Hi there, I'm an American that has recently become interested more deeply into my Scottish heritage. My granddad has been a member of the Clan Gunn Society of North America for decades, and I recently joined their groups on Facebook.

Today is the anniversary of the Battle of Culloden in 1746, and I've seen numerous posts on these groups about the battle, with resounding sentiment of "Alba Gu Bràth". It's interesting to me because my understanding of the Rising of '45 is that it wasn't a "Scotland vs. England" clash so much as it was a civil war, and it certainly didn't have anything to do with Scottish nationalism at the time - in fact, there were French and English troops that fought in Prince Charles' Jacobite army as well as Scots (including 120 members of Clan Gunn, from what I can tell) that fought for George II.

My question is this - when and why does the popular perception of Culloden shift from that of former monarch vs. current monarch to one of Scotland vs. England? Does it have to do with the Clearances? 20th century Scottish Nationalism? And, are there any good resources that deal with historical memory of Culloden or the Jacobite rebellions more broadly? What are your thoughts, reddit?

Many consider the Sasanian Empire to be the last Persian empire, while others regard it as the last pre-Islamic Persian empire. These are vastly different conclusions. Yes, Islam eventually became the predominant religion after the conquest, but this can be a bit confusing considering that Arabs currently make up just 2% of the Iranian population. If the distinction is of religion rather than race, was there a time in which historians began to consider Islam as part of the Persian zeitgeist or is it still considered inextricably linked to Arab usurpation?

I'm writing my final English paper for the semester (early British Lit) and I'm trying to draw connections between the Ulster cycle and the Matter of Britain. I've always thought of Arthur as a part of the Irish tradition, though this semester seemed to suggest otherwise. We only did a fly-by of Cu Chulainn before skipping over the rest of Irish mythology, so I want to revisit the topic on my own and do it justice.

Here's where I'm at: I understand that The Matter of Britain is largely (if not entirely) independent from any of the "four cycles" of Irish mythology. This can be seen in the fact that Irish mythology hearkens back to druidism and the Tuatha de Dannan, whereas Arthurian legend is rooted in Christian tradition. That said, I have to imagine that the cultural overlap between the two bodies of work means that there are some allusions in either one to the other. I feel like elements such as the lady of the lake or Morgain le Fey allude to older Celtic myths, but I can't find any scholarly resources to support that stance. I'm also trying to get a foundation so I can speak intelligently about said Irish myths.

What I'm looking for is any direct reference to any major Celtic figures or themes in the Matter of Britain, OR (less likely) any mention of Arthurian myth in any of the Irish cycles. I pegged the Ulster cycle earlier because my understanding is that the Ulster deals more with lineages and kings, but that's just me pitching to the ballpark. If no direct allusions can be found, then I'd like to try and highlight some common elements or themes between the two, and analyze where they come from and why they're important. Any help would be appreciated!

On FSTDT discord I heard someone saying that, after the tide in the Polish-Soviet War turned in favour of Poland in 1920, Marshal Piłsudski had a plan to launch a counter-offensive invasion of the USSR with the hopes of taking advantage of its unstable state and triggering the collapse of Bolshevism. I haven't been able to find anything about this on the Internet.

Was there any such plan? Was it feasible?

Hello! I am unsure if this is a good question for this sub, but I am desperate! I am deeply interested in the rise of Robespierre, and can't seem to find a biography that scratches the hitch. Are there any great biographies to check out?

I believe that most people are to some degree familiar with this story. One of the most immediate causes for the Indian Rebellion of 1857 was the rumor that paper cartridges supplied to native soldiers (sepoys) by the East Indian Company were pre-greased with pork and beef tallow. Such tallow would made them forbidden to be bitten by Muslim and Hindu soldiers respectively. This is a fact. It is also a fact that paper cartridges were in fact greased with a number of substances and that proper manual-of-arms of the time included biting the paper cartridge open in order to allow the gunpowder to ignite inside the gun's barrel.

But was the rumor itself true? Were cartridges really greased with tallow from pork and beef?

Any information is appreciated. Thank you.

In all media I've seen depicting wars between England and Scotland there is no language barrier. This is despite Scotland being a sovereign state, separate from England.

This has caused me to wonder when exactly English became the dominant language, was it really prior to the Union of the two nations?

To my knowledge, ancient Basilicas were buildings that served multiple purposes. I heard some people refer to them as "indoor forums", and others as "town halls". Basilica's were places where the Romans held courts of justice, where business transactions could be carried out, and where meetings in general could be held. Their original purpose was therefore not a religious one. Since this is the case, why did Christians choose to use the design of Basilica's as one of the main inspirations for the design of later churches? Wouldn't it have made more sense to use ancient temples since temples had an explicit religious purpose?

The early settlement of New England is riddled with stories of harsh winters responsible for killing off large quantities of colonists. If you draw a straight line from New England to Europe, however, it falls roughly on the same level of longitude as Rome, which is quite south compared to the rest of Europe. What factors caused the winters to be so much more harsh and unbearable in New England if it’s so much farther south than most of Europe? And further, if the winters actually WERE comparable and I’m just misinformed, why did Europe always cope with those conditions better?

I'm on a second edit of a fictionalized account of the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony (1587 - 1590). I'm particularly interested in what a church service might have been like at the Roanoke colony and what impact religion would have on the struggling settlers as their society is threatened.

Things like....

• Would it be realistic to have a reverend (or priest) give a 'fire and brimstone' service? He's one of the antagonists in my story so looking for ways to realistically portray him in a not-so-gentle light.
• Do you think as the colony deteriorated they would be more intensely religious or relax a bit?
• Any other fascinating details about colonial religious practices that are cool to know? I'd love to know anything that I can use to paint a richer, more vivid world. Random facts or stories can work great!

Thanks so much to your brilliant brains in advance.

As an FYI if it helps contextualize: My lead is a young woman who sailed to Roanoke and is engaged. She begins the tale ultra timid and extremely repressed by her family, society and religion but in the (fictionalized) wake of the events becomes increasingly self reliant and strong. I believe that her faith would be a very important part of this journey. I see her getting into clashes with the reverend/priest as she begins to buck tradition and try to save her family and herself as things go down the drain.

Just trying to settle a friendly debate. Thanks :)

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual"

A lot of focus is on Das Kapital, but not on many of his other works. How was The Poverty of Philosophy received at the time? Did Proudhon ever respond to or comment on it?

Having just finished Julius Caesar's biography and doing some additional research, I found few references in regards to Caesar's relationship with his grand-nephew Octavian.

Considering he adopted Octavian and named him heir, I assume they at least must have met on numerous occasions. However, the apparent lack of historical material also leads me to believe that it was simply the best option Caesar had in dynastic succession.

I read in a book 'HMS Renown' that it had a famous rivalry with HMS Hood because one was from Chatham in Kent, while the other was from Portsmouth.

But it didn't mention anything else. How can their be a 200 year old rivalry between sailors in ships that are separated by thousands of miles of ocean and would rarely ever be in the same port at the same time nor would the ships be performing the same task at the same time so it would be incredibly hard for one to say my ship/skill is better than yours.

Would be fascinated to know the story of this rivalry and what it meant.

During both Operation Moses and Operation Joshua, why didn’t Mossad (or the IDF for that matter) simply get directly involved rather than secrets in order to rescue Ethiopian Jews (referring to the 1980s operations as represented in the Netflix movie Red Sea Diving Resort)

If you were a farmer/peasant conscripted into the army to fight the King's war, how well armed were you? Do you get a basic set of armor? What were their armor made of? What about weapons? Did they all just get spears because they were cheaper, or were they given swords?

It's just been bothering me for some time now, so hopefully your answers can give me my peace of mind.

(Same question from r/history.)

Did people really get their limbs blown off and have their guts hanging out of their bodies?