Despite two grueling defeats in the last century, Germany has rebuilt itself time and time again, currently the 4th wealthiest country in terms of GDP.

Always an intellectual and economic powerhouse despite immense hardships, at what point were these core values of diligence and responsibility instilled into the nation's core ethos? And by whom?

I understand that he would have lived in a Roman controlled area, and I believe that the predominantly spoken languages in these territories did not generally change, but I find it hard to believe that the general people of a long ago conquered land had not picked up the language of their conquerors.

I know there were rebellious factions popping up all over the place that eventually led to the First Jewish War of 66-70AD, but did the average, everyday Jewish person like or dislike Rome as a dominant power, or were they more apathetic? Also, did the well-off Jews (financially and religiously) like Rome more for the wealth and security it could provide? TIA!

To my understanding near the end of the war Nazi Germany killed a lot of handicapped people. But I've also read that the soldiers of the German army were treated really well because they fought for the fatherland and stuff. Were disabled/handicapped Wehrmacht soldiers treated better than just random people? i.e. A soldier has his legs blown off by a mine or something. Sorry if this has been asked already, i couldn't find it.

It occurs to me that the reporting of opinion polling has become a ubiquitous characteristic of modern election campaigns. This recent flurry of European elections and the US election seems to really have brought it into focus.

We seem almost completely obsessed with polling these days, to the point at which many voters who otherwise would consider supporting a candidate, will abandon them simply because they fall out of the "top 2" and seem "less likely to win". Maybe it's some sort of short term memory bias, but I don't recall it being this prominent a feature of election campaigns 20 years ago. It seems to really have kicked up a gear recently.

Does anyone know the history of opinion polling, especially its role in election coverage? When did it become a thing that the average voter cared about, or had regular access to via TV / print media? What were the first elections where it really mattered? Did it feature heavily or even influence presidential or legislative elections in decades or even centuries past?

I'm just a dude interested in history, but i only used Wikipedia before discovering this sub and reading all the wonderful answers you have here. My question pertains to the events leading to the battle of Poltava between Sweden and Russia. Why would an army based so much on conserving their manpower and taking as few losses as possible like Sweden advance all the way to Ukraine (or Ruthenia) through "scorched earth"? And why Ukraine (or Ruthenia), and not Russia proper? Can someone explain the events leading up to the battle, and the thinking of Charles XII? (not necessarily the whole Great Northern War).

Hi there! I was wondering about why didn't China discover America before the European.

Was there even a time when it could happen? If so, why it didn't?

Ps. Not a native English speaker and apparently today I can't articulate, so sorry if I've made some mistakes, point them to me and I will edit them

Hello, as the title says I am looking for books, even chapters in books, and any other material covering the American Psychological warfare program in the Vietnam war. Any sources are much appreciated, thanks!

• Was he an outcast after the scandal and resignation?

• Did he shy away from the public eye or was he present in different political arenas, public speaking engagements etc?

• What were his career options (how did he continue to make a living after the resignation)?

• Did the secret service continue to protect and follow him for the duration of his life?

• Any other insight into life after resignation is much appreciated!

Would any soldier hold a leash, or were there specific dog-handlers? And is there any credibility to the idea of "piriferi", dogs who had buckets of flaming oil strapped to their backs before being released on the enemy?

Tried to learn a bit about this from popular media; now at an impasse. What was the reality of the Bengali famine / how do you cut through all the noise?

Sometimes it's listed as a "forgotten genocide", in which 1-3 million people starved to death in 1943. Modern Indian & Bengali pop articles love to reference this alleged Churchhill quote: “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.” There's also some quote about how it was more important to make sure the Greek people were well fed? On the flip side, the Churchhill Project @ Hillsdale has an article about it, referencing many attempts to send grain back to India, but doesn't mention a thing about the rice exports. I'm sure the reality is somewhere in between the "The Brits hated brown people the same way they hated the Irish" and "Winston Churchhill is a god among men, war is hell" extremes... but what?

Forgive for me for my sins, but a little over year ago I read just about every book that WEB Griffin has written (sometimes you just need some mind candy). As well as being famously cantankerous, Griffin is known for peppering his works with historical anecdotes that are often untrue (hence "historical fiction"). In one of his books in the "Brotherhood of War" series, he mentions that during the Allied advance on Berlin, Eisenhower orders American and British troops to halt in order to let Zhukov and the Russians take Berlin first. Is this fact or fiction? A bit of both?

Also, he mentions that this decision by Eisenhower sent I.D. White into a flying rage. Is this true? I've looked for sources on White for a while, but have yet to find anything reliable or accessible.

Thanks!

Edit: Christ on a cracker, I can't believe the title says "their" instead of "there." I'm ashamed.

In A Series of Unfortunate Events there are a bunch of contextual clues which suggest that Count Olaf may be Jewish. Which is weird, because, y'know, the Count part.

Were there ever any instances of European nobility marrying Jews and producing Jewish heirs? If so, were there any scandals about them, as with Wallis Simpson?

Edit: By which I mean European, castles-and-tea royalty. Judean royalty would seem to be a given.

Hello, I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the direction of some good resources to learn more about the excavation of Troy. It doesn't need to be a scholarly paper, I'm just reading for pleasure, but I would like it to be up to date and accurate.

Thanks!

Hi,

Looking for a good source (preferably a podcast as I have a hard time concentrating on reading) for the causes, course, and results of WWI.

So, as a physicist, it's clear that the ancient Atomism and the physical atomic theory come from completely different approaches - philosophical Atomism is not empirical in the same way etc.

But at the same time, the early modern developers of the physical/chemical atomic theories chose to use the word "atom", apparently in reference to the Atomism tradition - I skimmed John Dalton's 1808 work "A New System of Chemical Philosophy" and noticed that he seems to assume that readers are already familiar with the term, as he uses the term without defining it first.

So, I'm wondering how strong the links are here. Does Dalton or any other scientist from the period explicitly discuss the ancient Atomism of Democritus, Epicurus etc as an inspiration, or do they simply adopt the word because it was in common usage amongst intellectuals?