What Political Parties existed in the Confederacy?

1 Answers 2016-05-26

[1930s] Who were the notable Japanese aeronautical engineers? I read "Eagles of Mitsubishi" and would like to know more.

1 Answers 2016-05-26

Why did leftists in Republican Spain kill members of the Catholic clergy?

I am very curious about the Spanish Civil War and I was unsure what reasons the anarchists, socialists, and communists would have for killing up to 40,000 people (is this correct even?).

2 Answers 2016-05-26

Wikipedia says that some of the Scottish/Celtic tribes near the border probably converted to Roman Christianity. Is that true? If "yes" would this be the tribes converting on their own, or the Romans sending missionaries over Hadrian's wall?

1 Answers 2016-05-26

Why were war bonds necessary during WW2?

Why was money even a question when our homeland (America for me) was at stake?

2 Answers 2016-05-26

Was there contact across the Bering strait in ancient times?

Today there are people on the Alaskan and Siberian sides of the strait who have regular contact and cultural exchange. Was this also the case in ancient times, more or less continuously since the population of the Americas? Or was it established more recently?

1 Answers 2016-05-26

Perception of Mario 64 during release

Right now, Mario 64 is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time but how was it perceived in 1996? I mean more than just game reviews giving it a 5/5 or a 10/10, did people back in 1996 believe it was one of the greatest video games ever made?

3 Answers 2016-05-26

What were the first battles where swords and other such close ranged weapons stopped becoming the standard weapon to fight with?

Ignoring support so losers using cannons and such, when did your average infantry soldier get switched from a sword to a musket?

2 Answers 2016-05-26

I am aware that the Egyptian Royal families often wed brother and sister to each other to maintain the pure divinity of the bloodline through incest. Did this ever happen between parent and child (mother and son, father and daughter)?

4 Answers 2016-05-25

Why did the architecture of Mesoamerica lack the use of roof tiles?

As I understand it, the civilizations of Mesoamerica built large, opulent palaces for their noble classes out of stone and plaster in their large urban centers.

However, I'm always struck by the lack of ceramic roof covers in the ruins of these palaces, as the region had a tradition of complex ceramicism. My professor told me that they probably used thatch, as we know that this is how the commoners built their houses, but I can't help but wonder if a Maya or Mexica noble would be satisfied with using the same roofing material as their peasant subjects, and would opt for having tiles made of ceramic. Something I'm sure they would have had the capability to produce.

1 Answers 2016-05-25

What weaponry, if any, would an average person have carried around with them in major American cities around 1776?

By weaponry, I mean to include any tool which could readily serve as a weapon, like small knives, large sticks, or even hammers.

1 Answers 2016-05-25

In World War II, how knowledgeable were tank crewmen regarding the weak spots in enemy armor?

Sources will sometimes casually mention that this gun or that gun could penetrate the mantlet of a given tank at a given distance, or that a part on another tank was reinforced after the discovery of a flaw or weak spot in a portion of its armor.

Targeting weak points in opposing tanks is also an important part of gameplay in popular armor-themed video games such as War Thunder, Red Orchestra, Men of War, etc...

Of course, gamers today have access to far better information than ordinary soldiers seventy-plus years ago. At the same time, details like these do provide an edge in combat.

So how much of this kind of knowledge, if any, was used by tank crewmen during the conflict itself?

Were gunners simply taught to target center mass and hope for the best? Or were they well informed about the armor layout of enemy vehicles to the point that they would specifically, say, target an enemy Panther's mantlet or shot trap?

Or was the state of affairs somewhere in between, where a crewman might be educated about the proper engagement distance necessary to penetrate an enemy tank, but not know enough to deliberately target vulnerable locations?

3 Answers 2016-05-25

Was 3-5% casualty rate in battle the norm across time and place?

In this thread, u/Iguana_on_a_stick says that 5% casualty rate was on the upper side of normal for a battle during the Roman Empire, and that 2-5% were the norm as per the ancient sources.

Is this a common average across time? It seems like with the advent of gunpowder, and then modern, mechanized warfare these numbers might get higher.

And did place make a difference? Were these numbers the same for Han China, for instance, or the Aztec?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

Are there any surnames that originated in the United States (or colonies)?

I'm not thinking of permutations of extant surnames that originated in the US - misspellings at Ellis Island, etc - but wholly new surnames which did not exist until at least the formation of the new world colonies.

Are there examples of brand new surnames popping up in the US or other parts of the colonized new world? Maybe surnames that reflect unique circumstances, occupations, or institutions that didn't exist prior? Or were surnames already too fossilized by the time the colonies were established?

5 Answers 2016-05-25

Before mechanized time keeping, what were the primary modes of keeping track of time?

I understand the sundial and how that would work during daylight, but what would be done once the sun set? Was it just the end of the day and no time was tracked until morning?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

Did any Greeks ever claim to be Gods?

I was thinking about crazy people that sort of walk around claiming "IM JESUS CHRIST". I then thought (being interested in Greeks Mythology and Gods) did people do this back then?

If so, how did people react? Did they believe?

2 Answers 2016-05-25

Did Athenian generals such as Themistocles actually fight in battles such as Salamis in 480 B.C?

I know that they were largely responsible for their tribe's military activities and successes/failures however from what I've read (John Thorley, Aristotle) it doesn't make it abundantly clear whether they themselves fought in combat. Considering Themistocles was only 30 when he became Archon in 493 B.C, book ended by his appointment as General, I assume he would still have been of fighting age.

2 Answers 2016-05-25

Why is Montgomery solely credited with the victory at El Alamein?

It appears to me that Montgomery simply filled Auchinlecks shoes, waited for time to pass and resources to build up, and then struck only when he knew he would win. Does this really count as good generalship?, or should it be assumed that Auchinleck, or Gott for that matter would have done the exact same thing.

Also how much would you guys argue luck played into Montgomery gaining the credit? From Gott being killed whilst flying there to take command from Auchinleck, to Stumme dying on the second day of the battle, and most importantly Rommel not being present it seems that luck played a considerable part in Montys victory.

1 Answers 2016-05-25

I was told that a sword purchased in the medieval era would cost the equivalent of a million pounds in today's money, is this true?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

In Inglourious Basterds, Hans Landa and Bridget von Hammersmark seem to have a history together. What was relation between the film industry and German military under Nazi Regime like?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

What corpses stripped or buried with dignity after a battle in, let's say, 15th Century Europe?

Would the opposing side strip them of valuables? Was that considered unchivalrous?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

Was the term "Nazi" ever used in WW2-era Germany?

Or was it only used outside of Germany or perhaps only in the Anglosphere?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

How Violent was the Haitian Revolution?

Working on research project on the Confederacy, and a number of letters and newspapers from the time criticize the Emancipation Proclamation for inspiring slave insurrection. Citing the Haitian Revolution, Confederates across the board seem to be scared shitless about a slave insurrection, and they make frequent reference to massacres in Haiti. Are they correctly categorizing the level of violence in the Haitian Revolution?

1 Answers 2016-05-25

In World War II, why didn't the US try to invade the Kuriles or Hokkaido in northern Japan in the summer of 1944?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-05-25

When was Europe separated into "Westerners" and "Easterners" and why?

2 Answers 2016-05-25

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