Ok, so my knowledge of naval history is woefully inadequate and I only recently read about Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. My understanding is that the common tactic of the day was to form up into a line parallel to the enemy line and blast away (hence ship-of-the-line). However, Nelson formed his fleet into two lines which he drove into the enemy formation in a perpendicular manner (relevant picture is relevant). The HMS Victory, his flagship, took a tremendous beating as it sailed toward the formation (as I assume the other ships did) but it paid off when the British ships broke into the formation and began to inflict raking fire on the enemy. Now, I understand that the Franco-Spanish navy that Nelson defeated was inferior and lacking in experience. Was this why Nelson's tactics worked? And if not, were his tactics replicated later?
Btw, sorry for any mistakes, I am intoxicated filled with holiday cheer.
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I'm interested how trade shaped the results of conflicts and the history of empires. can anyone recommend for some reading, preferably audiobooks about that subject. Thank you!
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Intervention as in another country stepping in to either defend its interests or prevent further conflict.
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I'm currently reading Egil's sage and with all the crossing from Norway to Iceland to England and to the Baltics, I've noticed one common denominator when it comes to the ships. It seems that the author puts great emphasis on ships being painted above the plumb line.
Why is that? What does it mean? What is a plumb line on a ship? Why would the author mention this, or is it more of a memory filler like when Homer talks about wine-coloured sea?
It seems that a plumb is used to find depths but would it have been lowered from the decks or from within the boat? Is there something that would help me to understand these ships' structure better?
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Specifically the late 1800s till the revolution. Also, how did inheritance of titles work?
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The subject has peaked my interest as of late, and I'm wondering if anybody could suggest any informative books or journal articles about this.
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I'm really more interested in the claim about rebellions. I'll quote the relevant passage (all coming from Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History, a paperback copy, pg 72-75 more or less).
"War was thus an effective way to gain and retain power because victor provided legitimacy. While conquered cities often rebelled after a conquest, this was less a challenge to the legitimacy of its government then a test of its staying power" (75).
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As far as I am aware, the tricolour represents republicanism and democracy.
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I gather it means very superior old pale. Why does it say pale though, what significance does that hold?
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Specifically I'm wondering if 1) a single woman was raped (clearly against her will) and the community knew, would it change her marriage prospects all other things being equal? 2) How would a husband and the rest of her family change their treatment of a married woman who was raped? 3) What would happen in both cases if a child was produced as a result?
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Saw this comment on an askreddit thread, is it true?
Ive never looked into but in history class we learnt about how during world war 2 propaganda was generated about aliens to incite fear. The propaganda was in relation to aliens that had "slanty" eyes, big heads (intelligent), and spoke and wrote in a funny jibberrish language. much the same as the asian population. :/
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Today:
Saturday Reading and Research will focus on exactly that: the history you have been reading this week and the research you've been working on. It's also the prime thread for requesting books on a particular subject. As with all our weekly features, this thread will be lightly moderated.
So, encountered a recent biography of Stalin that revealed all about his addiction to ragtime piano? Delved into a horrendous piece of presentist and sexist psycho-evolutionary mumbo-jumbo and want to tell us about how bad it was? Need help finding the right book to give the historian in your family? Then this is the thread for you!
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