Ive always enjoyed the (admittedly eurocentric and over-simplistic) narrative of what we call western civilization originating in Greece, continuing through Rome, then into Britain, and finally into the United states. Almost all regions on the planet have been either controlled directly by rome or became colonies of areas that were once part of Rome. Combined with the widespread adoption of a US style constitution focused on democracy, the legacy of the west has touched nearly the entire globe.
It's obvious what the Romans took from the greeks, what the Americans took from the greeks/romans/British, but less obvious (to me at least) what the British took from the Romans. Just how influential were Roman ideas and technology on the development of britain? In what ways did the British "carry the torch" of the Romans? Naturally they deviated from the Romans in uncountable ways, but in what ways were they similar?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
Specifically what were people paying (inflation adjustments would help). I'm watching Boardwalk Empire for probably the 5th time all-the-way through and was just curious. Was the average Joe hurting his pockets for a drink?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
Were female characters written just like men or were there specific kinds of female characters?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
Last night I became watching the FANTASTIC German mini-series on Netflix, "NSU: German History X," about the trio of neo-Nazis who murdered about a dozen people (mostly turks) from the late 90s through about 2011.
Rudolf Hess was brought up many times; one of the characters kept his photo in his apartment, and it was clear that he was a major icon to German neo-Nazis.
My question is why? Wasn't Hess considered a traitor, or at least an oddball, for his "peace" flight to scotland in 1941? I would just think that he would be considered a "problematic" Nazi for the neo-Nazis to worship.
Is it because of his longevity in prison after the war helped him to become a focal point? His odd death? If I remember right, he was originally buried anonymously; his family later petitioned for his body to be re-interred in their family plot... and it DID end up being a place for neo-Nazis to gather at... and finally he was dug up again, cremated, and buried at sea.
(fun fact for me: my dad served as the head of the US Army's bomb disposal unit in Berlin in 1970-1972 and defused many terrorist bombs. But his FIRST time in Berlin was as a 17 year old bus driver for the Army in 1955... and once he transported Hess (and his guards) from Spandau Prison to a hospital.)
Also; if folks haven't seen this series on Netflix; definitely check it out. I saw the first part last night; it is TERRIFIC. Apparently the first part just focuses on the neo-nazis and how they developed; part two takes over from the various victims perspectives, and part three is from the perspective of the police that tried to track these people down. Part one was extremely well done... the only real problem with the series is the awful american title, clearly a reference to Ed Norton's American History X. In the context of the series its actually quite apt; but it just SOUNDS like a sad b-movie german version of the American movie, rather than a well researched, masterfully executed docudrama.
1 Answers 2016-07-20
I'm doing a (summer vacation) research paper on the Arab-Israeli War, and good sources are a bit hard to come by for me. While I'd go to the library, my situation involving my card is...interesting.
I'm looking for good sources on both the Arab-Israeli War, and/or the overall relations between the Jews and native Palestinians. While online sources and/or replies from prior threads are preferred, I'll try and buy the book if I can.
Thank you! :)
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2 Answers 2016-07-20
Hi!
Couple of questions,
Where the vikings much more advanced in fighting than the British Isles countries? If so, in what ways?
Weren't they out numbered a lot of the time when fighting in say England?
Even if they won wouldn't they leave with depleted numbers? Therefore making the raids a kind of loss?
Is there a laymans documentary about the vikings you'd recommend that covers their history for gen audience?
Thanks!
1 Answers 2016-07-20
So my cousin inherited this flag from her grandfather on her mothers side, Francis Atherton. We know little to nothing about it since he wouldn't talk about the war.
This is the flag: http://imgur.com/a/Wze6G
Anything anyone can find on this would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to answer any questions best I can.
2 Answers 2016-07-20
As I understand, every town operated on "local time" and the concept of timezones didn't exist because basically there was no need for them since trade didn't move that fast, however...
Did everyday (but educated) citizens realise that it was a different time across the empire?
Did scientific minds realise that it was dark on the other side of world while it was sunny in Rome?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
1 Answers 2016-07-20
I posted this last week, got a few votes but no answers, trying again today.
I was reading "China Road", a book on modern China written by a...culturalist? Sociologist? I don't really know what you'd call him, but he's not really a historian by definition.
One of the points he makes about modern China is that they attach very little meaning to their own history compared to Europe, the Americas, or most other nations. The author hypothesizes that this is because so much of their modern history has been "embarrassing" - from the opium wars, to export of their cultural artifacts, to Japanese invasion, to Mao. "They simply peaked too soon", the author suggests, and it's been mostly downhill since. The result is (again, according to the author) that most modern Chinese know and care very little about their history, compared to the West.
I was just hoping that someone else could confirm this, and perhaps give some more detail about their impression of the author's hypothesis. The book itself is slightly out of date (2007) but I imagine this wouldn't really affect my question.
2 Answers 2016-07-20
In the aftermath, was there any reconciliation between Korean Americans and Black Americans?
2 Answers 2016-07-20
1 Answers 2016-07-20
It is generally accepted that Auschwitz doctors originally tattooed the Soviets to determine who was suitable for reeducation. But towards the latter half of the war, why were prisoners, primarily the Jewish ones, tattooed? I have read that it was to identify corpses, but wouldn't it make more sense in the prevailing doctrine to say, 1 more person has died, and not that AXXXXX has died?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
I know the giants are present in mythologies from around the world - but is anyone aware of any historical / archaeological explanations for the beginnings of these myths / legends?
I've read that it might have been the finding of the fossils of Dwarf Elephants that led to the myth of the Cyclops (the gap in the skull where the trunk would've been looked like a single eye socket) - but what about for regular common-or-garden giants?
Anything that goes beyond just 'well - people were trying to explain the explainable, so they blamed it on giants' would be super helpful. I want to know how or why they ended up with the idea of giants in their minds in the first place!
Thankyou!!
1 Answers 2016-07-20
Shoutout to History of Byzantium for making me learn something new about byzantine society.
1 Answers 2016-07-20
If not, did anything come close, or do these fictional stories rely too much on favorable conditions that are not present in real life? Or do we have absolutely no way of knowing, because there isn't enough information to guess and obviously things that were kept secret were not passed down?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
My image of the two great wars of the early 20th century is pretty much an infantry/artillery/tank picture. Does cavalry belong too?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
This weekly feature is a place to discuss new developments in fields of history and archaeology. This can be newly discovered documents and archaeological sites, recent publications, documents that have just become publicly available through digitization or the opening of archives, and new theories and interpretations.
1 Answers 2016-07-20
This book seems to be highly recommended by all of my muslim friends. I've thought about getting it as a shorthand for the life story of Muhammad. Are there any more academic biographies that exist?
1 Answers 2016-07-20
1 Answers 2016-07-20
Based on the result of our submissions topic, /u/Uhm_yup's submission received the most votes. I will repost the information below. We have one week to read the article and next Wednesday we will come together to discuss what we read. Some things to keep in mind as you read:
What did you like? What did you dislike?
What did you not understand? What was explained really well?
Did you notice any problems or issues in the premise/methodology/sources/etc?
What would you like to know more about?
Obviously you do not have to answer any or some of these questions, but consider them as you read.
I would also like to thank everyone who submitted articles, but did not receive the most votes. All of the submissions were varied, interesting, and sounded worth reading. I hope that you will consider resubmitting them in a week and a half when we choose our next article/chapter.
If there are any issues, comments, questions, etc. please let me know in the comments below. Feedback is more than welcome and highly encouraged. Again, thank you all and have fun reading.
Grau, Lester W. "Breaking Contact Without Leaving Chaos: The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan." The Journal of Military Slavic Studies 20, no. 2 (2007): 235-261.
There is a literature and a common perception that the Soviets were defeated and driven from Afghanistan. This is not true. When the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, they did so in a coordinated, deliberate, professional manner, leaving behind a functioning government, an improved military and an advisory and economic effort insuring the continued viability of the government. The withdrawal was based on a coordinated diplomatic, economic and military plan permitting Soviet forces to withdraw in good order and the Afghan government to survive. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) managed to hold on despite the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Only then, with the loss of Soviet support and the increased efforts by the Mujahideen (holy warriors) and Pakistan, did the DRA slide toward defeat in April 1992. The Soviet effort to withdraw in good order was well executed and can serve as a model for other disengagements from similar nations. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan from 1979–1989, its occupation force, the 40th Army conducted 220 independent operations and over 400 combined operations of various scales. Many of these large-scale operations accomplished little, since this was primarily a tactical commanders' war. Some large-scale operations, such as the initial incursion into Afghanistan, Operation Magistral, which opened the highway to Khowst and the final withdrawal, were effective because the force employed was appropriate to the mission.
3 Answers 2016-07-20
On the well-respected psyops expert Maj. Rouse's website, Psywarrior.com, this story appears:
"Perhaps one of the earliest examples of Psychological Warfare was attributed to "Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Alexander had conquered most of the known world during his reign. With each region he conquered he left behind soldiers to keep control of the newly conquered area. Eventually, there came a point when Alexander realized that he had stretched his army too thin and was now in danger of losing to a large opposing force. Alexander's only option was to retreat and regroup forces with the armies he left behind. However, to do so would certainly incite the opposing force to pursue him and very possibly capture or defeat his now smaller army.
Alexander knew that if he could intimidate the opposing force they would be scared to follow his army. Alexander instructed his armorers to make several oversized armor breastplates and helmets that would fit "giants", men 7 to 8 feet tall. As Alexander and his forces withdrew during the night they left behind the oversized armor. The oversized armor was of course found by the opposing force who then believed that they had come close to engaging in a battle with giants. A battle that they surely would have lost. The oversized armor coupled with the stories they had heard from travelers of the savagery of Alexander's army caused enough doubt and fear that they elected not to pursue Alexander's army."
But does anyone know what the original source of this is? I've found several versions of this story, for example that Alexander told his men to build bases much larger than needed for the same reason as stated above, and I can't find the source of any of it. Please help – is this more of a legend?
2 Answers 2016-07-20