I'm specifically referring to how the colonial and later American governments and the nazi regime are seem in the public eye. Both were responsible for ethnic cleansing and genocide of tens of millions of people. But one gets demonized as it should but some how the other gets a "it's just what happened" in public consciousness. This also applies to other areas. A recent phenomena is portraying the mongols in a better light than their European or middle eastern counterparts yet the destruction and wholesale slaughter that they left is undescribable. This may be a more sociological question to ask but it still strikes me as so strange. People will look at a figure of millions of one specific group and chalk it up as history, then look at another figure of millions and declare how terrible and evil it was. It's estimated that 56 million native Americans died in the colonization of North America. This has just been something on my mind lately as I've been on a little bit of a world war 2 binge. To see how terrible we view the Nazis and rightfully so but genocide is genocide regardless of who commits it. Kraut in his recent video discussing the Bosnian genocide made the comment of how the Nazis did it differently in that state institutions were dedicated to committing genocide rather than assign a part of the army to do it. Americas policy if manifest destiny was literally to displace or kill anyone in their path to the Pacific ocean. As I post this I just want to make it very clear that I am not seeking to only demonize america and European nations in comparing their public image to that of the third Reich. Im just wondering why some genocides are seen as terrible depending on who commits it and why so many like the Bosnian, Cambodian or other recent genocides do not really get any attention.

I’m guessing that it may have a bit to do with other people vouching for your identity but I ask the question because I’m thinking of writing a time travel novel and therefore need to know how the protagonist will prove their identity when engaging with the justice system of the time, acquiring/renting property and getting married etc. I’m yet to decide precisely when I want it set but I do know that it’ll take place somewhere between 1600 and 1899 in Britain but also possibly colonial Australia; the person is from Australia and so either travels back to Britain if the novel’s set prior to 1788(although explorers running into a random white dude in pre-colonial Australia could be interesting), or the novel’s set after 1788 and the protagonist travels back to colonial Australia.

I want to work out all the facts of the story before I actually decide whether it’d be worth writing.

It's just that I find it hard to believe that at no point in all of human history until him did it ever occur to anyone to put their food between two pieces of bread, for one reason or another. Or maybe his version is just the first piece of meat between two pieces of sliced bread, but I also have a hard time believing that no one ever thought of doing that before him. I'd love to know if anyone has an answer for this.

If you do a quick search, you’ll find plenty of photos of Nicholas’ tattoo. It’s no subtle hidden tat either, it’s a massive S shaped Trogdor-esque dragon coving his whole forearm..

In Tsar Nicholas II’s wikipedia page we have this passage:

“In 1890 Nicholas, his younger brother George, and their cousin Prince George of Greece, set out on a world tour, although Grand Duke George fell ill and was sent home partway through the trip. Nicholas visited Egypt, India, Singapore, and Siam (Thailand), receiving honors as a distinguished guest in each country. During his trip through Japan, Nicholas had a large dragon tattooed on his right forearm by Japanese tattoo artist Hori Chyo.[27] His cousin George V of England had also received a dragon tattoo from Hori in Yokohama years before.”

Even weirder is that it appears to have been a spontaneous late night after dinner decision, implying that alcohol may have played a role. In his diaries we have:

“After dinner during a stopover in the Japanese city of Nagasaki, I decided to get a tattoo of a dragon on my right arm. It took precisely seven hours from 9pm to 4am! The dragon turned out splendid, and it didn’t hurt at all.”

My mind is really blown about the idea of royals getting tattoos back then. Especially something as trashy as a whole forearm covering dragon tattoo.

How would that have been seen in contemporary Russian society?

How would something so esoteric and, basically, “foreign” have been talked about?

Was it seen as poor judgement or was everyone running out and copying his Japanese dragon tattoos in late 1890s Russia??

Hi all,

I'm a software engineer who never took the time to think all that much about history. Until Covid. I suddenly was working from home and had the time to take walks, listen to podcasts, read...sad story I know lol, but lately I've been really getting into history. Like really. I started with Rome, then the revolutionary age of Europe, and now I'm gobbling up everything I can about WW1 and 2. One thing I can't wrap my mind around is what exactly was the tipping point in WW2?

Before a siege, I have read that sometimes the women, children, old, and sick inhabitans were sent away. I was curious as to where these people would be sent? Was it just the next town over or were they expected to fend for themselves in the wild?

Did China have a tradition of travelers writing about Europe in the way that Marco Polo and others wrote about China? Who were the most notable writers, and were there any weird misconceptions that arose from these travelogues that persisted well after better information came through? (I can't think of a Chinese example at the moment, but something similar to how harems are still thought of in the west as licentious pleasure dens when reality was not nearly as titillating.)

Hello, I’m currently looking into the development of various ‘strands’ of Christianity in Europe throughout the Dark Ages, and I seem to be struggling to find any books that aren’t pastoral calls for Christians today and not written by academics.

From my understanding, Early Celtic Christianity by Brendan Lehane is a good book, but are there any more? Thanks in advance!

Do you have any really outstanding histories of the Song or Ming dynasties to recommend? I read the excellent book "1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline" by Ray Huang and would love to read more books like it. I'd especially like to understand the "texture" of those times - what did people and society worry about? How did they relate to their values? What were their prejudices and assumptions?

And of course, details about military campaigns, training, equipment, marshalling, etc will all appeal to my inner grognard :) I'm particularly interested in the organization of Song and Ming navies, and in the failed Song campaigns with the Jin against the Liao.

Thank you for any and all suggestions!

Hey all!

I am trying to find the interesting/important discussions that historians have had about the nature of popular culture/book culture in Early Modern Europe (I am thinking post-printing press). I want to know what historians disagree, and have disagreed, about. I am being intentionally vague here because I don't really know a lot about the subject (hence the post). Ideally I would love your understanding of a particular question in this general subject and a simple sinopsis of the important arguments that various historians have made on the same question.

Context: I am a computer science/information technology student who is interested in the concept of Digital Humanities/Digital History. I know there are several databases that catalogue books and works published in this area and I want to attempt an analysis of my own (whether original or mimicking work done before). Your responses will serve to direct me to the sources and historians that you (who know the topic) think are important. Suggestions or answers adjacent to the question are welcome, I think I just need a little guidance into this vast collection of knowledge.

Thanks!

For Example:

- Queen Elizabeth II's father was Prince Albert. But when he became King, he was George VI?

Where does the name 'George VI' come from? Should he not be King Albert?

​

- Jorge Mario Bergoglio is Pope Francis. Why isn't he Pope Jorge?

​

- This may be off topic, but I once knew a nun in my hometown who's name was Nora Collins. But she was always known as Sister Concepta. Similarly, Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu became known as Mother Teresa.

Where do these names come from?

​

Thank You,

How would one properly refer to people od various statuses in this period?

I was reading through Alf Landon's Wikipedia page (as you do) and noticed it said he wanted the US to join the EEC. It seems absurd now to think that the US would join what later became the European Union. Was this ever a serious option or was it just something he threw out there? I couldn't find much more information on the subject.

For millennia, the Indian subcontinent had been divided between different empires which frequently fought against each other for land, power and influence. Between the 18th and 19th century, the entire subcontinent was subjugated to British colonial rule. But then by the 20th century, there was a movement for India's independence.

For such a movement to succeed, the country needed a national identity with which a majority of the people could associate themselves. So how did hundreds of millions of people who had historically associated themselves largely with their religion, caste and language begin to see themselves as part of something larger?

Hi r/AskHistorians,

I was curious if anyone here knew about any interesting examples of units that had a very specific or highly specialized role during WWII. I've heard about the Navajo Code Talkers and the Ghost Army (both of which are fascinating if anyone hasn't heard of them!), but I didn't know if there were any others that might be a little less well known, yet still had an impact on wartime events.

The Civil War is beginning, of course. And the Homestead Act of 1862 hasn't been passed. So where are people who are going (further, as I'm including those already pretty far west) west going, especially if they are hoping to avoid actual fighting? Especially, are there any not-too-built-up/expensive areas that American Indians have already been driven out of - for those that want to avoid that kind of fighting, too.