I have seen the Ottomans be named a variety of ways on old maps, and was wondering in what contexts these different names would be used, or what someone living at the time of its existence, living inside or outside of its borders, would refer to it as.

Last night I watched a film called "The Siege of Jadotville" about the UN engaged in essentially open warfare against Congolese rebels. One of the main adversaries of the UN were white mercenaries, mostly French. It's even implied at one point that the mercenaries were offered by the French government to protect the business interests of the white mine owners in Katanga.

I always knew that mercenaries were part of the civil wars and revolutions the plagued post-colonial Africa, but the film implied that they were some of the most important and reliable troops used.

How extensive was the use of white mercenaries in Africa during this era, and how much affect did they have on the wars?

Beginning around the latter half of the nineteenth century there was a boom in academic work on logic. However, if one looks at the important thinkers in logic from then up to the present, one sees very few French names. Instead, the important thinkers come largely from Germany, the UK, and---looking towards the twentieth century---the USA. Why is this? What, if anything, was going on in the intellectual culture of France at the time that caused so few French academics to do work on logic? France had a strong academic tradition and there were many French thinkers of the time who made important contributions to neighboring disciplines, so it seems that there must have been something going on to cause this disparity.

For school we had to study and research the Khmer Rogue and Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia. Long story short, he did a lot of very crazy and cruel things to the people, and the Regime was overall completely destructive to the entire country until the Vietnamese liberated it.

But I do wonder why did Pol Pot become so Genocidal and maniacal to begin with? None of my research has ever explained or answered this. He was raised in a small Cambodian Town by two devout Buddhist parents, and also had multiple siblings (who are still alive today even) that didn't grow up anything like that. Pol Pot in his youth was also described as very gentle & kind. So what happened?

Was he just born a psychopath? Did something happen at his time in University, or in his childhood that was unrevealed to historians, which made him grow jaded with humanity? I mean, most other Dictators had very dark pasts and only become Dictators to perpetrate the cycle of abuse. It seems like Pol Pot though was something different, I can't imagine he would've just been born wanting to hurt so many people.

Discuss below.

I'm reading Chernow's Hamilton, and he makes pretty clear just how absurdly overpowered the colonists were. Ships, forts, men, mercenaries, guns, it seems like the British had every advantage.

The colonies were disorganized, didn't have a permanent army, and it seems were fighting for theoretical wrongs (at least outside of Massachusetts) which I wouldn't think would inspire troops in, say, Georgia.

On top of that, the Founding Fathers were rich men who seemed to be doing well - why would they have risked hanging for treason and what would seem to be certain economic disaster if they lost?

To clarify: I'm interested specifically in what ancient sources thought the child-in-the-womb might be experiencing, if anything, or what agency was ascribed to it, if any. These days it is assumed that later in the pregnancy fetuses can 'hear' garbled sounds from outside, for example, and there are common references to "the baby wants X!" when a woman experiences certain cravings while pregnant.

I've gone over Pliny the Elder and his references to pregnancy don't seem to cover this. I'm sure it might also be the case that "we don't have sources on that".

Thank you, I appreciate any insight into this!

Perspective in old paintings is pretty screwed up a lot of the time, or exaggerated or just wonky. For example in medieval paintings things that are supposed to be behind something are generally painted above it. Why was it so hard for painters to figure out how to portray perspective?

Bonus: What were some of the big breakthroughs in perspective painting?

In researching family history I found an ancestor that was a Gunner in the Royal Field Artillery. I assumed he was working a field gun, however the thought has just occurred to me that the rank of Gunner might mean he was on a machine gun crew. Would this be likely?

All amendments to the Constitution have been proposed via the first method outlined in Article V of the Constitution, that is, proposed by 2/3 of both houses of Congress. The other method, which we have never used, is a national convention called by Congress at the request of 2/3 of the state legislatures.

We have never used that, but how close have we come? Were we ever just a few states away from a convention being called? Was there ever national media attention paid to the possibility that one would be called? Why haven't we ever done it? If there have been attempts, are there typical political leanings of the groups that pursue it? Or has it been typically bipartisan? Or varying?

I was just wondering when self harm came to be and ways it was practiced. Also when did cutting become a thing and would it be so prevalent if the internet was not around? Thank you!

Credit to /u/delayT3 for this week's theme!

AskHistorians fields a lot of questions about wars--their causes and especially their operation. But what about the aftermath? How is "peace" brokered, and what kind of peace is created? Tell us a story from your era of expertise of a time of peace or "peace"!

Next up: Literal Skeletons (in the Metaphorical Closet) - archaeology experts, your turn!

Since yesterday was Columbus Day/Indigenous People's Day, I was remembering all of the problems that Columbus caused when he landed in the Americas- some argue that up to 90% of the indigenous population was killed by disease. I was also thinking about how the Vikings had actually "discovered" the Americas first, and IIRC there was some contact with the native population.

So, why didn't the disease spreading start then? Is there evidence of disease hitting the Americas before Columbus? Thoughts on this?

It just seems strange that the USSR would give huge areas of German heartland (Prussia) to Poland and other states after the war. Some of the territory were majority Polish which is understandable but what about the areas where there were only Germans? Did they not fear another disaster like another versailles backfire 2.0 in the future?

Sorry for bad grammatical structure, English is my second language.

Appreciate any answers! :)

I'm interested to find out what the western view of the Iranian Revolution was, and why it happened in the first place. It seems like Persia had such an amazing history and culture which now feels lost.

Hi all, I was in a pub last night waiting for a friend, flipping through an interesting looking book, that I think covers the Napoleonic wars and potentially more.

I did not get the name, and googling has proven not very fruitless. It's quite a large volume. And has the famous painting of the Scots Grey's charge at Waterloo on the front cover.

Does this spring to mind to anyone?

Do we only know about Julius Caeser and the Romans or any other ancient civilisation only through archeology and texts? or did people in the renaissance like Da Vinci or even people in the whole first millennium know about ancient civilisations? Are we the most knowledgeable humans about human history in the history of humans?

I saw this in the fantastic documentary series called The Sixties, which is on Netflix. They show a lot of great footage from the killing. This comes from episode 3, which centers completely on Kennedy's assassination.

Title says it, really. Looking for good overviews of the Shimoda-Bakumatsu-Restoration-Boshin period. I have access to a good library but most of its sources are older (Beasley and Akamatsu come to mind; there's also a multivolume compilation of Meiji legislation, compiled in I think the 1960s, which is just too specialized). Hoping someone can recommend a) a decent overview that's reasonably up to date with modern scholarship, with perhaps b) more specialized sources that cover specific aspects of the period more closely. Hoping especially for a good treatment of the Boshin War.

My Japanese is not up to engagement with primary sources.

Thanks in advance!