Such as popular political thought at the time, what the people were looking for in a leader, what some of the major issues were at the time... Etc. Basically, what made Hitler the best choice for the majority of Germans?
1 Answers 2015-12-07
I am a relative of Cmdr. E. A. Woodward, the highly decorated captain of the HMS Unbeaten, a submarine that saw significant action in the Mediterranean during the second world war. Following his death, I inherited many of his 'war mementos'. These included a number of brass deck gun shells and brass torpedo pins that have been lying in storage now for many years. On polishing them, it became evident that the vessel sunk with that shell or torpedo was engraved upon it, along with the date. I have since had them framed.
Here is an imgur album with close up images, in addition to the two deck gun shells. Also shown is the flagged top of the champagne bottle used to christen the Unbeaten, the blank shell he fired from another surface vessel to celebrate VE day, and the cypher message that put the Unbeaten on war footing.
The engravings show:
Deck gun shells:
Torpedo Pins:
Can any of these be corroborated? Are the names of the vessels known?
Thank you for your help. I have only an armchair knowledge of history. I also realize that this is a little morbid and that unrestricted submarine warfare is quite a horrible business, but I somehow feel that as I have this little part of history in my hands I have some form of obligation to to learn more about it.
Thank you all so much!
1 Answers 2015-12-07
I have been reading a series of books that are sci-fi but cover some of the weapon development of the 19th and 20th century. My question is when did ships start using turrets for guns instead of the massive broadsides common with wooden sailing ships. Additional question. Was there any in between ships? It seems to me that there is some discussion of the ironclads used in the US Civil war, but not a great deal of information between that time frame and say WWI when the use of steel built warships with turrets was common.
2 Answers 2015-12-07
A friend (and historian) mentioned to me that Ulfilas had some "troubles" translating the bible into Gothic, but he couldn't remember the source. I found some information on a German homepage, but I couldn't find a proper source that would I consider "valid" enough.
I know that certain Old-German tales like the Nibelungen are grey in a sense that there are no clear good / bad guys, at least not in a way which is common today. But I also think that "guilt" is a feeling, thus I am very skeptical at least about that claim.
Does anyone can provide me with further information on this topic and/or proper sources?
2 Answers 2015-12-07
Of all the western powers and nations that attended the Berlin Conference, why did Austria not seek to or acquire any colonies. I am not very knowledgeable on this topic and any response is appreciated, thanks!
1 Answers 2015-12-07
From Brittanica.com
As early as the 3rd or 4th century ad, in rites held in the cloisters of churches, parishioners may have placed their ever-present club, or Kegel (the implement most Germans carried for sport and, certainly, self-protection), at one end of a runway resembling a modern bowling lane. The Kegel was said to represent the Heide (“heathen”). A stone was rolled at the Heide, and those successfully toppling it were believed to have cleansed themselves of sin.
If this is true, was it a ritual unique to Germans? Or did other cultures practice it as well? How long did the religious aspect of it last, and how did it turn into the modern score keeping competitive sport we know of today?
1 Answers 2015-12-07
Here is the discussion in question. This should not be viewed as a schollarly source, it's really just a conversation. (As a personal note the entire discourse is an entertaining read, regardless of its informativeness.)
I'm curious to hear /r/AskHistorian's interpretation of Chomsky's theory/opinion/understanding that Japan could easily justify its actions in World War II as being for the "greater good." Obviously this is something that my country, the United States, excels at ("We'll be greeted as liberators!") but I never hear about the justifications from the other side of the fight.
What noble, sincere intentions did the Japanese believe they had when entering World War II; and was there any evidence to reinforce those beliefs?
1 Answers 2015-12-07
I am looking at my books and have noticed that it seems as though Caesar and Sulla led parallel lives in the way they took power in Rome, but it strikes me that Sulla lived to see old age and his death but Caesar didn't. Was it because they differed in whether or not they were pro/anti establishment? I'm curious
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Found this Emblem and no one seems to know what it stands for, not even Google! :)
I'm from Germany and with the Anchor on it, i guess it has connection with the German Navy. But i want to know it exactly.
3 Answers 2015-12-07
In modern time whenever that is a breakthrough or a noteworthy advancement in a technological/academic field, people are quick to come up with visions of how this might shape the future. Futurology deal with this on an academic level, Science Fiction on a literary level (depending on "hardness" more or less restricted by scientific limitations).
Now seeing how there were huge advancements in theory and practical application on a lot of fields throughout the ages, I wonder if we know if people tried to predict how recent technological advancements would (probably) change the future. For example when people used water to power their mills, did they envision water powered cities in their future?
Note: My question focuses of ancient and medieval times, if you do know something interesting about this topic in more modern contexts ("futurology in the renaissance", "science as a gentleman sport in Victorian times", etc.), feel free to share anyway, as long as it covers the connection between "man-made technological advancements" and "attempts/visions to predict the future based on those advancements".
5 Answers 2015-12-07
Were Warrior Poets an actual thing or is it just a literary phrase?
5 Answers 2015-12-07
By extension how long did it take for classical instruments to work there way down to the lower classes? I mean in general not just in America.
2 Answers 2015-12-07
I've come rather interested in the establishment and transformation of the early Christian church, from ressurection through to the 300s and Constantine's alleged death bed adoption of the religion.
One difficult area I've found in my understanding (well, one of he largest) is understanding the impact of Saint Paul. So many of the biographies I've seen seek not to analyze why he created his teachings / policies and in what context they sit.
Can you recommend a book that does a good job of describing his point of view and tries to describe the context for some of his key teachings? This time period is very fascinating to me and I'm not looking for a religious text but rather a political / social analysis I think.
2 Answers 2015-12-07
It's widely known that the German empire was economically strong after unification in 1871. I assume this success must have been based on something existing in previous centuries. However it's always confused me how this was possible, seeing that these areas seemed to have none of the advantages that other wealthy European states did (e.g. political unification, colonial empires or overseas trading networks). Is it something to do with protestantism?
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In this document http://www.dannen.com/decision/scipanel.html several leading physicists of the Manhattan project suggested that the US government talk with its allies about the atomic bomb before making any decision.
To accomplish these ends we recommend that before the weapons are used not only Britain, but also Russia, France, and China be advised that we have made considerable progress in our work on atomic weapons, that these may be ready to use during the present war, and that we would welcome suggestions as to how we can cooperate in making this development contribute to improved international relations.
Did the government follow these recommendations and make it clear to some of its allies what kind of weapon they had? (I remember being told they told them they had a more powerful bomb but were pretty vague on how powerful) Also do we know if these officials then contacted their own scientists to discuss this?
If they did, how did the allies react and did they make any suggestions concerning their use? (even if it turned out they underestimated how destructive it could be).
1 Answers 2015-12-07
The recent rise of Jeremy Corbyn perked my interest in the Gracchi due to them often being dubbed the first socialists. However their reforms were all revoked after their deaths, can we see any influence lasting beyond the reforms that they had? For example is there any evidence they set precedence and inspired later politicians?
2 Answers 2015-12-07
The institution of the comitatus had remarkably good long-term survival potential, about a thousand years, from Tacitus's Germania to Vikings and Anglo-Saxons to the Russian druzhina.
However, it does not 100% make sense to me and I'd like to understand it better.
http://homepages.bw.edu/~uncover/oldrieveintro.htm
So the basic unit of kinship is the sippe, a broader extended family or tribe of relatives, up to 50 households. Multiple sippes elect a lord, who then has this comitatus, his household band of elite warriors, coming from the sippes.
Question: why? Why wouldn' just each sippe make their own small army? I assume most free men were warriors anyway, as work was done by slaves. Anglo-Saxon kings certainly demanded that every man should fight if needed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fyrd
And the strongest bond is always kinship. So what was the point of creating this comitatus for the lord who were NOT blood relatives? Why wouldn't a lord's troops just come from his own sippe?
Was it because the need of a small standing army, faster mobilized than a fyrd militia?
Was it related to inheritance rules? Firstborn son gets the farm, the rest of the sons have no property so they go to the comitatus and try to make their fortune there, from loot? No, as far as I know, inheritance was usually divided.
Was it primarily the sons of poorer households, who did not want to farm their meager inheritance, but wanted more glory and wealth?
Were warriors part of the comitatus for life or just when young? Did they marry and form their households later on, leaving the mead hall? Were called back to serve in need?
Were most men, or most free/noble men expected to serve at the comitatus when young? Or were they an elite?
If the veterans of the comitatus returned to their kin to form a household, were they highly respected?
Was a free/noble man who refused to serve in the comitatus seen as a coward? What did they do all day anyway? Farming was done by slaves, so if they didn't fight, what did they do all day? Hunt and drink? Looks like being a Germanic free/noble slave-owner at 200 or 700 and not even serving in the comitatus was boring, as they didn't fight much in the militia fyrd, so what did they even do?
Prose and Poetry: Beowulf. Why did Beowulf serve Hrothgar and not his own kin / sippe, not his own blood relatives?
Can someone help me to make sense of it? Tribal societies are supposed to be all about blood relatives and kin, and I don't understand what was the logic behind the comitatus who were not real kin, who were kind of "adopted kin".
Were the comitatus men "upper class" nobles and their own kin in the sippe "lower class" commoners?
I mean I know that later in Feudalism thanes, boyars i.e. senior comitatus warriors were promoted into noblehood. As a chief took more and more land and founded a large kingdom, he made his most trusted warriors his representatives as land-owners, aristocracy. Clear. But before that? In 200 or 600? If back then the comitatus did not mean higher rank, why did men fight for their lord, why did they join the comitatus, instead of fighting for their kin?
Books I read so far that did not help:
James C. Russel: The Germanization of Early Medieval Christianity
Michael C. Enright: Lady with a Mead Cup
1 Answers 2015-12-07