[deleted]

Hi, I have been trying to locate my grandfathers military record and have had no luck. I can't find one record with the exception of his obituary. He served in WWII under army intelligence as an officer. Any tips on how to find some of the records? Thank you.

I'm looking for something like Herodotus or Tacitus from an ancient Chinese source. I've read the classic of Mountains and Seas (more myth based but these books are hard to find for me.)

I'm having a hard time finding books in English that are affordable. Other books I've found have 20 volumes and cost hundreds. I'm not a historian I just read for fun and I really like reading original accounts rather than modern takes. My knowledge of the ancient east is lacking so I'd like to learn.

The older the better.

I appreciate any guidance you have to offer. Thank you.

I'm currently watching The History of Future Folk, which is about an alien who comes from a planet that never had music. This got me thinking, has there been a culture that never created music?

I looked but couldn't find the answer in a previous /r/AskHistorians post.

I'm also wondering if the Krajina region was in the same situation as Republic of Srpska and why Republic of Srpska had the option for federalization with Bosnia but Republic of Krajina didn't.

I got the book as a gift, and I wonder how accurate it is. I tried googling and I found nothing about the topic. If any of you are familiar with the book help would be much appreciated.

Slow-burning change over time is the nitty gritty of history. Sometimes these changes also only become visible slowly over time, such as the vaguely downward meander of Roman bureaucracy.

And sometimes they dump on your head like a bag of lead, such as 2016.

So tell me, AskHistorians. What years in human history stack up to 2016 in surprise, in devastation, in utter freaking weirdness?

Feel free to cast your scope as narrowly or broadly as possible, from a single country's craziest annus horribilis to globe-spanning apocalypse.

I've posted about a similar topic before and you're all really helpful, so I figured I'd ask your opinion of this.

Can he be seen as responsible for his own downfall, or can we attribute this to other factors, eg the cunning of the Bolsheviks or social conditions that existed in Russia before he became Tsar?

Also, do you know of any historians who argue that he was responsible for his own downfall? I can't seem to find any :(

The West (including Latin America):

• American Revolution (1775-1783)
• French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (1789-1815)
• July Revolution (1830) and revolutions of 1848
• Rise of nationalism
• Haitian revolution (1791-1804)
• Latin American independence (early 19th century)
• (if you're stretching things: the US Civil War, Industrial "Revolution")

The Islamic world:

• The Wahabbi outbreak in Arabia (c. 1800-1818)
• Pasha Muhammad Ali gains Egyptian independence, moves against Ottoman Empire (early 19th century; war 1831-1833)
• Civil war and formation of the Qajar dynasty in Iran/Persia (most of 18th century)
• The jihād of Usman dan Fodio in West Africa (early 19th century)

Southeast Asia

• The jihād of the Padri in Sumatra (1803-1837)
• Java War (1825-1830)
• Collapse of Toungoo and rise of Konbaung in Burma (1752-1759)
• Tay Son rebellion and rise of united Nguyen Vietnam (1778-1802)
• Collapse of Ayutthaya and reunification of Thailand (1765-1770)

China

• White Lotus Rebellion (1794-1805)
• Eight Trigrams Rebellion (1813)
• Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864)

Also possible:

• Mughal-British raj transition in India (most of 18th century)
• Bakumatsu and Meiji Restoration in Japan (1853-1868)
• Rebellions of 1811 and 1862 in Korea
• Shaka Zulu and the mfecane in South Africa (c. 1815-1840)
• Unification of Madagascar

Don't just say this was because of Europe, because a lot of these can't be attributed to Europeans (e.g. the White Lotus in China, the Tay Son in Vietnam, the Wahhabi, etc)

Seeing how Russia was fighting a civil war at the time which was wrecking its military, wouldn't it have been relatively easy for Austria-Hungary to march in and take Moscow? Was Russia still stable enough during this period to fend off the attackers?

Hi,

I'm planning an operational military megagame simulating the German invasion of France. The game will probably cover a time period of around six weeks or so. I could really do with more detailed reading than that offered by my Times Atlas of WWII but I can't see anything in the shops with an operational (as opposed to political) focus on that period.

I can get a book covering a wider period if it has good detail on this period within it.

I really need to know what the German offensive plan was, what the Allied defensive plan was and why the former prevailed. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks a lot

There was a post on r/TIL stating that mathematition Kurt Godel (I don't know how to add the two dots above the 'o'. sorry) found in the US Constitution while preparing for the citizenship exam that could allow the US to become a dictatorship. I've looked at the source - a wikipedia article - but was unable to find the actual flaw. It simply stated that he found one.

What was the inconsitency he found and how could it allow for a dictatorship?