two principal jewels in the Venice's possession: Madagascar and Nova Zelanda.
Nova Zelanda was a set of Islands in the Pacific dominated by the Maori tribes. Of all the regions in the Pacific it was these islands that were regarded as the crowning jewel. Immigrants from the republic's territories, most of all Greeks came to settle here. The wars against other Pacific Islanders, notably the Hawaiians, earned the Maori the reputation as fearsome warriors throughout the republic. While the Republic did patronize them, they did also recognize their skill in war.
The other jewel was the island of Madagascar. Madagascar was one of the few crown protectorates in the Stato da Mar. Queen Ranavalona of Mernia had successfully negotiated a deal between the Republic and her kingdom. This deal kept her and her family safe even if she gave Venice control of her kingdom. As the 20th century dawned the treaty had shown its fruits for both Madagascar and Venice.
The island was connected better then it had been before. Moreover as Madagascar had turned into one of the principal stops for the Venetians going to and from the rest of Stato Da Mar. The Republic also supported policies to help bring up literacy. Though most of that was more local driven by the Catholic Church and in particular Jesuits. As the Malagasy had quickly taken to Catholicism with the conversion of Queen Ranavalona; by the year 1900 many of the priests and Jesuits were native born. They may have went back to Europe for an education but returned to help improve the island.
Regardless of where in the Stato Da Mar the Venetians went the Catholic Church was not far behind, in many cases it was the opposite with the Venetians following the Church. While the Republic pushed for pluralism particularly between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches; they did however regard the various native faiths in the pacific with disdain and saw that through Christianity, principally Catholicism, that the locals could be good republicans.
While Trade was the principal driving goal of their colonization; many in the republic also viewed it as their moral duty to help civilize the islands that have come under their control. This meant educating them in the Venetian language and with Venetian values in a western style of education. The principal goal was to help assimilate the locals into the broader culture of the Republic.
As the 20th century dawned, the Great Council focused on further developing the ties between the various islands in the Stato Da Mar. The Colonial festivals that were held were done to foster ties and link people from Athesia to Nova Zelanda to Madagascar and everything in between.
Athesia
Athesia as well as Sudurhafejyar had longed desired to be full members of the Republic. The fact that they were not as the 20th century was one of the things that angered many throughout the Caribbean as well as a number back home in Venice proper.
To resolve that issue, the Great Council had begun slowly focusing more and more on the Caribbean and Athesia in particular so that they could be fully brought into the Republic. The local colonial administration was being replaced with the same sort of administration back in Europe.
While there was much work to be done; the issue on Athesia was one of the things that most parties agreed on. It was thus one of the main things that the Great Council hoped to have accomplished in the next couple of years as the 20th century dawned.
Technological Modernization
As the year 1900 rolled around Venice and the city itself had undergone a transformation in technology itself. Industrialization was now ushering in vast new technologies. Life had transformed radically in the 100 years since the year 1800. Often for the better as Literacy and quality of life was higher then ever in the Republic.
The republic had also gone a shift towards electricity and lamps and other new inventions started to pop up throughout the republic. The cities of the republic had replaced candlelight with lamplight powered by electricity. In the city of Venice itself a number of motorized boats started to pop up among the wealthier citizens. While there were not many of these electrical boats, they were there.
The Republic proper was linked together more then it had been before. Telegrams and Telephones helped link people throughout the republic. People in Greece or Dalmatia found that it was now easier then ever to communicate with people in Venice proper. A person in Athens now found he could communicate with someone in Verona. While this development went on, Trains were further improved in the republic and made far more reliable and safer then before.
Foreign Relations
[The Great powers at the dawn of the 20th century]
The Republic of Venice kept to its policy of Armed Neutrality throughout the 1800s. As the years turned to the 1900s, they kept to do the same as well. They had managed to stay out of the conflicts that were driving Europe to war. Yet time would tell if they had to pick a side or if they could remain neutral.
Europe
[Europe in the year 1900]
Coming into the 20th century there were 2 major regions in Europe that drove foreign relations: Germany and Italy. However the rest of Europe as not ignored by the great council.
The commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania was a shadow of its former-self. Defeat by the Russians and Scandinavians had ruined it. Moreover by 1900 the commonwealth had adopted a more republican form of government. The question of it could survive was a topic that many had. It survived so far but only barely.
Scandinavia was a nation that had also been somewhat battered. It lost the Grand Duchy of Finland to the Russians, though many sought to gain it back. They however were looking to the commonwealth to form a ring around the Baltic, their sea that they claimed. Unfortunately the Russian empire sought to expand in that direction as well. Conflict was something everyone saw coming.
In the rest of western Europe there were far few changes. The kingdoms of Catalonia, Burgundy and the Dual Monarchy as well as the republic of Spain didn't lose or gain territories in Europe. Most of these countries were focused on the conflicts in Central and Eastern Europe as well as their oversees colonies.
The Balkans were the bastion of Serenity and calm in Europe. Where other nations planned for war or were engaged in war, the Balkans were peaceful. Principally that was due to the fact that they were all in Venice's sphere of influence and she sought to protect that influence. Yet Venice had also promoted trade in those regions. The peace also allowed many Railroad companies to push to expand into Illyria or Macedonia or Albania.
Germany
The rise of the Danubian Confederation was the biggest shake up to European Politics. The annexation of Bavaria and the resolution of the Tyrol Crisis proved that the Confederation was here to stay. The confederation though was a force that was quickly annexing many of the age old states of the Holy Roman Empire; which was laughed at just being a meaningless title of the Kingdom of Bohemia.
For Venice, the Confederation's shake up was concerning. They had little interest in Germany however the Confederation had plans on uniting all of Germany under her borders. Which meant it was going to go to war with at least Burgundy, Scandinavia and Bohemia. There were some who thought that a German-Venetian alliance would be one of the better things for both countries as their power would be hard to match. The principal of Armed Neutrality dominated over such suggestions.
Italy
While most of Europe focused on the rise of the Danube Confederation, Venice's more pressing concern was Tuscany. The kingdom of Tuscany originating had modernized her armies and taken control of most of central and northern Italy. The conquest of Genoa brought in the Genoese Colonies. While Tuscany left the administration largely in check, the vast amount of resources that flowed in allowed it to push forward with its plans to unite Italy.
The Italian question was one that both Venetians and other Italians had in the late 1800s and still had as the 20th century dawned. That Question was what was Venice's relation to Italy. The Great Council largely ignored the question or if members of the council or Senate answered generally saw Venice as something apart from Italy. It was in the mainland though that had people thought they should be part of a united Italy. Though usually the dialogue was arguing for Venice to take the role of uniting Italy.
However the internal dispute if Venice was a part of Italy or not was not as big of a concern as what Tuscany wanted. Tuscany was positioning itself as the force to unite Italy. With the exception of Venice, Tuscany was the predominate power in Italy. The question that the Great Council had would a united Italy be a friend to the Venetian republic or her enemy at the back.
Africa
[Africa in 1900]
By the turn of the 20th century most of Africa was colonized by the European powers. There were a few remaining kingdoms in West Africa and around Lake San Marco.
The areas where colonialism didn't for the most part take place was in North Africa and Ethiopia. The North African Kingdoms of the Maghreb, Hafsid and Egypt had all remained strong to some extent or at least strong enough to hold their own and modernize. Ethiopia had emerged as one of the more dominate powers in Africa dominating most of Africa.
West Africa was largely dominated by the Dual-Monarchy which sought to expand further into West Africa and conquer the native kingdoms in the area. The Dual-Monarchy also was the dominate power of the Congo. Tuscany cut off the dual-monarchy west African provinces from their Congolese provinces. Scandinavia also had a handful of colonies in West Africa.
In Southern Africa it was largely dominated by Burgundy and her colonies, specifically the Duchy of the Cape and Vyrland. The rest of Southern Africa was largely dominated by Scandinavia. The regions known as Namaqualand and Hereroland were the only remaining uncolonized regions of South Africa. The question just was would Burgundy and one of her colonies take them or would Scandinavia take them.
The republic of Spain held a few colonies mostly in North Africa. As well as the kingdom of Catalonia also held a number of North African provinces. These were territories that the Maghreb in particular desired, though the kingdom of the Hafsids also desired them.
The republic of Venice kept to her policy of largely ignoring the mad rush for colonies in Africa. She much preferred the Pacific Islands over Africa. Though the Terra d'oro was slowly expanding as they pushed north and west. Though it was the Island of Madagascar which was the principal colonial in the African region that was regarded as one of the Main jewels for the republic.
[Southern Africa in 1900]
Near East
With the dawn of the 20th century, The Republic of Turkey had stopped being a big concern for the Republic of Venice. Turkey was largely protected by the Republic of Vinland. Neither Vinland nor Venice sought to go to war and thus largely kept their spheres from going to war against one another. Turkey focused instead on fighting with Persia instead.
The main change was that Venice added the kingdoms of Yemen and Oman to her Sphere of Influence. Largely so that she could have friendly docking on the way to and from the Pacific as well as Madagascar.
Pacific
It was the Pacific that dominated the oversees focus of the Republic of Venice. Where most nations looked to Africa for colonies, Venice looked to the Pacific. She saw the islands as a new Aegean for her to guide and rule. To help with guiding in that section was the kingdom of Zhourao which was also added to the Venetian sphere of Influence.
The Dual-Monarchy as well as the empire of Japan were the other powers in the Region that sought to control the islands. Venice wished to avoid conflict for the islands but there was concern in the Great Council conflict would come. In particular the Eastern part of the island of New Guinea was sought by all three powers.
Arcadia
[Arcadia in 1900]
While the Republic of Venice largely ignored the affairs of Arcadia and Amergia that didn't mean they completely ignored it.
The kingdom of Plantantgia and the Republic of Vinland had emerged as the principal powers in Arcadia. The constant warfare between them and the Belgian Confederation lead to the Belgian's downfall. In particular Vinland had emerged as the most powerful and influential of the powers in the western Hemisphere; being the only great Power located in this section of the world.
Yet the republic did keep an ear to the fact that the Belgian Confederation was currently undergoing a revolution; a communist revolution. The Great Council had little desire for these ideas to be transported down south to their holdings in the Caribbean.
Domestic Politics and Internal Affairs
[The Political Parties at the turn of the century]
Women's Suffrage
The recent social progress made in the 1880s and 1890s brought great progress to the republic. However in the area of suffrage for women, the republic did not budge. This issue more so then temperance was the biggest thing on everyone's mind coming into the 20th century.
For those who promoted woman's suffrage such as the reformer Alaide Gualberta Beccari who owned the newspaper 'La Donna' it was common to counter conservative arguments with famous women from Venice's past. Works of renaissance and early modern women were reprinted, some for the first time in centuries as they found new life. Women such as Arcangela Tarabotti, Lucrezia Marinella, and Moderata Fonte, were all women from the 16th and 17th centuries who wrote about women's rights then that in the modern struggle for women's suffrage found new and eager audiences.
This seeped into different politics throughout the republic and every party weighed in. Not surprising those in the Left, such as the various socialists, communist and social-liberal parties were for the voting rights while those on the right such as the conservatives and reactionaries were against it. The Liberal party itself which dominates politics was split on the issue; though far more supported it then opposed it.
Temperance movement
While Women's suffrage was the biggest issue dominating the politics. The second largest issue was Temperance. The Temperance movement sought to ban or at least curtail alcohol.
It was strongly supported by religious groups. Both Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches supported the movement; with the Patriarch of Venice, Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, and the Archbishop of Athens, Procopius Economides, coming out in favor of the Temperance movement. This religious connection also made some strange bedfellows with the conservatives working with the socialists of the Liga Veneta Popolo Party with some of the liberals supporting it. The far right reactionaries were split though tended to oppose it as it was going against tradition.
Though they tended to support the movement for different reasons. The conservatives blamed it for causing moral decay in society. The Socialists saw it as harming the poor most of it all and allowing unfettered capitalism to profit off of the misery they brought to the common man.
As part of the movement the focus on other drinks became important and getting good drinking water to the people, particularly the poor was something that was picked up with vigor by many even those that were ambivalent to the movement.
Illyrism/Yugoslavism
In Trieste and Dalmatia the Yugoslavism movement was growing. The kingdom of Illyria which was founded on the idea of Illyrism had morphed into a pan south-Slavic movement called Yugoslavism. Most of the south Slavs were admittedly in the kingdom of Illyria but there was also the principality of Montenegro and the Venetian Slavic territories.
The republic though for her part had little desire to give them up. Not only were they some of the oldest territories in the republic, being part of the Venetian republic before even the mainland was added. Many of the people declared themselves to be Venetian, even if ethnically they were ethnically Slavic. The near millennium of rule over here made many proud to be Venetian.
Yet many also had begun to be attracted to the idea of Yugoslavism. The rise of nationalism made many feel as if they should be part of their own Slavic nation. As this was an issue that the Kingdom of Illyria promoted, the Great Council was concerned that they would seek to go to war over this issue; despite the great relations between the two countries.
It should be noted that in 1900 of all the nations in Venice's sphere of influence it was Illyria that was undoubtedly the strongest of them all. Thus councilors and senators began talks to figure out how to solve this issue without war.
Stato Da Mar
[the Jewel of the Indian Ocean - Madagascar]
As the 20th century dawned the Stato Da Mar had grown larger and faster in the past few decades then it has in the Republic's entire history. The Pacific Islands in particular where the central focus of the expansion of the Stato Da Mar. Their were two principal jewels in the Venice's possession: Madagascar and Nova Zelanda.
Nova Zelanda was a set of Islands in the Pacific dominated by the Maori tribes. Of all the regions in the Pacific it was these islands that were regarded as the crowning jewel. Immigrants from the republic's territories, most of all Greeks came to settle here. The wars against other Pacific Islanders, notably the Hawaiians, earned the Maori the reputation as fearsome warriors throughout the republic. While the Republic did patronize them, they did also recognize their skill in war.
The other jewel was the island of Madagascar. Madagascar was one of the few crown protectorates in the Stato da Mar. Queen Ranavalona of Mernia had successfully negotiated a deal between the Republic and her kingdom. This deal kept her and her family safe even if she gave Venice control of her kingdom. As the 20th century dawned the treaty had shown its fruits for both Madagascar and Venice.
The island was connected better then it had been before. Moreover as Madagascar had turned into one of the principal stops for the Venetians going to and from the rest of Stato Da Mar. The Republic also supported policies to help bring up literacy. Though most of that was more local driven by the Catholic Church and in particular Jesuits. As the Malagasy had quickly taken to Catholicism with the conversion of Queen Ranavalona; by the year 1900 many of the priests and Jesuits were native born. They may have went back to Europe for an education but returned to help improve the island.
Regardless of where in the Stato Da Mar the Venetians went the Catholic Church was not far behind, in many cases it was the opposite with the Venetians following the Church. While the Republic pushed for pluralism particularly between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches; they did however regard the various native faiths in the pacific with disdain and saw that through Christianity, principally Catholicism, that the locals could be good republicans.
While Trade was the principal driving goal of their colonization; many in the republic also viewed it as their moral duty to help civilize the islands that have come under their control. This meant educating them in the Venetian language and with Venetian values in a western style of education. The principal goal was to help assimilate the locals into the broader culture of the Republic.
As the 20th century dawned, the Great Council focused on further developing the ties between the various islands in the Stato Da Mar. The Colonial festivals that were held were done to foster ties and link people from Athesia to Nova Zelanda to Madagascar and everything in between.
Athesia
Athesia as well as Sudurhafejyar had longed desired to be full members of the Republic. The fact that they were not as the 20th century was one of the things that angered many throughout the Caribbean as well as a number back home in Venice proper.
To resolve that issue, the Great Council had begun slowly focusing more and more on the Caribbean and Athesia in particular so that they could be fully brought into the Republic. The local colonial administration was being replaced with the same sort of administration back in Europe.
While there was much work to be done; the issue on Athesia was one of the things that most parties agreed on. It was thus one of the main things that the Great Council hoped to have accomplished in the next couple of years as the 20th century dawned.
Technological Modernization
As the year 1900 rolled around Venice and the city itself had undergone a transformation in technology itself. Industrialization was now ushering in vast new technologies. Life had transformed radically in the 100 years since the year 1800. Often for the better as Literacy and quality of life was higher then ever in the Republic.
The republic had also gone a shift towards electricity and lamps and other new inventions started to pop up throughout the republic. The cities of the republic had replaced candlelight with lamplight powered by electricity. In the city of Venice itself a number of motorized boats started to pop up among the wealthier citizens. While there were not many of these electrical boats, they were there.
The Republic proper was linked together more then it had been before. Telegrams and Telephones helped link people throughout the republic. People in Greece or Dalmatia found that it was now easier then ever to communicate with people in Venice proper. A person in Athens now found he could communicate with someone in Verona. While this development went on, Trains were further improved in the republic and made far more reliable and safer then before.
- 1
well then the next chapter will be interesting for you 
