Grand duchy

Well, so here's what's actually funny.

So, Alex of Hesse, Princess Alice Victoria Helene Louise Beatrice of Hesse and by Rhine was a Grand Duchy of part of the German Empire.

And...

She is a daughter of a daughter of Princess Victoria.

As in so many other cases, the Lithuania of today is not quite the Lithuania of the past.

For centuries, Vilnius was at the center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, whose territories at different moments stretched far beyond present-day Lithuania and included large parts of what are now Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, or Russia.

It was a vast multilingual state, culturally and politically very well connected to the rest of Europe.

Today, I'm joined by Anna Ablamonova from Opera Mania, by Laima Vilimienne, general director of the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet in Vilnius, and by the Lithuanian soprano Vida Miknevičiūtė who just recently was a celebrated Sieglinde at our Ring cycle at La Scala and as the Empress in Frau ohne Schatten in Aix-en-Provence.

By the 18th century, opera had spread into the theaters of powerful aristocratic families.

The Radziwiłłs, the Oginskis, the Sapiehas, some of their great estates lay in places such as Nyasvizh and Złoniów, today in Belarus.

Another reminder that the cultural geography of the Grand Duchy was very different from our modern map.

In 1785, public theaters began operating in Vilnius and Klaipeda.

Although self-employed child minders remain concerned over unpaid holiday leave.

The Council of State has flagged legality risks in two draft Grand Ducal regulations meant to replace the National Health Fund and Luxembourg Association of Doctors and Dentists.

It ruled that prescription validity, sick note limits, and fee restrictions require a clear legal basis in the social security code before enforcement.

Some welcome news on the forecourts today as drivers in Luxembourg will benefit from notable fuel price reductions that happened overnight.

That certain Russian officials have determined, if they are not checked, to destroy the Finnish constitution is a fact beyond dispute.

But the Grand Duchy has not been without expressions of sympathy from very influential quarters in Russia, and there can be little doubt that if the present Tsar knew the facts, he would revert to the wise policy of his ancestors and abandon the dangerous adventure into which he has been led by the intolerant apostles of unification.

Unhappily few Russians have studied the question for themselves.

They are at the mercy of a class of controversialists who are sufficiently characterized by a writer in Prince Ukhtomsky's paper, the St. Petersburg Vedomosti, whose pungent remarks on the jackal press I have ventured to quote in the final chapter.

J.R.F., London, November 1899 End of Section 0 Section 1 of Finland and the Tsars, 1809-1899 By Joseph Robert Fisher This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

Read by Alistair Chapter 1.

Land and People Finland governs itself, were the words with which the first Nicholas was accustomed to wave aside the suggestions of officials in whose eyes the constitutional government of the Grand Duchy was a standing offence against the sacred principles of autocracy.

Thanks to this wise policy, persisted in by successive emperors for the best part of the century, Finland has till recently made itself very little heard of since its union with Russia.

That certain Russian officials have determined, if they are not checked, to destroy the Finnish constitution is a fact beyond dispute.

But the Grand Duchy has not been without expressions of sympathy from very influential quarters in Russia, and there can be little doubt that if the present Tsar knew the facts, he would revert to the wise policy of his ancestors and abandon the dangerous adventure into which he has been led by the intolerant apostles of unification.

Unhappily, few Russians have studied the question for themselves.

They are at the mercy of a class of controversialists who are sufficiently characterized by a writer in Prince Utomsky's paper, the St. Petersburg Vedomosti, whose pungent remarks on the jackal press I have ventured to quote in the final chapter.

Read by Alistair.

Chapter One: Land and People.

"Finland governs itself" were the words with which the first Nicholas was accustomed to wave aside the suggestions of officials in whose eyes the constitutional government of the Grand Duchy was a standing offence against the sacred principles of autocracy.

Thanks to this wise policy, persisted in by successive Emperors for the best part of the century, Finland has till recently made itself very little heard of since its union with Russia.

Baku denies lobbying because, well, that's what you politely do, obviously.

But then Luxembourg, yeah, hello Joe, Luxembourg, seeing the vault door open, demanded the same treatment from Mikhail Friedman, who happens to be pursuing a $16 billion arbitration claim against the Grand Duchy.

So the Eurobureaucrats assemble a package.

Trade.

That certain Russian officials have determined, if they are not checked, to destroy the Finnish constitution is a fact beyond dispute.

But the Grand Duchy has not been without expressions of sympathy from very influential quarters in Russia, and there can be little doubt that if the present Tsar knew the facts, he would revert to the wise policy of his ancestors and abandon the dangerous adventure into which he has been led by the intolerant apostles of unification.

Unhappily, few Russians have studied the question for themselves.

They are at the mercy of a class of controversialists who are sufficiently characterized by a writer in Prince Oktomsky's paper, the St. Petersburg Vedomosti, whose pungent remarks on the jackal press I have ventured to quote in the final chapter.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, read by Alistair.

Chapter 1.

Land and People Finland governs itself, were the words with which the first Nicholas was accustomed to wave aside the suggestions of officials in whose eyes the constitutional government of the Grand Duchy was a standing offence against the sacred principles of autocracy.

Thanks to this wise policy, persisted in by successive emperors for the best part of the century, Finland has till recently made itself very little heard of since its union with Russia.