Multiple major actions were being carried out by the Japanese in December 1941 and I am interested in knowing where the best of Japans troops were focused. The Malaya campaign was such a success I would be tempted to think their best troops would have been focused there, but I do not know for sure.

I mean this particularly in Holocaust history, for example Poles and Baltic countries equating their sufferings under Soviet occupation with the Holocaust. What is the academic view of this? And also, I sometimes feel that this is reflected in writings like Timothy Snyder. Am I wrong?

The battle of Thermopylae is arguably one of the most well-known ancient battles. People keep saying how Leonidas and his 300 heroic Spartans (there more troops from other Greek city-states at Thermopylae, but they are often overlooked) saved democracy and in effect the entire Western civilization in that battle. The more I read about Thermopylae, however, the more I doubt its significance in term of the second Persian invasion.

No matter how you look at it, Thermopylae was a heavy defeat for the Greek. They intended to hold the pass, not merely delay the Persians. In the end, the Persians were delayed for a few days and the warrior king of one of the strongest Greek city-state, who was also the leader of the combined army, was slaughtered along with his elite troops. Given the Persians' superiority in number, I doubt their loss at Thermopylae bothered them much. With Thermopylae lost, the Greek had to withdraw from Artemisium, because their strategy required them to hold both locations.

In the end, what did the Greek gain from Thermopylae? Did a few days delay matter that much? You can argue that it inspired other Greeks to stand up against the Persians, but is there actual evidence for that? Did the battle really helped boost Greek morale at that time?

Overall, I was led to believe that Thermopylae actually did not contribute much to the eventual Greek victory. In fact, honor and traditions aside, I question Leonidas' decision to keep fighting when the Persians found the secret path. Leonidas did know the situation was hopeless, given that he ordered the bulk of the combined army to retreat. Surely his leadership and his elite troops could have serve the war's cause better in a different situation?

Is there something I missed? Was Thermopylae really that significant in the grand scheme of things?

I'm trying to wrap my head around the foreign policies and actualities of the Iran-Iraq war and the Iran Contra affair.

Considering Khomeini, and the general Islamic attitudes toward Israel, why did Israel agree to selling Iran weapons?

Also, during Iran Contra, was Saddam not angered by the Americans dealing in Iran?

Thanks for any insights over this complex topic.

Does it have to be hereditary, or can a loyal person who is especially skilled in the art of killing become knighted by a Lord or Lady?

This thread was inspired by the recent Game of Thrones episode, "Spoils of War", where an army of cavalry backed by a dragon (Dothraki) charged into a long but thin line of shielded spearmen and archers (Lannisters), and is highly effective (for the Dothraki).

I have a couple of questions, spurred by a friendly argument with someone else: Do you have any judgment on how effective this charge would actually be? What about if the dragon was removed and there was simply a hole in the front "for some reason"? And just how effective were spearmen against horses, anyways?

(You don't have to answer them all.)

He argues that the charge would not be nearly as effective as shown in the show, because one cannot convince their horses to charge to their deaths. He doesn't argue the Lannisters would win, but that the Dothraki victory would be pyrrhic.

I argue that the hole in the frontline + horse archers shooting above their shields is enough rattle the lines for a horse to charge into, or at least enough to meet them, and assure victory.

Hello! Just as the title states, I am looking for books to read that details the histories of Scandinavia. I am keenly interested in learning more about this region's history, and I figured that this would be the best place to ask for resources. Thanks in advance!

I feel stupid for asking something so incredibly basic, but the reality is I don't really know very much about the internal process of the medieval church. How did a child acquire the education necessary to embark on a clerical life? I'm aware that the church operated schools in various places. Were these limited to the children of wealthy men? Were clerics mostly from aristocratic backgrounds?

I recently started rereading Lies My Teacher Told Me and was wondering how historically accurate the book is when it comes to Christopher Columbus, the treatment of Native Americans, and other subjects the book covers and also where he claims that the history text books are wrong or lacking important information. I am a future history teacher and rereading this book has made me question how I am going to teach American history in the classroom if I get the chance to.

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I have just come back from visiting the lovely Cutty Sark in Greenwich - and I made a note of a display that I wanted to know more about. It says:

"Most of the seamen who sailed on the Cutty Sark did so just once. They were paid off when they returned to London and had to look for another ship. But many took the opportunity for a free passage to Australia. In 1876 for example, 12 of the 15 able seamen deserted. they had to be repalced by expensive Australian seamen."

Why did they only sail on such a lucrative and prestigious boat once?

Why were Australian sailor so expensive?

Both have fairly similar origins. Mexico and the US were new, large, resource rich, sparsely populated countries, whose governmental institutions were created in the industrial revolution. I think it would not be much of a stretch of the imagination that had events gone slightly differently, we could be living in a world where Mexico would be on par with the US, and maybe even supplanting the US as the world's dominant power.

So, what is the reason for this current disparity? Was the Mexican American war much more influential than many people give it credit, was America just blessed in some way that I am not seeing, or is it something else?

edit: Wow. Apparently I have hit a really touchy subject. Every time I refresh my browser it will fluctuate between +5 and 0. Didn't mean to offend anyone, I am just interested in the subject.

Why did he call himself Messiah/son of God? Why did he start preaching? Why did he want to break away as a sect from the Jews? What motives could he have had to do all of this?

I mean, romans created a huge empire but they originated in the italian peninsula, a land not really rich in resources of any kind not even that much fertile meanwhile northern europe was rich of any resource ancient empires needed, wood, metals, the fertile north european plain, a lot of rivers, a lot of wild animals to hunt and a lot of cultures with no natural barrier able to condivide their technologies and prosper but they never prospered nor created a technologically advanced empire.

I started wondering this after last night's Game of Thrones episode, in which there was a brief scene where the Lannister armies are marching through the countryside in lockstep, like a marching band, with a rehearsed stepping pattern.

Was this just for displays of discipline when passing through cities, or did medieval armies actually march that way over long distances? I would have imagined they just walked like normal...

I was looking on wikipedia and only 49% of voters actually voted in 1996. This was the lowest turnout since 1924.

Why? Did people just not care about politics during this era, and if so, what factors led to that?

I think this will be hard to answer. I'd settle for an approximation via the United States pricing for munition sales to other belligerents.

During my high school years I learned about European and US History the most and I would like to start learning about Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

How could I start? I am searching for reliable documents/books/sources. Any tips you may think of are welcome too. I am just kind of lost because it's a lot of new info to take in.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance :)

Expert googlers, i have been researching on the ancient "rose outside door" privacy symbolism but unable to find any pictures related to it, what keywords should i use?

I can't imagine generations from the 1800's (or before) being able to leave their farm, or having the money to do so, for the soul purpose of leisure time.

When did they become popular?