It seems like we know the minutiae of classical European (Greco-Roman) history, ranging from politics to daily life in society, whereas the histories of the mighty Near- and Far-Eastern empires of Persia, India, and China are known at a much less granular level.

Why is this? Is it because historical records and artefacts from Europe were better preserved? Or is it a result of Eurocentrism which by definition dedicated inordinate resources to studying and excavating European history?

I read in a history textbook that Roosevelt kept the Manhattan Project secret from Congress,most of his cabinet and his vice-president. So when did the general public first find out about both the atomic bomb and the Manhattan Project ? And what was their reaction ?

What I'm trying to figure out is why the Dutch didn;t expand as fast as the English or French could in the colonial race.

I just read King George III's speech in response to the Declaration of Independence thanks to another answer in this sub by /u/Cdn_Nick . In it, the king says that the rebels "have rejected, with Circumstances of Indignity and Insult, the Means of Conciliation held out to them under the Authority of Our Commission."

Meanwhile the Declaration of Independence says, "In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury."

I've often heard that moderates in America and Britain wanted to maintain the relationship between Britain and America and avoid (and later end) the war. What were the negotiations like? What did each side offer and reject?

So I've been teaching this class now for a couple of years and I am looking to deepen my knowledge. There is so much in a field labeled Genocide that we could talk about and cover. I currently teach the Holocaust as a case-study, and look at the different sociological theories that apply there. Then we go on and learn and apply about Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. Sometimes we talk about Iraq and the Kurds, or Bosnia and the Muslims (based on class interest); and then we usually end with the Rwandan genocide. We talk a lot about the United States and the strategies and rationale they have used. The class is a Sociological theory class, so if you have research papers, even better (I have a hard time finding articles that try to explain the how and why).

Tl,DR I teach a Genocide Theory & Human Rights class (400 level) at my university and could use some under-discussed events and under-discussed aspects of common knowledge events.

As unlikely as it may seem, the first thing that comes to my mind is that a samurai should have a degree of African ancestry. As Japan was such an isolated nation until the late 19th century, I think that that was very unlikely to be the case. That said, what do/did they mean with"black blood" in that proverb?

Title - I always thought Prussia had a great military and the best generals, but why did the french crush them (and Austria) fairly quickly imo?

P.S I love this subreddit so much :) ty for all the great answers!

A lot of people in and outside of US consider Americans to be stupid and ignorant, what exactly started this stereotype?

I'm curious if there was a signaling protocol or relocation of their base. How did it affect their food supply and winter preparedness? Thanks

Surely they knew the French and the British and the Spanish, but were they aware of the religious, political, and dynastic differences that divided them? Did they know about the Ottoman Empire and the Habsburgs and the Tsars of Russia? Did they know about Islam and the Reformation and Fredrick the Great?

Also, I'm interested to know if there is any Roman documentation of Mecca prior to Muhammad (that is, from the early 7th century, or prior to that)?

edited for clarification

I'm listening to audio book of George Orwell's Homage to Catalina. In it he says that (and I'm roughly paraphrasing here) the whole world was against revolution in Spain particularly the communist party with the support of Soviet Russia. They saw the small communist groups falling and would rather see liberal democracy in place. Is this true? It goes against my entire perception of Soviet z Russia to be against a communist revolution of any kind. Thanks in advance.

Was there a specific person or event that sparked your intrigue of that location and/or time-period?

My great-great-uncle CEL "Lloyd" Skedden was a fighter pilot killed in WWI, and my dad inherited his diary, letters, notes, etc. He also left some incredibly detailed technical drawings in his notes that may be of interest to some. They've been sitting around in a box for a while, and we'll take them out every so often, but haven't done much with them since we got them 20 years ago.

My dad has been photographing/scanning the documents and pictures Lloyd left, and he had someone transcribe the letters and diary, so it's slowly becoming digital, but we'd like to do more. He likes the idea of putting it together in a book, which I also think would be great, but I'd love to hear if there's anything more that could be done to preserve and even promulgate Lloyd's story. We'd be open to donating them somewhere that could properly preserve them, if that was the best option. I'd also love to find out if anyone from his squadron left similar diaries or letters behind, to try to piece together the rest of my ancestor's life.

The letters start when he enlisted in 1916, and include an aborted attempt at a diary he started while on a boat across the Atlantic (he was Canadian-American and enlisted in Canada before the US joined the war). The main diary isn't long (April-May of 1918), and is mostly mundane stuff, but Lloyd was a good writer and has some neat stories, like this one:

About ten minutes later, Cairns noticed some more and started to attack. I followed and engaged one chap when a couple came out of a cloud above me and started firing. One bullet hit the oil system and that went dud-wonk! Three Huns on you is no bon. I spiraled, turned, dived, climbed, everything-and I could see the tracers passing me-when slap I felt one on the top of my head. A second later a cloud offered refuge and with the engine full on I dived into it and so got away. My engine wonky and bullet holes in the bus-centre section strut shot through, engine seized, oil all over, I headed west. I was at about 5000 ft as I crossed the line and I headed for a field. Then I saw an aerodrome and headed for it, landed at Marie Capelle. I phone the squadron and came back in a side car. [This was most remarkable escape I ever saw with 3 1⁄2 years war experience. “Taffy” Jones]

That last bit is a note from Lloyd's roommate/best friend, "Taffy" Jones, who seems to have been a pretty prominent pilot. He ended up writing a book that mentions Lloyd as a great stunt pilot. Taffy also wrote a short notice at the end of the diary when Lloyd was killed on May 8th, 1918 at the age of 23.

Hi all,

Long time lurker, first time poster (IIRC). I thought to post on this sub during a search for possible collaborators for a research project I'm conducting. If I'm in breach of the sub's rules, I do apologize!

I'm a historian/archaeologist currently following a line of research that has me reviewing the contents of ships logs from the Union fleet in 1863, during the American Civil War. This is part of a larger research project involving submarine construction during the Civil War, and a hunt for one lost to time! (A shiny penny if you can figure out which sub!)

I have no experience in paleography, but have run into recent challenges with several of the handwritten accounts found within the logs. I am seeking collaborators to assist in this project. I have a collection of roughly 90 pages which need to be interpreted as part of the greater, sub-based research. I would welcome someone with whom I could analyze the contents of each page, working together in its interpretation. To be clear: I'm not looking for someone to whom I can pass this buck; I'd love a research partner with a hard-on for historic handwriting, ships logs, or the Civil War.

Although I'm unfunded, I'd be sure to properly credit any interested parties in all planned write-ups or publications. With respect to time, as this is currently a side-project/hobby of mine, I'd be happy to work around the schedule of the contributor(s).

Feel free to reply or send me a PM, if you're interested and would like to know more!

The traders who traveled in caravans along the Silk Route in Central Asia were Buddhists two thousand years back. There they established monasteries, and trade helped Buddhism reach East Asia. By 800AD most of Central Asia and the traders would become Muslims. Are there records of cultural transmission between the Buddhists and the Muslims. Did any Buddhist ideas influence Islam?