I have heard people describe the strengthening of USD in the 1980s as a direct attack on Soviet finances, but some of the people taking this view appear to have taken a rather conspiratorial approach to the whole situation to begin with.

As a small side request, I feel as if I once heard Yanis Varoufakis give his opinion on the matter and would be interested if anyone knew where I might find this (I thought it was in a talk he gave with Stiglitz but apparently not).

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place to ask this question as I know this is a very specific request; but from the limited sources I can find online I can't find any real details so I figured I would ask some experts.
My understanding of the situation is that in the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879 the British Army still mostly wore red tunics; but in the Sudan Campaign beginning in 1881, only a few years later they seem to be wearing grey or khaki.
At what point did this transition happen and how smoothly did it go? This seems to me like a very short time to issue an entire military with new kit, so were there any colonies around the world that were still wearing the red tunics at the outbreak of the Sudan Campaign? Additionally, what other changes were made apart from the colour?

I do not know if this is exactly true or not, but I have heard people say that German snipers would pick up and use scoped Mosin Nagants from dead Russian snipers. If that is true, why is that? Isn't the Mauser a better rifle with better optics? Why would they pick up a Mosin?

What in the development of these different cultures led to these differences?

Sorry in advance if this is more of a counseling question, but I figured most of the subscribers here have had some experience with history graduate programs. I graduated from UCLA recently and want to peruse my education in order to become a professor (Community College or University level). I am currently in the process of applying to graduate schools located in California for a masters (maybe a PHD later on) and I am particularly interested in studying the cold war. I understand that school curriculum vary but I was thinking about switching from a US history focus to World History. Can someone explain to me, or provide some links on what type of materials are usually covered and the possible job opportunities that are possible with a World History degree. Thank you for your time.

Rationally one would conquer areas that would greatly help the war effort (oil, food , raw materials) yet for Japan it seems none were of great value and most depleted their troops in combat, so why even bother with their great expansion if the return value was so nominal? Of course, I could be way off and it was of substantial value

When did we start using the horse, and why that creature in particular?

Many battles in the Second World War saw lots of supplies abandoned or otherwise taken by an opposing army. The British abandoned vast amounts of materiel at Dunkirk, for instance.

Now, some types of supplies (blankets, food, etc.) must have been pretty easy to transfer between armies. But what about vehicles, arms, and ammunition?

• Would captured small arms be of significant use to their captors? (1) What about artillery pieces?

• Were captured jeeps or trucks placed into motor pools? What about tanks, planes, or other more specialized units?

• How compatible were ammunition stockpiles? Could one side's small arms or artillery put the other side's ammunition to any use?

I've done a fair amount of research and reading on the Second World War, but this has always been something I've kind of wondered about, and not been quite sure where to look for answers.

Thanks! :D

(1) beyond special circumstances like covert operations, of course.

How and why did it happen, because uniting 2 powerful nations as one is pretty rare in history, did it happen because of dynasty or did Austrians make it happen by force? Sorry for my English

Side question: If the Byzantines saw themselves as Romans or a continuation of the Roman Empire, how did the Byzantines feel about the Holy Roman Empire (due to it being called Holy "Roman" Empire)?

I read about the Battle of Trafalgar that Nelson dined with his officers and captains to discuss his plans prior to the battle. For some reason, probably Nelson's high rank and haughty disposition, I instantly imagined an opulent meal complete with fine silver and flatware, wine, candles, and fine food. But is this at all accurate? It seems quality food and china would be a liability on a ship that could be out to sea for quite some time, tossing in turning all the way. Dinners in the captain's quarters could get messy quite fast if a strong wave hit the ship. Also, how did their rations compare to the rank and file? I imagine tensions might get high if the captains are sipping fine wine and eating fancy food while the schmucks belowdecks only had grog and hardtack (or the naval equivalent), especially considering how close they lived to each other.

In today's world dieting is commonplace due to the abundant nature of fattening foods, but have any examples existed in the past?

I studied modern Japanese history in undergrad and still try to read up on it as often as I can. I'm interested in a variety of topics and themes (i.e. Okinawan identity in the nation, formation of the national subject during the war, Colonization of Korea, Postwar reconstruction, etc.), so I'd be interested in anything one would consider worth reading.

What are your favorite books on Japan?

I have seen various Viral links about Irish slaves and I have tried to look into it more, however every source I find seems to be bias one way or the other. I can't really find anything trustworthy going into much detail about it. Was it just indentured servitude or was there more to it?

Obviously much of Japanese culture has Chinese inspirations. Even the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was read often in Japan. However, I never seem to hear of any Chinese culture that was inspired by Japan. What are, if any, examples of Chinese culture that originally were from Japan?