Whenever I see a parade, or any personnel in an honor setting, the M1 Garand is always carried. What made this weapon so revered past WWII?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
1 Answers 2016-03-18
In his BBC series, The Story of China, Michael Wood discusses China's history from the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) all the way until the modern day. In episode 6/6 The Age of Revolution, Wood picks up from the previous episode in the 1830's around the time of the First Opium War.
Wood talks about a "chance meeting" between an American christian missionary, Reverend Edwin Stevens & Hong Xiuquan a student at the time. Wood then discusses the words that essentially radicalises Hong:
Follow the Christian God & you will reach the highest glory.
Wood then goes on to say that Stevens gives Hong one of his pamphlets which discusses Christianity. Within the pamphlet, is the story of Noah's ark. Wood states that the chinese word "hong" means "the flood". Wood then states that Hong goes on to believe he is "God's Chinese son". It's this encounter Wood implies his the reasoning behind Hong's Taiping Rebellion (1850 - 1864).
Wood talks about how the British defeated the Chinese in the First Opium War (1839 - 1842) which in the Treaty of Nanking gave the British control over Hong Kong as well as how after defeat, the Qing government gave way to British influence. Wood talks about how Hong Xiuquan became obsessed with the bible especially the teachings of Prophet Isaiah:
"Your country is desolate, strangers are devouring your land before your eyes. Why be downtrodden anymore? Rise up and Revolt" ~ Book of Isaiah 1:7
Wood then talks about how Hong persuaded people that the Qing rulers were oppressive & revolution was the only option. Wood states that Hong wanted to create a "heaven on earth" by overthrowing the Qing, where society lived in harmony, where justice was for the poor too.
The way in which Wood talks about Hong's motives for rebellion makes it sound as if Hong was an early adopter of communist thought in China. This is backed up the fact that Marx & Engels Communist Manifesto was written in 1848, two years before Hong's rebellion (as well as the fact that another similar chinese revolution occurred in 1899, the Boxer Rebellion & revolutionaries like Qiu Jin were spreading their beliefs) reassuring me that labelling Hong's thought process "communist" is acceptable. So really my question is this, keeping everything mentioned above in mind, Could we say that the Communist movement in China started with Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Rebellion in 1850 with communist thought being consolidated 49 years later with the Boxer Rebellion, instead of the traditional view of the movement starting with the Chinese Civil War (1927-1936, 1946-1950) and consolidation of communist thought occurring in 1949.
Is my thought process completely crazy? Or do some historians share my thought process?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
I read the book "Intelligence Elsewhere: Spies and Espionage Outside the Anglosphere" and I loved it, but I am wondering if there are other books about the history of these organizations that anyone can recommend? I have read a number of histories about the British, American and Canadian intelligence services and I am interested about others (hopefully in English translations). Thank you.
2 Answers 2016-03-18
I know most of the time knights were on horseback, but some knights preferred to fight on foot, and formed units of men called men at arms. I am curious as to what the preferred weapon was for this type of heavy infantry.
2 Answers 2016-03-18
Often you hear about Native American's being ravaged by European diseases, however did the same thing happen in the reverse way? Where Europeans ever ravaged by Native american diseases?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
Everything I've read about this guy makes him sound terrible so I wanna know how he helped America.
1 Answers 2016-03-18
This is a poster displayed in a First World War exhibition comparing the impact on twin towns in the UK, France and Germany. Nobody who came could explain the meaning of these white hook symbols.
1 Answers 2016-03-18
In a recent Reddit thread about Chernobyl, someone wrote that young Red Army conscripts were given a choice: spend a few minutes shovelling radioactive debris from Chernobyl or spend two years fighting in Afghanistan. It sounds like an urban legend, but is there any truth to it?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
What book could I read about this? I'm not an historian, and I don't want to read a boring academic book (or too in depth).
2 Answers 2016-03-18
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1 Answers 2016-03-18
I was watching a Vikings vs Giants game and there were brief images of a stadium from the 1960s. In the image, the goalposts looked different - they looked more like shorter, squatter rugby goalposts, not nearly as tall as their current form. They looked something like this or this. By the 1980s, it looks like they took their current form, as evidenced from the field in Super Bowl XVI. When and why did the goalposts change their shape?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
The full title is; "Discuss the role and influence of gossip surrounding the sex lives of the Roman Emperors". I am aware of Suetonius but looking for a bit more.
2 Answers 2016-03-18
Here it is: http://i.imgur.com/OtoHPbz.jpg
Thanks in advance.
1 Answers 2016-03-18
1 Answers 2016-03-18
The AskHistorians Podcast is a project that highlights the users and answers that have helped make /r/AskHistorians one of the largest history discussion forum on the internet. You can subscribe to us via iTunes, Stitcher, or RSS, and now on YouTube. You can also catch the latest episodes on SoundCloud. If there is another index you'd like the cast listed on, let me know!
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/u/yawarpoma explores the 16th Century colony in what is now Venezuela, granted by Charles V to a German banking family, the Welsers. The colony, established in the same period as Spanish successes in Mexico and Peru, struggled to meet those successes by searching for a quick route to the Pacific and for the fabled city of gold, always just one more valley over. Yet, at the same time, the Germans led some of the first European expeditions into northern South America, though they would occasionally race against and even clash with Spanish rivals in an attempt to stake a claim to wealth and territory. (69min)
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6 Answers 2016-03-18
I was reading the Wikipedia article on monogamy, and came across this:
Similarly—according to Betzig—the Christian Church enforced monogamy because wealth passed to the closest living, legitimate male relative, often resulting in the wealthy oldest brother being without a male heir. Thus, the wealth and power of the family would pass to the “celibate” younger brother of the church.
I don't fully understand what it was attempting to say, but it sounds like the Church was attempting to encourage monogamy for financial reasons. Specifically, by limited who could inherit wealth, it was more likely to become inherited by a man incorporated into the church, resulting in the Church itself gaining the wealth. Is this correct?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
Wikipedia quotes Senator Joseph McCarthy as saying to reporters:
If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker.
How offensive would his public use of the word "cocksucker" have been considered (early 1950s)? My impression was that it was unprintable; for example, a couple decades later it was one of George Carlin's seven dirty words. Etymonline is interesting as usual but unfortunately not helpful.
1 Answers 2016-03-18
I am well aware of the show Vikings taking.... liberties... with actual history, so I don't know if this is based on some actual known occurrences, or a fiction developed for the show.
So, in the show, Ragnar acquires a Chinese slave. And, for obvious reasons, I don't trust Hirst's comments on the matter stating, "It definitely happened." (referring to Chinese slaves existing in Northern Europe / Scandinavia)
So, is there any truth to the matter? Or just another historical fantasy of the show to make an interesting plot line?
I think it could theoretically be possible (A Viking owning a Chinese or Asian slave/thrall), given the real Vikings interaction with Byzantium, but I don't know the extent of the eastern slave trade making it to Byzantium or if the Vikings would even purchase slaves from there. (Wiki claims they mostly sold slaves to Byzantium and only kept a couple thralls)
*Edited to remove some show plot elements per request.
6 Answers 2016-03-18
This is sort of an ironic way of phrasing the question, since the Middle Ages themselves covered far more time than we often give them credit for, but any and all points along the Middle Ages and into the renaissance I would be interested in.
How did they view the past in chronological terms? Did they know how long Rome was around, how old the Greek civilization was, or that the heyday of ancient Egypt was thousands of years ago? Or did they think kinda like "dinosaurs and cavemen lived together", with all these ancient and long separated eras existing simultaneously or one after another?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
I teach early US to 10th graders and wanted some help finding sources about the Scalping Market that has been discussed here a few times.
I know that there was a price for scalps in Mexico and in the Border States in the US. Beyond that though, my knowledge of the subject is pretty bare bones.
Are there solid sources that discuss the conflicts between Mexico, the U.S., and the Native Tribes?
Or, any other recommendation for reading on Manifest Destiny would be much appreciated.
1 Answers 2016-03-18
Today:
You know the drill: this is the thread for all your history-related outpourings that are not necessarily questions. Minor questions that you feel don't need or merit their own threads are welcome too. Discovered a great new book, documentary, article or blog? Has your Ph.D. application been successful? Have you made an archaeological discovery in your back yard? Did you find an anecdote about the Doge of Venice telling a joke to Michel Foucault? Tell us all about it.
As usual, moderation in this thread will be relatively non-existent -- jokes, anecdotes and light-hearted banter are welcome.
14 Answers 2016-03-18
Perhaps the older generation at the time or people generally afraid of the science behind it?
1 Answers 2016-03-18
Here's an example of what I mean. Also they almost always show someone chasing off or shooting birds- some things never change. Also this one, and also this.
I should also point that of course the farms would not literally have a herd of cows crammed right in against sheep or whatever- more that say a dozen or so crops would be grown in a single 50 acre area.
1 Answers 2016-03-18
