Or for that matter, why are the submarine fleets and operations of any nation that isn't Germany in WWI almost entirely ignored (I'm referring primarily to Austria-Hungary in that regards)? I was given a couple volumes of The New York Times "Current History of the European War" which is an anthology of newspaper stories and articles covering WWI, basically as it happened. In it, I've made some remarkable discoveries.

One story is by the French Rear Admiral Degouy on the variety of submarines that are in use, and that would need to be designed and used.

Other things I have seen in these four volumes have been accounts of Russian Submarines in the Baltic (sinking German ships), and an account from a British Lieutenant Commander who was operating in the Baltic - and gave an account of being chased by German destroyers, and sinking a German ship.

So I guess I go back to my question, why have these operations been seemingly forgotten by history? Or have I just not been looking close enough?

I'm currently reading Lawrence James' Rise and Fall of the British Empire and in the chapter I just read he talks quite a bit about the introduction of free trade around the mid-nineteenth century.

Now, I understand this means no customs duties on imports/exports but he kind of discusses that some people thought it would be an economic disaster, while others though not doing it would be an economic disaster, without ever really explaining why. Can anyone give me a decent run down?

He then uses an example of the British West Indies collapsing as a result because they suddenly had to compete with Cuba etc, which still allowed slaves (and thus could produce sugar much more cheaply).

This leads me to believe that the issues centre around the fact that within the British Empire, customs duties were already very favourable (or non-existant?)compared to the rest of the world... but the free trade issue extended to the rest of the world. Therefore, previously the British West Indies (for example) didn't have to compete with other countries such as Cuba for sugar export since customs levies made them noncompetitive. But with the abolition of these levies, suddenly they had to compete with the whole world. Am I getting it?

Thanks.

In the most recent episode of Revisionist History Malcolm Gladwell makes the case that during the Bengal famine Winston Churchill withheld food that could easily have broken the famine in favor of stockpiling it for European use. Gladwell's main source seems to be Madhusree Mukherjee's book Churchill's Secret War.

My question is whether or not this was starving India an intentional decision by Winston Churchill? Was the need for a European stockpile a warranted fear that went terribly wrong or was the decision more along the lines of "screw those guys, we've got ours"?

They even had little trowels.

I have an Egyptian co-worker who argued that no slaves were used while building the pyramids (let's say the great pyramid at Giza to be specific) - is it just an idea that has been introduced to current society "through the bible" as he puts it, or is there actual evidence?

I found it curious when reading Kitchener's bio that he and his fairly large party were embarked on HMS Hampshire. Couldn't the Admiralty provide a more robust, larger vessel? I'm not trying to get into the many conspiracy theories about the death of Kitchener, just find the choice of vessel odd, not to mention departing in heavy weather.

The alliance of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the Ottoman Empire during WW1 just strikes me as being very bizarre for a couple of reasons.

1. It's strange to me that a promising young upstart like Germany would end up allying with a couple of "has-beens" that had been faced with centuries of decline.
2. Didn't these countries traditionally hate each other? I at least know Ottoman-Austrian and Austrian-Prussian relations weren't really great.

What exactly drove these powers together?

Did he order that they be documented? Did he order that the Jews and other occupants be freed and given medical attention? What about the Communists who were sent to the camps, how were they treated by the Soviets?

More specifically in the middle ages and renaissance. People speaking Greek, Arabic, French, Italian, English, etc. seemed to have a lot of interaction (especially during wars). For example, how did French armies communicate with Byzantine armies and the opposing Muslim armies during the crusades?

I love rock, metal and all their subgenres and sistergenres but although they are now connected to the occult both by outside sources and themselves (lyrical content, symbolism, etc) this was not the case with the earliest examples of rock to my knowledge, so how did this really begin?

Question:What time period and nationality are Hobbits from the Lord Of The Rings based on?

Specifically I'm talking about Peter Jackson's vision. Fictional height/race aside, I'm curious about their costumes, culture, accents. I get the impression they bare a resemblance to 18th century Ireland or colonial America, or a hybrid of something else, but I may be wrong.