I'm a huge music enthusiast, and I frequently dabble in pop music history, specifically looking at top pop hits over history. Since the Billboard Hot 100 debuted in 1958, there has been a rise in the length of time songs stay at #1 on the chart. I looked into it more closely and made a graph detailing this trend: http://imgur.com/OwoBtBQ (Excel wasn't cooperating, but x-axis is time, for whatever reason it kept it by week #, and y-axis is length of time at #1). It's very clear to see the pattern. It seems to have started in 1991 or 1992. In fact, all of the top 30 longest stays have come since 1990. Is this a consequence of music consumption methods changing with technology? A rise in people wanting to hear songs on the radio? What do you all think?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Recently it has been in the news that officials and house/senate candidates for the Republican party are considering writing off their general elections candidate and instead running as "checks" on the power of a presumptive Democratic president. Has this happened before in previous US presidential elections or would this strategy be historically unprecedented in US politics?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
I'm trying to understand the history of the Jews in Palestine and as it was explained to me: the Jews once were the majority population in Palestine/Jerusalem, but then not. From ancient times up until the start of WW1, Palestine was predominantly Arab Muslim. Is this correct? If so, why?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
I understand there were technical (metallurgical?) reasons Native Americans did not have swords before contact with Europeans. But, why does it seem that they never acquired and used swords afterwards? They certainly acquired and used guns, so I assume it was not an inability to acquire them through trade, theft, plunder, etc. Were they just believed by Native Americans to not be worth the cost because they were ineffective compared to traditional weapons? Were there cultural reasons? What did Native Americans think about the European sword?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Also, on a different yet related question, what was the language of high nobility and the King's court (before the union of England and Scotland, of course)?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Reading through this post, I was wondering if I wanted to hire mercenaries to fight for me (hoplites or missile soldiers, or another type), where would I go? Was there a "recruiting office" who I would go to and tell how many troops I wanted? Or did I have to find each individually?
Also, do we know about how much it would cost (say per troop)? Would a hoplite cost more than a missile troop?
2 Answers 2016-08-20
I have read Lenin's Tomb and A People's Tragedy, but would like something that covers the entire history of that country's existence. Thanks in advance!
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Hypothetically speaking, let's say I was an Italian nobleman fighting for the Order of Malta or Knights of Saint John - anywhere from the 15th century on to the 18th century, what does my daily life look like throughout the year, and what does my military life look like as well?
I'm well aware that with the changing time periods, the lifestyle of the guards, and social mores drastically changed but if you could outline how a Knight would have lived his life through the various centuries, it would be awesome.
Thanks!
1 Answers 2016-08-20
1 Answers 2016-08-20
The Council of Ephesus decreed Nestor's views to be heresy, is hardly died out. What appealed about Nestorianism in the East that was rejected elsewhere, or visa versa?
Additionally, why was the duality of Jesus advocated by Nestor so controversial as to eventually be deemed heresy in the first place?
2 Answers 2016-08-20
I'm especially curious as to whether the depictions varied due to the difference in status that Jesus holds between the two religions.
Also, it's not strictly within the scope of the question I asked, but I'd love to know anything about different ways Jesus was depicted in other historical periods and in various cultures at different times. If you have any interesting stories on the subject I'm interested.
2 Answers 2016-08-20
Did they sell their peasants taxes in kind? If so many people were farming and the urban population was so low, how did they maintain the demand for so many crops?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Hello, I worked as a student teacher at a middle school this past year, and the 8th Graders went to DC for their class trip. We stopped at the Holocaust Museum, which was a deeply moving experience I think for everyone.
It made me think a lot about modern-day Holocaust deniers. I'm not talking about under-educated Palestinians who are misled by leaders with an axe to grind against Israel, I'm talking about Westerners with a decent education who insist that the holocaust either never happened or was greatly exaggerated. Take for example the esteemed artist who produced this [sensitive and thoughtful cartoon] (https://saboteur365.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/holocaust-denial.jpg)
I guess my question is: what is the best response to these outrageous claims? The idea that the majority prisoners in concentration camps died of Typhus in the last few days of the war is unbelievable, but what specifically could I say in conversation debunk it? The notion that there is no German record of Nazi officials directing the Holocaust is ridiculous, but is there any specific and unassailable evidence that one could point to easily and effectively? Are we better off not even talking to Holocaust Deniers and/or beating them up? I've been having this terrifying hypothetical scenario play out in my head where I'm confronted by a charismatic Holocaust Denier and I don't have an effective argument other than calling that person a delusional monster.
What evidence can be easily cited in conversation to contradict a Holocaust Denier's claim, or at least demonstrate that he doesn't know what he's talking about?
4 Answers 2016-08-20
Today:
Saturday Reading and Research will focus on exactly that: the history you have been reading this week and the research you've been working on. It's also the prime thread for requesting books on a particular subject. As with all our weekly features, this thread will be lightly moderated.
So, encountered a recent biography of Stalin that revealed all about his addiction to ragtime piano? Delved into a horrendous piece of presentist and sexist psycho-evolutionary mumbo-jumbo and want to tell us about how bad it was? Need help finding the right book to give the historian in your family? Then this is the thread for you!
7 Answers 2016-08-20
Since 1776 revolution itself has tended to be associated with popular republican or socialist movements directed against traditional aristocratic orders. The American and French Revolutions, the movements of 1848, the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and 1918 German Revolution all fit this pattern to differing degrees, mixing in more socialism as the 19th century progressed and turned to the 20th. During the interwar period this traditional order, reacting to the threat of Bolshevism and drawing popular strength from the nationalism and militarism inflamed by the Great War, acted upon their own revolutionary agendas. Thus in the right wing movements of 1918-1945 we have what would have seemed a contradiction to the conservatives of the 19th century: Revolutionary Conservatism.
Though we associate these (and other) movements of the 20's and 30's with "fascism," it is more accurate to speak about a global reaction that took different forms in different countries. How did this reaction play out in countries across the west? To answer your questions, r/askhistorians has assembled an elite band of flaired users.
/u/Bernardito is here to answer questions about the Movimiento Nacional Socialista de Chile, the Chilean National Socialist Movement, during the 1930s.
/u/callanquin Infrequent contributor to the subreddit, who is vastly out of his league in terms of the caliber of professionals around him. My interest resides in the economic and political aspects of the Third Reich and Nazi Party, mainly after 1933. That said, the economic turmoil in Germany that elevated National Socialism's popularity in Wiemar Germany can be fully examined in my book choice (see the bibliography, below).
/u/Commiespaceinvader Is a PhD candidate at a major German university specializing in the study of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust and South Eastern Europe in the Second World War. The Austrian and German paramilitary right wing organizations as well as fascist movements in Europe are also particular research interests.
/u/Domini_canes I often post regarding Catholicism in the 20th century—particularly in the Spanish Civil War and the institution of the papacy. I hope to be able to shed light on Spain's right wing revolution as embodied by the 1936 rebellion that led to the formation of the Nationalists and eventually Franco's dictatorship. Stanley Payne is the among the best authors on this subject, having written a number of well-recieved works.
/u/dubstripsquads I am a historian of race, violence, and politics in American history from 1865 to the 1970s. I can discuss American Fascist movements, Nazi propaganda organs in the US, the Klans, and how these groups rose and fell.
/u/Georgy_K_Zhukov studies Nazi German and the Second World War, as well as a specific interest in the German and Italian cultures of (Fascist) Masculinity in the 1920s and '30s as it relates to the institution of dueling.
/u/G0dwinsLawyer I am an amateur historian interested in the Weimar period. Specifically, I aim to understand the causes of Nazism, so the scope of my interest really reaches back into the late 19th century. I keep a blog devoted to hashing out the real history of the many Hitler/Nazi references made in the media: Godwin's Lawyer.
Disclaimer, Mike Godwin merely tolerates my existence and has not endorsed me in any way.
/u/kaisermatias Have an MA that focuses on Russian history (well not technically yet, but it'll be done around then; also not exactly Russian history, but too specific a degree for me to disclose here). Focus was on Soviet nationality policy in Abkhazia. Also have familiarity with the early Soviet Union, particularly the Caucasus, and interwar Poland.
/u/Sunshine_Bag
Currently a slavestudying at a major American university focusing on Modern Italy since World War One. My focus thus far has been on the evolution of calcio, and it's role in Italian politics.
/u/terribletauTG Amateur historian focusing on cultural changes in 20th-century Germany. Area of interest also includes socialism in Germany.
/u/TheTeamCubed I studied history at the undergraduate and master's level at two major Midwestern United States public research universities, though I do not currently pursue history as my profession. My focus in graduate school was on the Holocaust, and my thesis was about the 1947 Dora Trial. Mittelbau-Dora was the concentration camp where Germany manufactured the V-2 rocket from late 1944 until the end of the war, so I also addressed the responsibility of the engineers and scientists who later worked for the US space program.
/u/tobbinator I'm an amateur interested in the Spanish Civil War but not majoring in a history field. I'm particularly interested in the internal politics during the war and its direct leadup, especially the anarchist movement of the era.
Your contributors have kindly provided a bibliography for those interested in continued reading on this topic. Enjoy!
The USA:
Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression- Alan Brinkley
Insidious Foes: The Axis Fifth Column and the American Home Front - Frances McDonnell
The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right - Daniel Levitas
Spain:
Seidman, Michael. The Victorious Counterrevolution
Ackelsberg, Martha. Free Women of Spain
Beevor, Antony The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939. London: Weidenfield & Nicolson
Thomas, Hugh The Spanish Civil War. London: Penguin
Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and Revenge. New York: WW. Norton & Co
Sanchez, Jose M. The Spanish Civil War As a Religious Tragedy. University of Notre Dame Press
Germany:
Robert Gerwarth: The Central European counter-revolution: paramilitary violence in Germany, Austria and Hungary after the Great War. In: Past and Present (2008) 200 (1): 175-209.
Michael Wildt: An Uncompromising Generation. The Nazi Leadership of the Reich Security Main Office. 2009.
Biddle, Wayne. Dark Side of the Moon: Wernher von Braun, the Third Reich, and the Space Race. New York & London: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009.
Neufeld, Michael J. The Rocket and the Reich: Peenemunde and the Coming of the Ballistic Missile Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Stern, Fritz. The Politics of Cultural Despair, A Study in the Rise of the Germanic Ideology. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1961.
Weitz, Eric. Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.
Chile:
Mount, S. Graeme. Chile and the Nazis: From Hitler to Pinochet (2001).
In the Soviet Union:
Martin, Terry. The Affirmative Action Empire: Nations and Nationalism in the Soviet Union, 1923–1939 (2001).
Saparov, Arsène. From Conflict to Autonomy in the Caucasus: The Soviet Union and the making of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh (2015).
Italy:
Martin, Simon. Football and Fascism: The National Game under Mussolini. Oxford: Berg, 2004.
Bosworth, R. J. B. Mussolini's Italy: Life under the Dictatorship, 1915-1945. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
36 Answers 2016-08-20
I finished Andrew Roberts' Napoleon: A Life a few months ago, and have since listened to Mike Duncan's podcast on the French Revolution and this has really caught my interest. Duncan doesn't make much mention of it besides saying that Napoleon managed to get himself elected First Consul, so I consulted Napoleon: A Life and all Roberts has to say on the matter is that Bonaparte's supporters managed to 'decisively outmanoeuvre' Sieyès and his smaller group of supporters.
Wikipedia says that Bonaparte's use of military force had strengthened his position, but I would like to know how someone as influential as Sieyès managed to be outmanoeuvred in a coup he is said to have masterminded from the start.
Thanks!
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Things like the PzKfWg 38(t) would of course not cause too much strain, since the Germans captured quite a few as well as the factories too. But what about things like using captured artillery and other tanks?
I know the Whermacht used a lot of captured French artillery, as well as Soviet artillery too. The Japanese surely captured many weapons as well.
Did they, or any other Axis powers, strain their logistics by using enemy weapons? They surely would have a hard time at least starting the manufacturing of ammunition and even getting spare parts.
1 Answers 2016-08-20
It's my understanding that 'spies' in the ancient world would generally be people who were bribed or coerced into working for a hostile power on the side, as opposed to people who collected sensitive information for a living. Today, however, 'spy' has a similar connotation to 'foreign operative'. When did this change occur?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
5 Answers 2016-08-20
2 Answers 2016-08-20
The basic mathematical tools required to create a stealth aircraft were first described by the Soviet mathematician Petr Ufimtsev. The Soviets themselves apparently never did much work in this area, but after a scientific paper describing his work was published internationally engineers at Lockheed quickly realized the significance of what they were looking at and went on to create the F-117.
What I've always heard is that the Soviet censors weren't technically sophisticated enough to realize the importance of this paper, but Ufimtsev himself was certainly smart enough to understand what he was writing about so why did he choose to publish it where it could be read by the Americans?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Since, as I understand it, Calvinists were influential from fairly early on in the English Reformation, under Edward VI, and of course, very influential in Scotland (so one would assume James I/VI was educated in a Calvinist view of Protestantism).
1 Answers 2016-08-20
Bonus question: Were renaissance women really hairless down there as depicted in paintings?
1 Answers 2016-08-20
How much of the globe did the world wars actually cover? Were Australia South America, Indonesia, or South Asia/India involved at all? How big of a role did these nations play, if any? I've only ever heard about Europe, USA, Russia, China, and Japan being involved, but there's a lot of world outside those countries
2 Answers 2016-08-20
