Hello AskHistorians, I've checked your excellent book list but sadly it doesn't seem to have anything dealing with my corner of the world.

I am looking for good books on history of Slovaks and also Kingdom of Hungary. Where Hungary is concerned I primarily want its history during medieval era. Mostly I am interested in Slovaks though.

Secondly I am interested in one that deals with Austrian empire and Austria-Hungary specifically I am interested in internal tensions and conflict between ethnicities and society and culuture of that time and place.

And last thing is regarding Czechoslovakia likewise I would like book or books that would give insight on its internal politics and society from its creation to its dissolution.

If you can recommend ones written by Slovak that would be even better.

Thanks.

"It is a remarkable coincidence that of the ~8 out of 40 concentration camps that were allegedly used to systematically exterminate, rather than provide forced labor like the Americans did with the Japanese, or the Russians with their Gulag system, every single one of them were liberated by the Soviet Union, and thus all official records of their liberation would have come directly from the Communist government (not exactly trustworthy, considering the extent of their genocidal campaigns). Initially a few of the concentration camps liberated by the allies were labeled as "Death Camps" and supposedly possessed gas chambers, but it was later found that all those accounts were fabricated, and that the entirety of the casualties at those camps was caused by a rampant typhus outbreak and undernourishment, the result of the devastating allied Air bombardment that eradicated their entire agricultural system and infrastructure earlier in the war.

All of the confessions obtained by German Officers were following intense physical and mental torture by the USSR NKVD. Not exactly conducive for belief. In fact, some of the Officers gave such outrageous and ridiculous confessions of depravity, that it was fairly obvious that they were intentionally exaggerating in protest.

No "Gas Chambers" in Auschwitz existed when the Soviet Armies discovered them in 1944 / 1945. The camp did have a few air raid bankers that had been destroyed by bombs during the allied bombardment of camp, so the Soviets rebuilt these and added some holes in the roof, claiming they were the gas chambers the Germans used to conduct mass killings. A couple decades ago, the curators of Auschwitz had to admit that the current gas chambers on site were the ones the Soviets rebuilt. The death toll the Soviets initially reported at the camp was around 4 or 5 million, but over time the estimate has reduced gradually by to a couple hundred thousand.

There were no incredibly large mass graves found around Auschwitz, so the Soviets initially claimed that they cremated all of the remains using the ovens on the facility. This could explain the shortage of bodies found in the area. However, the camp only had a limited number of ovens, about the same as any other camp (Ovens were used to cremate, even in the camps not designated as Death Camps by the Soviets). The amount of casualties that the Soviets claimed could not mathematically be cremated in the 2-3 years the Germans allegedly conducted the extermination. It doesn't even come close, because to cremate a body it takes a process of 6-8 hours even in MODERN cremation ovens.

Those are just a couple examples that have already been proven, so you can probably see why some people like to question the official reports on the events that occurred during the Second World War, and find it ridiculous how one can be imprisoned in much of Europe and socially ostracized elsewhere in the West for simply questioning the casualty count, like what happened to Ernst Zundel in the 90's."

As I understand it most water was dangerous to drink so people drank some form of alcohol instead of straight water. So what was the prevalence of FAS? Did pregnant women just drink a form of tea, or did they even have that. I know until the 1800's we didn't even know that boiling liquids made them less dangerous.

I mostly want to know the middle ages and the early modern era as well as everything before both of those lol

Good day r/AskHistorians! I come from an country where, as far as I know, the French language is not really necessary for life. However, over time, I've come to realize the power of the French language in almost all fields, especially the scientific and political ones. Even the UN uses French (is it necessary?). Is this due to France's past colonial history? Is it because of the French Revolution? Essentially, what I'm asking is what makes French so special from a historical standpoint. I hope you'll consider answering this question as spectacularly as you always do, thanks!

To the victor belong the spoils-and the history books. I'm looking for any books that deal with the Civil War from more of a southern perspective, or at least an objective viewpoint. Most of what I have read, or listened to online, has been simply "the war was fought to end slavery". I don't think it was that simple. I can't see poor white southerners fighting to the death so some rich landowners could sip sweet tea while making big bucks through their slaves! Anybody out there that could recommend a book dealing with the likely complex issues that led to this wholesale slaughter of young Americans by their fellow citizens?

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Broadly speaking it is my understanding that the video game crash in the US killed the domestic market and set up the near monopoly of Nintendo. Some historians/economists point out that this "fixed" some of the problems in the long run, namely ip quality.

My question is, are there any unintended consequences from this moment in history? Was there a lack of faith in the market following which stifled technological growth? Is there any evidence to suggest that had the crash not happened (for all intents and purposes not inevitable as it was in reality), we could have seen polygon based 3d gaming sooner (for example)?

I want to avoid any what if's and speculations. I'm interesting in seeing tangible historical markers in technological growth to keep within the parameters of this subreddit.

Thanks!

Most historians narrow down the Golden Age of Piracy between the years 1690-1730, so that's why I'm asking if any acts of piracy happened after 1730.

I'm also asking if any acts of piracy happened up to the year 1760 to avoid discussion about American Revolution privateers and Caribbean piracy in the 1810's (i.e. Jean Lafitte) because those two subjects are better known, plus I already know about that, and it's not what my question is about.

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And if so, was it all heresy and outlawed 'the sun revolves around the earth' sort of stuff?

Because if that is true, wouldn't they die out of internal wounds often?

A lot is written about the holocaust, but actually I have not heard much about the prosecution of roma and sinti people except for the fact that it has taken place. What was the reason Nazi's prosecuted traveling people in the first place?

How did roma and sinti fit in the racial theories of the Nazis and were people who were halfroma and roma who settled in society also targeted?

Did the escalation from excluding from society to indiscriminate deportation follow a similar path as it did for the jews?

Was there a difference in how different traveling ethnicities were treated?

Were there differences in how the local civilians treated jews or travelers?

Did they have their own marks to wear on their jackets?

Did many escape deportation?

Also, there are travelers who are ethnically the same as their host nation. Were they targeted as well?

Also I am not really sure how to address the various ethnic traveling people without referring to the slurword gypsy. Is there a respectful word for it?

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I know the term 'classical' is problematic, but if we look at the music world between, let's say, Bach and Stravinsky, one can't think of any English names. They're all Germans, Austrians, French, Italian, Russian, etc. Continentals, in other words.

I'm sure a specialist could rattle off several English names, but I sure can't! Why is that?

According to wikipedia the romans had as part of a decimation the punishment that a group of soldiers would be forced to sleep outside of the camp. I have a few questions about this.

Did this only apply to groups or also to individual soldiers?

Was it only for one night, or could it be longer than that?

How far away from the camp would they need to be?

Was it dangerous? Were they susceptible to attacks by enemy forces or wild animals. Would they have to provide for their own food?

Was it an exceptional or a regular punishment?

Where can I see a realistic portrayal of a Berserker in action?