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The German Enigma vs British Typex, which is/was the better machine and why?

Hi, I am writing a large assignment about cryptography during ww2 and I’m having a very hard time finding information about the Typex machine other then the usual “it was based on the commercial enigma and had 5 rotors instead of 3”, does anyone know something more specific? Particularly about the theory behind it and how it differs from enigma. All Inputs are appreciated thanks.

2 Answers 2020-03-21

The Taiping Rebels naval commander was former smuggler named Lou Dangan, Seeing as how he operated in the same area as Madame Ching Shih, the pearl river, is possible they ever met or interacted?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Saturday Showcase | March 21, 2020

AskHistorians is filled with questions seeking an answer. Saturday Spotlight is for answers seeking a question! It’s a place to post your original and in-depth investigation of a focused historical topic.

Posts here will be held to the same high standard as regular answers, and should mention sources or recommended reading. If you’d like to share shorter findings or discuss work in progress, Thursday Reading & Research or Friday Free-for-All are great places to do that.

So if you’re tired of waiting for someone to ask about how imperialism led to “Surfin’ Safari;” if you’ve given up hope of getting to share your complete history of the Bichon Frise in art and drama; this is your chance to shine!

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Joseph Campbell proposes that around 2000BC, a "Great Reversal" occurred related to how Near Eastern peoples thought about death, from just a part of life, to the idea of death as an escape from life, typified by the 'Dialogue of a Misanthrope with his Own Soul'. Is this theory still accepted?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Recently started to obsess about Julius Ceasar

Hi! So ive started to really get in to Julius Ceasars Life, and now i feel like i want to know everything. Anyone wanna help on were to start? I was thinking about reading some of his books, but i dont know where to start Ive watch a whole lot of youtube about him. and a few documentarys about him, but its all the same. Anyone wanna help me?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

The Atabeg of Aleppo during the Second Crusade, Imad Zengi, was called ‘The Sanguine’ because he mutilated his courtiers. The Crusader Raynald of Châtillon tortured the Patriarch of Antioch and ravaged the people of Cyprus. How did Christians and Muslims view cruelty by their rulers in this period?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

What was the name of the illness king Wilhelm II had in his arm, and did Napoleon also have an illness in his arm.

So when i was born i alwas injured in my left arm. I also know that King Wilhelm has had the same symptoms or features that I do. I was wondering if we had the same injury. I have also seen pictures of Napoleon were he has hid his arm in the same manner as Wilhelm. Is there any correlation or is it only a myth that napoleon had a bad arm.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Is there truth to the criticism of Benito Mussolini as an opportunist, rather than a true believer in fascism?

I was reading about Mussolini and his rule and read about how Mussolini was a socialist right up until the first world war before completely changing his stance. Was this a genuine ideology change or was he simply changing because he saw the opportunity for power through nationalism? What is the debate amongst historians about this?

5 Answers 2020-03-21

Some of the American founding fathers had deist or other unorthodox religious beliefs. How widespread were these beliefs among the general American population at the time?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Why did Britain decided to make their colony in Palestine a new Jewish nation? Did they know that the Arabs would be heavily against such an idea?

Why did Britain decided on Palestine for a place for Jews to build their own nation? There are historical reasons behind this choice but Palestine was heavily populated by Arabs at the time and the British surely must know that the Arabs will resist such an idea right? I've heard of alternative plans to send Jews to Madagascar, why didn't the Western powers decided on that?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Looking for a book on Richard I of England

Sorry if this is not the right place to ask but I'm looking to find whatever is considered the most authoritative biography or nonfiction work on Richard I.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

When Hannibal was able to threaten Rome, what was the state of the defenses of that city?

I want to know what defenses were there and how robust they were. What level of supplies they had and how many people were defending them.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

How disruptive was WWII to the European economy? What percentage of the population experienced severe poverty as a result?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

no myths or lore about depopulation of Americas following 1492?

It seems that estimates of the pre-Columbian population of the Americas very widely, but it seems there is a consensus that a severe depopulation occurred. Recently a study argued that depopulation in the Americas contributed to a lower global CO2 level in 1610, providing some physical evidence that does not rely on historical documents.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277379118307261?via%3Dihub#bib182

What makes me skeptical about the idea of 90% or so of the population of the Americas being killed by disease is that I imagine such an event would be part of the lore of every single tribe. The comparison in my mind is the Flood narrative in the Bible, which is also found in other Middle Eastern sources. It seems reasonable to assume that a big flood occurred sometimes in the distant past, and now thousands of years later we still have stories about it. Yet supposedly 90% of Native Americans were killed by disease starting in 1492, yet 200 or 300 years later when Europeans finally are reaching the inner parts of North America, no memory of this remains? That seems odd.

Am I wrong here? Do these Native American stories exist, and I just haven't heard of them? Or am I incorrect in expecting them to exist? Any comments/criticism welcome.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Regarding the two trials of Joan of Arc: what are the testimonies in favor of Joan in the 1st trial? Are there any dishonest testimonies in the 2nd trail?

Just want to know more details regarding the two trials, as these two trials are predestined, so sometimes I'm wondering about it authenticity. Especially I want to know:

What are the testimonties in favor of Joan in the 1st trial - these kind of testimonies in that context will be more trustable;
Are there any dishonest testimonies in the 2nd trail? Especially those in favor of her.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Is it possible that HIV occured prior to the 20th century?

My understanding of the origin of the HIV epidemic was bad hunting practices in Africa in the early 20th century, with bites from animals infected with SIV that mutated into HIV in humans.

SIV in apes has been around for thousands of years, and yet countless different strains of HIV only occured in the 20th century. Urbanization in africa caused the widespread of HIV.

Is it possible that there were cases of HIV before this, and it just wasn't understood and not widespread?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Did the Apartheid regime in South Africa consider Lesotho and Swaziland models for what it wanted the "bantustans" to be?

Lesotho and Eswatini (then called Swaziland) are two very small countries surrounded almost entirely by South Africa, each ruled by an indigenous African kingdom. Did South Africa envision any of their bantustans to become countries like Lesotho and Swaziland? I know South Africa claimed some of the bantustans were independent countries, although no other country in the world recognized them as sovereign states.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

What is the history of the modern reciept?

What examples exist in history and how did they come to be so commonplace?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

I’m an Immigration Agent at Ellis Island in the early 1900s - Am I arbitrarily assigning transliterative names to immigrants who’s names don’t have obvious English equivalents? Are there accepted translations that just “stuck”?

For example: My grandfather is named Athanasios and was assigned the name Tom which has an actual Greek equivalent (Tomas). Athanasios doesn’t remotely resemble “Tom” - but every Athansios that I know calls themselves Tom.

1 Answers 2020-03-21

Before 1917 would Tsar Nicholas have even known who Lenin was or what a "Bolshevik" is? Did he have a basic understanding of the factions at play in 1905, or was he just completely out of touch?

1 Answers 2020-03-21

From Scandinavian elves, Basque iratxoak to Mayan alux, there seem to be multiple disconnected cultures with a common "little people who live in the woods" myth, are there theories as to the origins of these mythologies?

One of the explanations for the seemingly omnipresent giants and dragons myths is that they come from the discovery of dinosaur fossils and mommoth bones. I'm wondering if there's also a possible explanation for the "little people living in the woods", especially seeing as completely disconnected cultures seem to have independently relayed this myth.

2 Answers 2020-03-21

The German Enigma vs British Typex, which is/was the better machine and why?

The Taiping Rebels naval commander was former smuggler named Lou Dangan, Seeing as how he operated in the same area as Madame Ching Shih, the pearl river, is possible they ever met or interacted?

Saturday Showcase | March 21, 2020

Joseph Campbell proposes that around 2000BC, a "Great Reversal" occurred related to how Near Eastern peoples thought about death, from just a part of life, to the idea of death as an escape from life, typified by the 'Dialogue of a Misanthrope with his Own Soul'. Is this theory still accepted?

Recently started to obsess about Julius Ceasar

What was the name of the illness king Wilhelm II had in his arm, and did Napoleon also have an illness in his arm.

Is there truth to the criticism of Benito Mussolini as an opportunist, rather than a true believer in fascism?

Some of the American founding fathers had deist or other unorthodox religious beliefs. How widespread were these beliefs among the general American population at the time?

Why did Britain decided to make their colony in Palestine a new Jewish nation? Did they know that the Arabs would be heavily against such an idea?

Looking for a book on Richard I of England

When Hannibal was able to threaten Rome, what was the state of the defenses of that city?

How disruptive was WWII to the European economy? What percentage of the population experienced severe poverty as a result?

no myths or lore about depopulation of Americas following 1492?

Regarding the two trials of Joan of Arc: what are the testimonies in favor of Joan in the 1st trial? Are there any dishonest testimonies in the 2nd trail?

Is it possible that HIV occured prior to the 20th century?

Did the Apartheid regime in South Africa consider Lesotho and Swaziland models for what it wanted the "bantustans" to be?

What is the history of the modern reciept?

I’m an Immigration Agent at Ellis Island in the early 1900s - Am I arbitrarily assigning transliterative names to immigrants who’s names don’t have obvious English equivalents? Are there accepted translations that just “stuck”?

Before 1917 would Tsar Nicholas have even known who Lenin was or what a "Bolshevik" is? Did he have a basic understanding of the factions at play in 1905, or was he just completely out of touch?

From Scandinavian elves, Basque iratxoak to Mayan alux, there seem to be multiple disconnected cultures with a common "little people who live in the woods" myth, are there theories as to the origins of these mythologies?

Did soldiers that used swords have any technique, or did they just wildly swing their weapons?

Would more people have survived the Titanic if they loaded people by who came first, and not just women and children?

Why did Germany invade the Benelux in WW2?

Why did anyone take Joan of Arc seriously?