What exactly is the earliest (by date) reference to the concept of Lebensraum in English-language text?

Any thoughts on this?

1 Answers 2015-12-30

When did the Roman Army become Christian?

The Roman Army was an explicitly pagan institution, how long did it take for it to become officially Christian one? Compared to other institutions within Roman society did it take to the Christian religion more slowly or did it adopt it very quickly? Did any pagan elements live on into the Byzantine era?

2 Answers 2015-12-30

How would German air units evacuate their ground crews during WW2 if surrounded, specifically from the 6th Army at Stalingrad?

I have been reading Hans Ulrich Rudel's "Stuka Pilot," and he mentions that his wing was rebased out of the Cauldron after the 6th Army was surrounded at Stalingrad. They were rebased to a nearby airfield behind German lines, but how would they have evacuated their ground crews? Did they have cargo planes attached to the unit? Rudel doesn't give the impression that they left their ground personnel behind.

1 Answers 2015-12-30

Did Romans light slaves after dark for light?

Before you jump down my throat, understand that this is the sort of ridiculous statement told to me quite often by my relatives: "Jesus Christ stopped the evil pagans from burning their slaves after dark for light." They tell me this with this look in their eyes that says they're sure this should be a convincing argument for why I shouldn't be pagan.

Funny, I may not be Christian, if I ever really was, and I feel like I should spontaneously combust when I go near churches, but I don't recall that scene in the Bible. Apparently, this is coming from "Quo Vadis," which seems to be a bit of long winded romantic fiction from a little over a hundred years ago, set in Nero's reign. It's not what I would consider a very unbiased source of information, but apparently this has become fixated in their minds as characterizing the treatment of everybody everywhere towards like...I guess everyone before Christianity took over and supposedly we weren't assholes to each other anymore (lolwut) until the evil Muslims were a thing? (/s, in case that wasn't obvious...)

Personally, to start with, and setting aside any moral argument, this just sounds stupid as hell from a purely economic standpoint; burning slaves after dark just sounds like a terrible waste of economic resources, and I couldn't imagine that the shrieks of a burning man would be a very relaxing atmosphere for reading or filing taxes. Not, at least, a thing the average citizen would do when a candle would be far cheaper. Not to mention, from what (little) I understand about slaves in the Roman empire, they weren't in the strictest sense under the same rules as, say, slaves in the American South. There was some opportunity to leave slavery, and there was some legal recourse.

I know the situation was far more complex than simply writing it off as "the pagan world was more or less dark and vicious before Christianity," but I don't know very specific particulars, and I end up just rolling my eyes and having another drink. I try to talk them down from the pulpit whenever I can field a counterargument, but this part of history isn't one I'm extremely familiar with, and being able to give them something to track down and read helps.

Knowing that this is a very, very broad question: Can anyone help me better characterize pre-Christian treatment of slaves, especially as regards the Roman Empire? This is likely to vary widely according to place and time, but since this is story is set during Nero's reign, what were the circumstances of Christians then, in particular?

1 Answers 2015-12-30

Did the Axis medical experiementation (Nazi and Japanese) give any significant advances? Was the main motivator behind it research or cruelty?

Many of the procedures I've read about extremely cruel with little evidence or observation to be made. Thanks.

2 Answers 2015-12-30

Could a slave inherit an estate in pre-civil war America?

Say if a white plantation owner had no legitimate children but had one who was a slave, could that child inherit their father's estate or were there laws against it? Are there any examples if such a thing occurred?

1 Answers 2015-12-30

How would you become a mercenary in the middle ages?

Do we have any solid idea about what the typical path someone in the middle ages would take to become a mercenary and join a military free company?

1 Answers 2015-12-30

The lyrics to the song are supposedly filled with historical facts. Are any of these claims accurate?

Artist: Ras Kass

Album: Soul On Ice

Year: 1996


Lyrics


Let freedom ring with a buckshot, but not just yet

First, we need to truly understand the nature of the threat

And a pale man walks in the threshold of darkness

Roughly 20,000 years ago the first humans evolved

With the phenotypical trait, genetic recessive

Blue eyes, blonde hair and white skin

Albinism apparently was a sin to the original man, Africans

So the mutants traveled North of the equator

Called Europeans later, the first race haters

So here's the Devil's alpha to the beta

Cause history's best qualified to teach one

Quoting German philosopher Schopenhauer

"Every white man is a faded or a bleached one"

Migration created further mutation

Genetic drifts, evolution through recombination

Adaptation to the climate

As the Caucus mountain man reverted to that of a primate

Savage Neanderthals, until the late Paleolithic age

That's when the Black Grimaldi man came

With the symbol of the dragon, fire and art

Check cave paintings in France and Spain to the Venus of Willendorf

Around 2000 B.C. Southern Russians migrate in small units

Those who travel West populated Europe

Those who went East settled in Iran, known as Aryans

1500 B.C. some crossed the Khyber Pass into India and

Created Hinduism, the first caste system, the origins of racism

A white dot on the forehead meant elite

The black dot - defeat; untrustable, untouchables

They wrote the holy Vedas in Sanskrit

That's the language that created Greek, German, Latin and English

Now the Minoans around 2000 B.C

Starts on the island of Crete, in the Agean Sea

The Greek culture begins Western Civilization

But "Western Civilization" means "white domination"

Mycenaeans learned from Kemet, called Egypt in Greek

It existed since at least 3000 B.C

Creatin' geometry and astronomy

This knowledge influenced Plato, Socrates and Hippocrates

Cause Imhotep, the real real father of medicine

Was worshiped in Greece and Rome in the form of a Black African

The word Africa comes from the Greek "Aphrike"

Meaning "without cold"; the word philosophy means "love of knowledge"

Stole from first man, Greek power expands

The first Greek fraternities band

The word gymnasium is Greek for "naked"

This was the place where adolescent boys were educated, and molested

This was accepted because Greek culture was homosexual

For example, Sappho trained girls on the island of Lesbos;

Hence, the word word Lesbian. [Ey, let these dumb motherfuckers know!]

December 25th, the birth of Saturn

A homosexual god, now check the historical pattern

December 25th, now thought the birth of Christ

Was Saturnalia, when men got drunk

Fucked each other then beat their wife

Fact is, it was still practiced, 'til they called it Christmas

So put a gerbil on your Christmas list

The Hellenistic Era, Alexander the Great

Conquers all the way to India leavin' four successor states

By the Fifth century B.C., R.O.M.E

Succeeds to be the conqueror of Egypt and Greece

But had the threat of the Black Phoenicians in Sicily

The Punic Wars began 264 B.C

The Black general Hannibal and Carthaginian Peace

In 146 B.C. Carthage fell after a six-month siege

Rome sold every citizen to slavery

The first genocide of history

And more bisexuality in sight; Julius Caesar was known as

"every woman's husband and every man's wife"

Spartacus Revolt, a slave rebellion that lost

Where 6,000 slaves was nailed on a cross

Cross, aw, shit, Jesus Christ, Time for some act-right

Christians get your facts right

Cause Christ was not his name

That's Greek for "One who is anointed"

Yeshua Ben Yosef was his name, do Christians know this?

So who do you praise, do you know his name

Or do you do this in vain

Accepting the religion they gave slaves to behave

Peep the description of historian Josephus

"Short, dark, with an underdeveloped beard was Jesus"

He had the Romans fearin' revolution

The solution was to take him to court and falsely accuse him

After being murdered by Pilate how can it be

These same white Romans established Christianity

Constantine would later see the cross in a dream

In his vision, it read In hoc signo vinces

"In this sign we conquer" - Manifest Destiny

In 325 he convened the Nicene Creed and separated god into three

Decided Jesus was born on December 25th

And raised then on the third day is a myth

Plus to deceive us

Commissioned Michelangelo to paint white pictures of Jesus

He used his aunt, uncle, and nephew

Subconsciously that affects you

It makes you put white people closer to God

True indeed, fuck it, Jihad

In the eight century Muslims conquered

Spain, Portugal and France and controlled it for 700 years

They never mention this in history class

Cause o'fays are threatened when you get the real lesson

Moors from Baghdad, Turkey threatened European Christians

Meaning, the white way of life; hence the Crusades for Christ

On November 25th, 1491

Santiago defeats the last Muslim stronghold, Granada

King Ferdinand gave thanks to God for victory

And the Pope of Rome and declared this date to forever be

A day of "Thanksgiving" for all European Christians

Now listen, when you celebrate "Thanksgiving"

What you are actually celebratin'

Is the proclamation of the Pope of Rome

Who later, in league with Queen Isabella

Sent Cardinal Ximenos to Spain To murder any blacks that resisted Christianity

These Moors, these black men and women were from Baghdad, Turkey

And today, you eat the turkey, for your "Thanksgiving" day

As the European powers destroyed the Turkeys

Who were the forefathers of your mothers and fathers

Now fight the power, you bitch-ass niggas

Now around this time, Whites started callin' us Negroes

That's Spanish for black object meaning we're not really people

But property, and the triangle trade begins - they seize us

Queen Elizabeth sends the first slaves on a ship named Jesus

Stealin' land from the indigenous natives

Gave them alcohol to keep the Red Man intoxicated

Whites claim they had to civilize these pagan animals

But up until 1848 there's documented cases

Of whites bein the savage cannibals, eatin' Indians

In 1992, it's Jeffery Dahmer

They slaughtered a whole race with guns

Drugs, priests and nuns

1763, the first demonic tactic of biological warfare

As tokens of peace, Sir Jeffery Amherst

Passed out clothing and blankets to the Indian community

Infested with small pox, knowing they had no immunity

Today it's AIDS, you best believe it's man made

Cause ain't a damn thing changed, let me explain

Now since people of color are genetically dominant

And Caucasoids are genetically recessive

And Whites expect to be predominant, meaning survive as a race then

They simply must, take precautions

That's why they're worried about their future now

Cause by 2050, almost all the Earth's population

Will be brown, then black, so understandin' that, whites counter-react

So they created a system

To force blacks into an unnatural position

That re-enforces the position of natural inferiority

In addition, created guns and developed the ethnocentric view

That God justifies every fuckin' thing they do

Condition people to perceive whites' culture as civilized

And every other culture considered primitive - not true

Racism is the system of racial subjugation against non-whites

In every areas of human relation

Entertainment, education, labor, politics

Law, religion, sex, war and economics

See blacks were 3/5ths of a man with tax purposes intended

You think you're Afro-American? You're a 14th amendment and a good nigga

Jews don't salute the fuckin' swastika

But niggas pledge allegiance to the flag that accosted ya

They never teach about the break of islands like Jamaica

But before slaves came here Whites would take a Pregnant women, hang her from a tree by her toes

Slice her stomach with a knife

And let the unborn baby fall to the flo'

And stop an unborn child in front of all the slaves

To inbreed fear, so they'd be scared and behave

And not rebel more

Understand all Whites must be perceived as potential predators

I paraphrase historian Ishakamusa Barashango

"Understand that regardless of the lofty ideas engraved on paper

In such documents as the Constitution or Declaration

The basic nature of the European American white man

Remains virtually unchanged", so check

This is the nature of the threat

3 Answers 2015-12-30

suppose you're a peasent farmer in southern england the 1010s. what effect (if any) would the viking conquest have your life?

1 Answers 2015-12-30

Most effective way to take notes from a reading?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2015-12-30

How 'gang-y' was the infamous "Gang of Four"?

I'm currently reading "Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China", and the book pretty unequivocally plays up the gang as the bad guys, though it isn't exactly rigorous in describing what, exactly, tied the gang together, or how closely connected they actually were.

Was the 'gang' completely united politically? Did they all support Jian Qing's supposed bid for leadership? Was their zeal for a sustained communist revolution against capitalist tendencies honest, or purely political?

Basically, I'm trying to separate fact from fiction, and in this instance it is proving difficult to do, because no doubt Deng/Hu utilized the same propaganda tactics to smear the 'gang of four', just as the accused had done to them.

Any sourced information relating to this subject (thoughts and beliefs of the individual members, and how those relate to the idea that they were unified in resolve) is greatly appreciated.

1 Answers 2015-12-30

Were medieval cities/towns also seats of governments?

Cities/towns were understood as centers for many things, noticeably for commerce and trade, and for handicraft industries. There was usually a cathedral in a town, which made it a Church center as well. But were cities/towns also seats of governments in medieval times?

For places like Paris and London, there were the royal palaces, which must be the political center of a kingdom. Yet at the same time, a city was governed by guilds/oligarchs/councils, which were not branches of the royal household/government.

Similarly, the feudal lords resided in their castles or chateaus, and provincial cities/towns enjoyed their own municipal autonomy.

In that sense, could we say that medieval cities were not seats of governments, unlike the situation today?

3 Answers 2015-12-30

Why was Korea divided into two, but not Japan?

Sure, there no no troops on Japanese soil (?) But was there in Korea? Why don't the Soviets instal a communist government into Japan, as North Korea? How was Japan allowed to be kept to the West

3 Answers 2015-12-30

Anyone here have an interest in islamic history? Im wondering if a more accurate analysis of Muhammeds life has/can been made by historians to seperate facts from myth.

Many of us argue about the rights and wrongs of Muhammeds teachings relying on hadith to argue one way or another. Are we falling into a trap in assuming that these hadith are in fact historical facts and merit such debate when in fact they should all be cast aside as totally unreliable thereby halting the debate from the onset?

Historians rely on the historical method.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_method

How does the 'science' of hadith compare to this in establishing sound grounds to even start a debate?

What im getting at is it possible to strip away the junk to leave behind a reliable core from which we can then begin to discuss the merits either way?

1 Answers 2015-12-29

Has anyone ever heard of "the Signatures of a Glass Concession"? (Related to plot to assassinate Hitler)

A family member passed away and I inherited a bunch of stuff. Among it was a safe that had thirteen goblets in it and some old documentation that made them seem very interesting. It appears that at the end of WWII my great grandfather happened upon a crate filled with these goblets which were owned by a bunch of influential Nazi families.

There are hints that these goblets were possibly part of "The Signatures of a Glass Concession". Which was apparently a set of goblets that signified the membership in a movement to assassinate Hitler.

I am not sure where would be a good place to hunt for more information on this (especially in English). I am going off of a bit of information from the 70's that was with the goblets and what I have managed to scrounge for on wikipedia.

Here is an excerpt from a letter that was with the goblets: http://i.imgur.com/iTOmzYp.png

Here is an excerpt from an appraisal: http://i.imgur.com/SNFnBYG.jpg

Here are photos of one of the goblets: http://imgur.com/a/7E0E2

The names that appear on the 13 goblets are:

  • V.d. Lancken Pluggentin
  • V. Barnekow
  • De Witt
  • Orf. Schwicheld
  • Von Aigner
  • Von harder
  • Von Seeler
  • Von sachmann
  • Von Bagevitz
  • Freiherr von Issendorf
  • Freiherr von Maltzahn
  • Freiherr von Hollen
  • Von Witzleben

Some of these names I have been able to link to Hitler assassination attempts, but not the group, and not the goblets themselves.

So /r/askhistorians... Are these goblets historically significant? What is "the Signatures of a Glass Concession"? Are these goblets part of it?

1 Answers 2015-12-29

What is the origin of gifting women flowers ?

1 Answers 2015-12-29

Tuesday Trivia | Eat Your Vegetables!

Previous weeks' Tuesday Trivias and the complete upcoming schedule.

Today's trivia comes to us today from /u/faintpremonition! And it comes to you late because I forgot what day it was!

As penance for our recent rich holiday diets of traditional carbs, meat, meaty-carbs, and dip, we must all share historical information about vegetables. Any time, any culture, any plant matter you put in your mouth.

Next week on Tuesday Trivia: a double-request! Two people asked for this theme! So you know it's gonna be good: historical examples of mistranslation or lack of translations that caused problems!

5 Answers 2015-12-29

Why isn't Spain called a "united kingdom" since it incorporates several kingdoms like Castille, Navarre, Aragon etc? And why wasn't it called "United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal" at the time of the Iberian Union in 1580 since both shared the same king?

[deleted]

2 Answers 2015-12-29

How were the works of Tolstoy, Chekov, and Dostoevsky treated under Stalinist Russia?

3 Answers 2015-12-29

Is there any evidence of top-level Nazi leaders missing one or both testicles? How did the joke start and do we know of any comment by the subjects?

2 Answers 2015-12-29

Was there any knightly orders that actually went around and helped and protected peasants?

I know knightly orders did form, but my understanding is most fought in the crusades or became a powerful faction themselves.

1 Answers 2015-12-29

Who was the first Roman (Byzantine) Emperor who didn't know how to speak Latin?

I mean an emperor who didn't know how to speak Latin at all, not only that they would speak greek as their first language.

Did it also signify that latter emperors wouldn't know how to speak Latin? Or was it something more gradual that depended more on the education of the emperor than the time in which he ruled?

Gratitude.

1 Answers 2015-12-29

Why did the US let the Philippines go?

Why didn't the US incorporate the Philippines like it did for Puerto Rico? I understand making it a state would have been crazy at the time, giving these foreigners power in congress. But why did the US grant the Philippines independence, instead of keeping it like Puerto Rico?

1 Answers 2015-12-29

Is there any evidence that suggests that Judaism or the religion of early Israelite people was polytheistic in nature?

I cant find any sources that answer this question in an academic way. I was curious after I saw a comment on this sub suggesting that some historians argue that Judaism was at a certain point polytheistic, but modern day Rabbis deny it. How true is that? Any details?

1 Answers 2015-12-29

Americas <=> China silver trade: how did China benefit?

I understand why Europeans brought this silver to China: they wanted Chinese goods for consumption in Europe. I understand why individuals in China would want this silver: it was exchangeable for various goods and services within China.

What I'm wondering is: where did all this silver end up? If China just imported this silver and never ultimately re-exported it, then didn't they effectively convert a lot of goods/labor into a useless metal?

Did China have some productive way of using the silver?

Did all of this silver have some other positive effect on the economy? More stable finances/monetary system?

Something else?

I'm curious from a historian's perspective (what ultimately became of this silver), and also from an economist's perspective (what was the result of importing all of this silver... if it stays internal is it a net drain on the economy?).

Thanks!

2 Answers 2015-12-29

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