A morbid question to be sure (I'm not planning to off myself!), but it just occurred to me that suicides with a matchlock pistol, say, might be rare because of the gun's mechanics, not to mention guns being harder to get a few centuries ago.

Obviously they served in the Pacific Theatre, but how many if any were in Europe?

After reading Zinn's 'People's history...' and whilst watching a programme about Mexican indignation at the Trump wall plan, I was wondering why Mexicans are disadvantaged, and indeed seen as such. The Mexicans are surely descended from the conquistadors, who enriched themselves through exploitation of Mesoamerica and the quashing of native civilisations. What exactly differentiates this from the post-revisionist bogeymen of the British Empire and Anglo Saxon civilisation?

Was doing a little research and saw FDR was far and away the most prolific president in terms of executive orders, signing 3522 orders in his 12 years in office with a year high of 573 signed in 1933. FDR averaged 293 executive orders per year, more than Obama's 275 for his entire 2 terms. I know WW2 and the New Deal were going on then but even with those factors that seems like an excessive number of executive orders in comparison to more modern presidents. What's the story?

I just started reading the book The Billion Dollar Spy, and really enjoy it.

Anatoliy Golitsyn defected at a time when the CIA was just starting to get a foothold in Moscow, with KGB/GRU agents defecting. Along comes Golitsyn , who says any future defectors are actually part of the KGB master plan. Could it be that Golitsyn was the one actually sent by the KGB, to lessen the blow of future defectors?

Bonus question: Can you recommend some good books on the Cold War?

I just listened to Dan Carlin's latest hardcore history podcast and he talks a lot about the soviet blockade of Berlin and how Berlin was divided between all the allied powers. My question, and I've always wondered this, why was Berlin such a powerful chess piece between the soviets and allies? I know it's the German capital but is there some bigger significance? Is it symbolic or was there real strategy in having an allied occupied zone in Berlin even though it had been concurred by the soviets and was deep in their territory?

This is my first time asking a question in this subreddit, so I hope I fulfill all the requirements.

As in the title above, I'm interested in literature about the situation of native North-American communities before and during the colonisation of European settlers in the 17th century - from what information I gathered, it seems to me that the colonisation of land north of today's Mexico only really started during the 17th century.

I'm particularly interested in an overview of the different political entites of the indigenous people, their relation-ship with each other, their way of living, their reaction to the growing power and spread of the different European settlers as well as a chronological depiction of how their situation developed over time. The geographical sphere of these groups and communities of native Americans should comprise the area of today's United States and Canada.

I hope I articulated this question precise enough. I feel the need to clarify, though, that the reason I'm looking for this literature is not an assignement I have to write - it only proceeds from a personal interest in the topic.

I have heard this claim repeated before, again and again, and have yet to see any real insight on the matter. Is it true that the LAPD prioritized the protection of the wealthier areas of the city?

I've heard some people argue that his earlier works were considered well-researched at the time, and that his reputation only took a hit after his pro-Nazi sympathies and Holocaust denial became more explicit.

Is this correct, or was he always considered a crackpot?

Much like Titanic being deemed "unsinkable", which was something that had become popular no earlier than 1930s.

In the Literature accessable to me I do not finde exact dates given for when it is believed he wrote this piece.

I would be greatfull for every answer that can narrow it down to a spann of less than 5 years. Sources welcomed.

Were there any major parties in the west that assumed the USSR had something to do with it?

Also, related question: why was Oswald allowed to return to the US after defecting?

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