How did the differences between Latin American Spanish and Spanish spoken in Spain come about, specifically referring to Ustedes vs vosotros

Did the Spanish language not use the form of vosotros prior to colonization of Latin America, did the settlers come from a region where such a form was not used?

2 Answers 2016-07-11

How did the Soviets treat concentration camp survivors?

During and after liberating concentration camps, how did the Soviets treat the survivors?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

How effective was the Trident? What are some examples of it's usage?

I'm curious to know how well Tridents would fare against e.g. sword and shield, spears.

I'm also curious as to any records of tridents used in combat (outside of gladitorial arenas).

1 Answers 2016-07-11

In Ming-Qing China, a county magistrate was basically police chief/judge/jury all rolled into one. Was there somewhere commoners could report abuse of power or appeal the ruling of the county magistrate?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Could Vietnam or Algeria be considered a successful insurgency?

So I understand that there are factors that validate insurgent success, such as whether insurgents have safety, their ability to receive support from state or non-state actors, and if they are able to get strength from local government. But I was curious if Vietnam or Algeria could be considered a good example of insurgent success.

1 Answers 2016-07-11

What was the reaction to the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton? It occurred on this date, July 11, 212 years ago.

Do we know what John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, or any other surviving Founding Fathers thought? Was there any sympathy for Hamilton afterwards? How common were duels around this time? Was it "all over the news"?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Why did the Middle east decline and fall behind Europe?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Questions about the effectiveness of IFF (International Friend or Foe) tags in WWII, how have they evolved, and did they provide a tactical advantage?

So I recently discovered that IFF tags do not exist entirely in the HALO universe, but are actively used by the military and have been since WW2 (stupid I know, but now I know better :) ). Despite my best googling efforts, I haven't really found a good answer to the following questions that I've run into when reading up about IFF tags and their use:

  • How did IFF tags work in the relatively technologically stunted WW2 communication era? Like was there a radio signal constantly transmitting a code or were people queried for an authorization code. And if either of these were true, how is this not easily fake-able by enemy forces?

  • How was this system built to deal with allies that may not always be allies (i.e. we may have identified Russian troops as friendlies during WW2, but as enemies throughout various Cold War conflicts). I mean once an ally has a way to identify himself/herself as a friendly, can they not break the IFF system later down the line?

  • A far broader question here, but how much of a tactical advantage did IFF tags really provide?

  • Finally (and this question somewhat breaks the 20 year rule, so I'm ok with it not being answered) how has the IFF technology evolved into our present day armed forces?

Thanks to anybody who might be able to answer any of these questions!

2 Answers 2016-07-11

What did the U.S. do differently in the Philippines in the early 1900s compared to Vietnam in 1960s-1970s? What was the main problem in Vietnam in terms of the U.S. counterinsurgency effort?

Im reading a lot on both of these topics and I'm curious on a historical background on the key successes and errors in both the Philippines in early 1900s and Vietnam n 1960s-1970s. Many thanks.

1 Answers 2016-07-11

[META] Can we get a thread tag for answered questions?

Too often lately, I've clicked a thread with an interesting question to find a stickied moderator post, a few follow-up questions, and a field of deleted comments. No answers in sight. It's rather annoying to see a thread has 50+ comments and go in expecting an interesting answer, just to see the comment graveyard.

To be clear, I'm not complaining about the mass deleted comments. I understand the policy and I think it makes for good, clean, thorough answers. I'd just like a way to know if those 53 comments are discussing a great answer or just a thread that drew in a bunch of against-the-rules posts.

4 Answers 2016-07-11

An oft-repeated piece of trivia about the Battle of Mons (1914) is that the rifle fire of the BEF was so rapid that some of the German soldiers believed they were facing machine guns. Is there a reliable source for this factoid?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Is it true that Roman soldiers returning from war were not allowed back in the city of Rome?

(Ancient Rome, of course). I've heard this "fact" multiple times but can't find anything supporting it online. Is this true or a misconception?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Had Romans in parts where France, Spain and Germany was already an accent that led to the national languages we have today?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

How did the first Polynesian settlers find their way to Hawai'i?

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1 Answers 2016-07-11

Monday Methods|Writing Historical Fiction

Hello and welcome to Monday Methods.

Today we continue the theme of talking about historical fiction that we began with last weeks thread. Both topics were suggested by /u/caffarrelli and /u/sunagainstgold.

As the title states, today we will be looking at aspects of writing historical fiction. As such, questions will be addressed to authors of historical fiction, though thoughtful responses from the general public are appreciated. Here are some questions to get the discussion started.

  • What are the pitfalls of including historical personalities in your work, versus inventing a fictional character, or creating a character who is a pastiche of multiple historical persons?

  • As writers, how do you balance creating characters that will resonate with readers against conveying the foreignness of the past?

  • When writing about a specific era, do you make an effort to keep up with the latest academic literature about that era or topic?

  • Is writing Historical Fiction the same process as "doing history"? Does it draw on the same research and analytical skills?

  • How do authors approach major historical events, or ones that loom large in the public consciousness (e.g. World War 2, Kennedy assassination, etc)?

6 Answers 2016-07-11

Who were the earliest East Asian travelers to reach Europe? Does East Asia have a figure(s) who played a similar to Marco Polo for Westerners?

Who were the earliest people born in East Asia to travel to Europe write detailed chronicles of their experiences and bring them back to East Asia?

3 Answers 2016-07-11

When did the shift from seeing Satan as someone who is tortured in hell to someone who oversees the torture of sinners in hell take place, and why?

In Revelations 20:10 it says that Satan is being relentlessly punished in hell. However popular culture today often shows Satan or demons as being the lords of hell, who personally oversee the torture of sinners.

When did popular culture make this shift, and why?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

According to an episode of Radiolab, the word "blue" doesn't appear in any of Homer's works, or contemporary works in many other languages. Is this true? If so, when did the color blue start being recognized with its own word?

Hopefully, I'm not misrepresenting the episode. I was listening to it on the way to work this morning. Is blue the "newest" color word? The episode did mention that this is possibly because blue is so rarely found in nature, but it's crazy to think that by the time Homer was writing there still wasn't a word for it.

Should probably also add that they started off by talking about William Gladstone.

2 Answers 2016-07-11

When did the flag of the Wiemar Republic become unacceptable in Nazi Germany?

Or when would it have been officially been replaced by the swastika?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

How did von Braun persuade the Nazi leadership that his project was important?

Wikipedia says that the V2 has cost 50% more than the Manhatten project - the costs were so high even while they were exploiting slave labor of concentration camp inmates.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2_rocket#Assessment

How did von Braun persuade the Nazi leadership that his project was that important, despite the fact that his rockets did not have such a great effect? The V1 and V2 were not really game changing.

I mean it took Albert Einstein to persuade the US leadership that the Atomic bomb project was important, did von Braun have comparable clout with his leadership as Einstein did in the US?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Did the Mongol invasion of Europe interfere with any of the Crusades?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

What is the reason that all countries use the same type of numbers?

I find it interesting that there are many different alphabets across the world yet (to my knowledge) all countries use the same set of numbers. Why is this, and when did it spread across the world?

2 Answers 2016-07-11

Fossil Findings in the Middle Ages

Did anyone in the Middle Ages ever find fossils of extinct animals? If so what did they think they were? Did they know they were extinct or thought they still roamed the Earth. Improbable as it may be, was there any dinosaur fossils that were found by the people living during the Medieval Era? Did they believe it was a dragon, giant, or some other mystical creature?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

When was the "Palestinian File" given to Egypt?

Egypt has been tasked by the Arab League to oversee the reconciliation process between Palestinian factions as well as to mediate between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East Peace Process. This is colloquially referred to Egypt overseeing the Palestinian “file”. Can anybody please assist in clarifying when this role was bestowed on Egypt?

1 Answers 2016-07-11

Why did Columbus think Asia is close to Europe, if you could calculate Earth's circumference with Ancient Greece level tech? Did he just never bother to fact-check?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-07-11

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