Why was Alexander I of Russia succeeded not by his brother Constantine, but his other brother Nicholas I?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Is there a source for the anecdote of a Dog bringing Napoleon to tears?

I have seen this quote on reddit a few times and around the internet:

"Perhaps it was the spirit of the time and the place that affected me. But I assure you no occurrence of any of my other battlefields impressed me so keenly. I halted on my tour to gaze on the spectacle, and to reflect on its meaning. This soldier, I realized, must have had friends at home and in his regiment; yet he lay there deserted by all except his dog. . . . I had looked on, unmoved, at battles which decided the future of nations. Tearless, I had given orders which brought death to thousands.

Yet, here I was stirred, profoundly stirred, stirred to tears. And by what? By the grief of one dog. I am certain that at that instant I felt more ready than at any other time to show mercy toward a suppliant foe-man. I could understand just then the tinge of mercy which led Achilles to yield the corpse of his enemy, Hector, to the weeping Priam."

It's quite a powerful image, however, I've never actually seen a proper citation attached to it. I was curious if anyone knows if this is a real quote or one of the stories that gets passed around as fact.

1 Answers 2019-07-31

During the Great Awakening (1730s/40s), it is my understanding that “everyone is equal in the eyes of God” was heavily preached and accepted across the colonies. Why did this not result in slavery being abolished?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

In WW2, there was only 1 glider mission that flew behind enemy lines. Which mission was it, and where could I learn more about it?

I learned this at my grandfathers funeral today (he was on the mission) and I tried googling it but the results were too broad for me to narrow it down.

Thanks in advance and if I got the story wrong, I'd like to know.

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Alternative irreligious Calander start

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1 Answers 2019-07-31

What was the underground Gay scene like in the 1940-1950?

2 Answers 2019-07-31

Why in France absolutism was practised but for other powers like German principalities and Italian city states fragmentalism was the case, despite them living in the same continent and practising same religion?

Can it only be attributed to a powerful monarch? Or due to wealth per state?

2 Answers 2019-07-31

How did ancient civilizations living near the equator (e.g. Egyptians) get/make ice?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Why is it that the bombing of Tokyo, which had a higher death toll and more damage taken to the city, was overshadowed by both Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Book Recommendation: Pre-Columbian civilizations

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2 Answers 2019-07-31

How did American colleges change their pedagogical culture to accommodate the shifting norms that accompanied independence, and thus the education of Citizens versus Subjects?

The nine Colonial Colleges predate American independence, and I while it is an assumption, I don't think it is a stretch to say that the change from Colony to Republic would have had a visible impact on the curriculum and their overall approach to the education of the young men in their charge.

The institutions existed to educate the elite of society, who would go on to be leaders and pillars of the community, so just as American culture in general changed in the late 18th century to reflect the new Republican ideals, I would expect pedagogical culture to as well, and if anything to be at the forefront given the lofty goals of such institutions.

So in short, what did these changes look like? What would the experience of a student at Harvard in 1760 look like compared to 1790?

Similarly, how uniform were the changes? Did they all take similar approaches, or would someone at King's College have a vastly different experience than someone at Queen's College in how things changed over those decades?

Related, how did the approach to educating new citizens to lead the Republic differ between those colleges which bridged the period between colonial rule and Republic versus those such as the University of Georgia or Georgetown which were founded afterwards and during the Early Republican period?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Why does it seem like the history of Julius Caesar is so close to Shakespeare's play about his rule? Is the play actually considered to be mostly historically accurate by historians?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Can somebody explain me this Russian document from WW1 / the Russian civil war ?

From what I know, during WW1 my great-grandfather, who was from the Croatian town of Rijeka, was conscripted to the Austro-Hungarian army. There he fought on the eastern front, where he was at one point captured by the Russians. Could he have been taken as a prisoner during the Battle of Galicia?

From his time as a prisoner in Russia my family had a communist party membership card (which has been lost) and this document. As it seems this document was issued in a hospital in Tsaritsyn (now Volgograd). Was that a hospital for prisoners of war?

From what I can tell, in the upper left corner, it says (in cyrillic script) that the document was issued by the RSFSR. What did the RSFSR do with Russian war prisoners. Also a few rows under, it says (at least I think) okhrana (the old Russian secret police), but the year in which the document is placed is 1918. How could that be possible i okhrana was dissolved in 1917 ?

If the document is dated in the October of 1918 and at that time the city was being besieged by the White Army, what was my great-grandfather doing there at the time?

Also if some of you know russian, could you please further clarify the document to me since I haven't been able to translate and interpret the document myself.

The imgur document link : https://imgur.com/a/Iwo8Q7w

2 Answers 2019-07-31

When and how did historians rediscover that the Vikings arrived in the Americas?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Do historians ever encounter the mandala effect?

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2 Answers 2019-07-31

When the brothel building in Pompeii was opened for tourists in the 1970s, women were not allowed inside (assuming due to the "explicit" nature of the 2,000 year old images over the doors inside). Does anyone have any idea when women were finally allowed to see the brothel?

This is a random question, even for me, but I'm really curious about when women were finally allowed inside, how it came to be that they were finally allowed in and if there's any insight into why they weren't allowed in the first place. I have my assumptions but I'd love some information. Google searches, so far, have not been helpful and it's such a bizarre question I'm not sure where to look. Any thoughts?

Some background on the question - A friend was just telling me how she first went to Pompeii in 1973 with a college trip and she (along with the other girls) wasn't allowed in at that time but the boys were. As someone who was first able to see the Pompeii ruins, including the brothel, during a college trip of my own in 2004, I found this crazy. And it's made me very curious.

(I had posted this in another subreddit but was referred to this one)

1 Answers 2019-07-31

After the fall of The Soviet Union, were German Documents released as well.

When the archives opened up and we were able to see the Soviet side of the story for the first time, were there great amounts of German papers they captured during the last days of the war that were finally released ?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Short Answers to Simple Questions | July 31, 2019

Previous weeks!

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30 Answers 2019-07-31

Why is the term "colonialism" often limited to European empires since the Age of Discoveries? Weren't ancient empires such as Rome, China or Persia also colonialist?

I really don't understand the difference between ancient and modern empires and why they should be cataloged differently.

2 Answers 2019-07-31

Is it true that Native American tribes purchase African slaves during the early days of colonialism to make up for the men who were dying en masse? What did this affect?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

What are we to make of the story of the Israelites' slavery in Egypt and subsequent Exodus and its reflection on Ancient Israelite society?

Asked this last week, but noticed the theme this week and it seems to fit so trying again!

Anyways, as I understand it, the academic consensus is that the story of Exodus is entirely mythic. There was no Egyptian captivity, or otherwise a time of exile there, and likewise the flight from Egypt is also a creation.

But certainly there was intended meaning to the story. What do scholars see as the, ahem, genesis of the story of Exodus? What purpose did the crafting and continuation of this narrative serve within Israelite society?

How does it relate to the actual relationship that existed between Israel and Egypt in the period that it nominally would have happened? I know that this is the first time we even see Israel mentioned, in 1209 BCE, but not much else. I don't want to speculate, but is the myth in any way commentary on the reality of their relationship with a stronger, more powerful neighbor?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Why is western WW2 knowledge framed so heavily on the Nazis?

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1 Answers 2019-07-31

Perseus and Mycenaean Culture And Mythos

So,, I apologize preemptively if this question somehow breaks any rules for questions. I looked at them, and am fairly sure it doesn't, but might somehow be misconstrued as soapboxy? I'm not sure.

Anyway, my question revolves around the Myth of Perseus. The typical story as told is that he was a son of Zeus by Danae, and subject of a prophecy to kill his grandfather. This lead to a whole thing, but that's not really my question. My question about it is, like many Ancient Greek Myths, Perseus' takes place in the time of the Mycenaean Civilization, and I am curious as to whether or not we know if the Myth is entirely a Grecian Creation or if it had any basis in Pre-Mycenaean-Collapse Culture and Mythos itself.

This question arises from the fact that I know that while Greeks did base a lot of their own Mythology on Mycenaean Mythos, because of the Dark Age, a lot of it was transformed or garbled or changed around to better fit Greek Culture. Especially the fact that the Mycenaean's worshiped Poseidon as head of their gods, and that Poseidon also took the place of Hades in a Myth much like that of Persephone. Taking that into account, it struck me as odd that Perseus is considered a Son of Zeus, when much of his Mythology actual ties in more to an Oceanic/Sea theme.

So. What is the likelihood of the Myth of Perseus having a basis in Mycenae Culture, and if it does, do we have any idea of how it may have changed over the centuries, and why? How did the story originate in the first place, and how did it travel?

This sort of topic fascinates me, and I always love learning about the evolution of different Myths. Dionysus alone can make your head spin trying to wrap your mind around it!

EDIT: And the Immigration and Migration Tag is back for some reason after it disappeared. Really not sure why it's there, and still not sure how to get rid of it.

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Is there a reason why the Nazi Party adopted the swastika from Buddhism and Hinduism as their official symbol? Doesnt This contradict with their Scandinavian and Germanic culture based core beliefs?

I recently went on a trip with a Jewish friend to India, and he nearly had a fit seeing the symbol painted on trucks, walls, Buddha statutes, so much so, that I have to prevent him from decrying India as a country of swastika loving parasites, and alter our holiday plans to visit temples and a museum to provide context on the symbols meaning, which is the symbol for prosperity.

Given that, any sources or reasons as to why the Nazi Party adopted the swastika as their symbol?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

Did the Native Americans of North America know about the great kingdoms of the Inca's or Maya's to the south of them?

1 Answers 2019-07-31

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