I'm starting a Youtube series on history, I want it to be entertaining and short, but still informative. I feel the history is a subject that is often overlooked or not studied because people see it as boring/unentertaining, or they just don't have time to watch a 2 hour long documentary on the fall of the Roman Republic and the effect it had on Europe today. The first subject I want to tackle is the Spanish-American War, I feel its particularly overlooked in American History, what are the bullet points you think should be hit in 5 minutes or so? My idea so far is

• The effect of the press and pressuring of Mckinley
• Cuban Freedom/Revolution
• The Battle of Manila Bay
• The Battle of San Juan Hill (Kettle Hill)
• Teddy Roosevelt/Rough Riders
• Overview and consequences of the war (Philippine-American War, Fall of the Spanish Empire, Yellow Fever etc.)

I want to try and keep it short and entertaining, but still as informative and factual as possible.

I think it starts with an H, maybe.

After World War II, the Red Army occupied most of Eastern Europe. In many countries, the Soviets set up nominally independent "people's republics", with soviet-controlled, communist governments. I know that they were pretty much completely subordinate to the USSR, with constant threat of military intervention, like the one in Hungary in 1956.

What were their economic relations with the Soviet Union? Was it something similar to European colonialism, where the colonized countries were kept underdeveloped while being exploited for their natural resources?

Did the USSR have something like The Marshall Plan to help rebuild war-exhausted economies of those states and create effective allies against The West?

How insistent were the Soviets on implementing soviet economic model in satellite states, things like collectivization of agriculture and central planning?

Did they constitute a legitimate threat to major sea powers, or was their threat overstated and sensationalized by the press of the day?

Just gonna flag this as NSFW just in case. So I'm aware of the verse in Matthew 19:12 which says that some people are "made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" and that Origen of Alexandria was one of these people who castrated himself. What was up with this and how did the church come round to a policy of no castration allowed?

I have just started to study the history of Islam and having worked my way through some disappointing books I came across the following authors; Patricia Crone. Fred Donner. Christoph Luxenberg. Many of their books were offered at stupid prices. Why?

I have seen in numerous places that the Spartans all had lambdas painted on their shields. Angus McBride and other respectable historical artists have shown otheriwse. Which is true?

For added context, let's say this occurs during the Pax Romana.

Why is the "Roman" part at the beginning of "Romano-British" but at the end of "Gallo-Roman"? Why not "Romano-Gaul" or "Britano-Roman"?

Is it because the Roman Empire controlled Gaul for longer than they controlled Britain, so the British were not as Romanized?

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As far as I understand, the rulers of Kievan Rus during the 9th to 13th centuries held sovereign powers and did not owe fealty to any other Lord, so surely they should have been titled and respected as Kings and not Princes.

And Lithuania was a Kingdom for 1251-63 but otherwise was only a Grand Duchy from then until the 19th century. Yet it owed fealty to no King. Why then was its ruler not considered the equal of its neighboring Kings?

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I am soon to be writing about the history of antique and medieval Sicily. Therefore I would like to know where I can find antique and medieval accounts of it. Also if you know of websites where literature from that period are available in English or in French, it would be most welcome. Thanks a lot !

Thanks to /u/alriclofgar for suggesting today's topic.

Academic conferences can be a great opportunity to hear presentations on the latest research in a field, to network with established and rising scholars, and to present the work you are working on to an appreciating audience.

However, presenting for the first time, or attending a conference for the first time can be intimidating.

With that in mind, today's question will be fairly simple. What advice would you give to an undergraduate or someone attending an academic conference for the first time; so that they can get the most out of their conference experience?

The Historian Arthur Ferrill discussed how the Macedonian leader Alexander the Great could have beaten the British at Waterloo due to the ineffectiveness of muskets in such close quarters. Are there examples of people using weapons like the bow and arrow from 1750's ish?

How did it vary across the globe in different cultures?

I often see documentaries about high ranking spies inside America, but rarely about spies in USSR. I'm curious how balance of power shifted during cold war. Was there ever situation where one agency was dominating and other "under siege"?

Were there specific reasons for meeting in Philadelphia and not somewhere else? Was there less of a British presence than say Boston or New York?

Was there ever an attempt to break away from the Holy Roman Empire and be their own thing? Or were they given enough freedom that it was just never worth it?