Have criminals ever get drafted into war?

I seen many Hollywood movies and shows about insane criminals or psychopaths being gathered together and drafted into war as a brigade, but has that ever happened in real life?

1 Answers 2021-09-21

During the British Civil Wars, Scottish Covenanters were so powerful that Presbyterianism was nearly imposed as the state religion of the British Isles. What made Scotland so influential at this time despite having a fifth of the population of England?

1 Answers 2021-09-21

Is the video game Dynasty Warriors Historically Accurate or Completely Fictitious ?

Hey; I’m playing a game called Dynasty Warriors 8, based on Romance of the 3 Kingdoms.

I’m wondering about the overarching plot. Lui Bei, Cao Cao, Dong Zhou, Lu Bu, etc. Were they all real ppl? Did these events really happen? Or it’s more like tv series Reign, a sort of “fantasy fiction” ?

Also I realize it’s a game and they’ve probably taken GREAT liberties with the source material (at least I assume great Chinese lords weren’t going into battle with attack hoops and boxing hundreds of peasants to death).

2 Answers 2021-09-21

Carthaginian culture

I am vastly interested in carthaginian culture (religion, politics and art). However, as is well known, we have few primary sources on those topics. Although I have already acquired a few books on the general history of Carthage (such as "The Carthaginians" by Dexter Hoyos), I would like to know if there is anything that is specific about carthaginian culture. By "culture" I mean mainly philosophy, literature and religion. I'm interested in music too, but I have little hope of finding anything. Could someone recommend specific books, articles or documentaries about this cultural aspect of Carthage? Thanks!

1 Answers 2021-09-20

An incident in American history (1800's?) wherein a politician's constituents were so upset with his performance that they dismantled his house and threw it in a river?

I read an essay or article somewhere a few weeks ago that mentioned in passing an incident in American history (possibly in Pennsylvania in the 1700's or 1800's, definitely before the World Wars) wherein a particular politician's constituents were so angry with some part of his performance in office that a mob of people marched to his house, dismantled it board by board, and threw every bit of it into the river.

I've been Googling for hours with no luck - all my searches are just turning up articles about statues of slaveholders being torn down in the last year, or the one that got thrown in the river during the BLM protests. Can anyone give me at least something more specific to search from?

Thanks!

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations," had an "an immediate impact on British economic policy." What changed after people read Smith's book? What were the convincing arguments and what changes were made?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

17th Century Scotland — with its bloody tribal conflicts in the highlands and virtual Calvinist theocracy in the lowlands — was not an obvious contender for the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment and its economic and educational boom. How did Scotland come so far so quickly?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Was freeing POWs against the Geneva Convention?

I'm doing some research on the Colditz Castle and the Escape deck. And some things I'm reading claim their plans violated the Geneva convention(which ironically, German POW camps didn't.) But the Geneva convention allows for care packages, fair treatment, etc. What was being violated by telling them how to escape? because the wording in some of the articles makes it sound like it was a horrible war crime.

1 Answers 2021-09-20

What happened to the Russian Communist Party after the fall of the Soviet Union? Today, Russia is dominated by United Russia. Did the soviets retain much support after the early 1990s?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Just how attached were samurai to their swords?

Weeaboos and some anime/manga like to go on about how the katana was a samurai's soul, with weird spiritual connotations, and how losing it was a terrible stain on one's honor. At least one work portrayed it as completely unacceptable for anyone but the owner to even touch the sword, and when left with no other option than to hand it to the police, he broke the blade in two first.

From what I understand, when they were actually fighting wars, samurai mostly did so with bows and polearms. Japan has also, historically, had different types of swords.

Just how seriously did samurai take their sidearms? Is there ANY reality behind the reverence placed on these weapons in fiction?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

I'm a traveler in ad1200 going from Lübeck across the HRE to Rome on secular business; Do I travel alone or in a group? Do we camp every night in the woods or am I in a Tavern/Inn every night?

I'm curious on how a secular traveler; not a pilgrim which had some protections; would take on a journey of several hundred miles.

I'm as close to middle class as existed, not a serf but not a noble. Just a well of peasant-merchant.

Do I go "Gandalf-style"? A pony, a small cart of supplies but alone?

Do I team up with fellow travelers like a wagon train of the American West? Not really related in kinship or business but together for protection?

Could I find Taverns/Inns every 15-20 miles I travel in a day and could I afford to stay there?

Even though I'm not a pilgrim, would monasteries house and feed me for a donation? Or were the beds prioritized for those on pilgrimage?

Really, what was the nature of long distance travel in the Holy Roman Empire in the 13th century?

also am I armed?

3 Answers 2021-09-20

Why did people have postcards of POW/Camps?

Maybe a bit of a weird question, but with some family deaths I (well, my parents) recently inherited a bunch of weird postcards that just have POW on them from either WW1 or WW2 (western front, we're belgian). Some of them have some identifying information (place/camp) but not enough for us to have an idea whether or not the people on the card were in some way known to our relatives. Not all of them have an address or text on the back either. Is there a specific reason these were made?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

During the Middle Ages, how were soldiers with PTSD treated?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Sea shanties have been popular recently, but did other careers or guilds have work songs they sang? Are there any that moved into popular culture?

2 Answers 2021-09-20

Did the Warsaw Pact have any plan to invade Switzerland if they did have a war with NATO?

I recently read an article where the Eastern Bloc had stockpiled ammunition in East Germany to prepare for a possible assault on West Germany, this sprang to my mind: Did the soviets have any plan to invade Switzerland if they did have a war with the Western bloc?

Source of the article : Soviet bloc had detailed plan to invade West Germany

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Were man eating animals a common problem during British colonial construction projects in the 19th century? I'm familiar with the man eating lions of Tsavo in Africa, but was this a problem with say tigers in India?

If you haven't seen the Ghost in the Darkness, do check it out, its rather fascinating!

So here we are building a railway through some jungle in africa or india or australia, besides mosquitos, were there other dangerous animals that claimed a significant number of lives?

If someone wants to answer with stories of the Tsavo lions that arent found on Wikipedia i'd love to hear that too

1 Answers 2021-09-20

What did the West Coast of the United States do during the Civil War?

Whenever you read about the American Civil War the majority of information is focused on the the East Coast as that's where the majority of slavery took place and the majority of battles were fought. But what were the West Coast states doing during this time?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Were children allowed into Roman gladiatorial arenas? And how young was too young to watch?

3 Answers 2021-09-20

Were the Japanese aware of the 1st Opium war in China? If so, what did they think about it?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Hello! Is the story of Exodus in the Abrahamic religions true? Is there any historical basis for it? Do we have any archaeological or historical evidence in support of the story and if so what is the consensus within historians?

Title

1 Answers 2021-09-20

What should one expect in undergoing Master's Degree in History?

Just got accepted for grad studies in History and still have no idea what's it like undergoing this academic level. Any advice anyone can give me? Will also pursue PhD once I graduate.

(To put it out incase people might take me as someone who just watches YT documentaries at night, I passionately love history. Have been reading books, numerous documentaries, been to places and museums. Yes I'll be taking this step in my life seriously.)

3 Answers 2021-09-20

Given that the US Marshals already had the duty to protect senior government officials, why did the responsibility to protect the President fall on the Secret Service rather than the Marshals?

Looking into what exactly the Marshals are I found that their job included the subdivision of the Office of Protection Operations, which would include the protection of high-end government officials including the Supreme Court. So why wasn't it decided for them to protect the PODUS?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Tomas Aquinas wrote that animals do not have emotions, and thus hurting them is not a sin, later Descartes held a very similar position and even dissected his dog alive. Did they arrive at this conclusion independently or has it been a recurring idea in western philosophy?

The idea that animals do not really suffer seems stupid, I don't know what other word to use to describe it

And yet here we have these two very famous and influential thinkers who both agreed with this idea

This makes me think that perhaps the idea that animals do not have real emotions has existed for a long time in the fringes of philosophy and that once in a while a prominent philosopher encounters this idea and is convinced by it (somehow)

However it could be that they both arrived at this very stupid idea independently, or maybe Aquinas came up with it and Descartes read about it and promoted it too

2 Answers 2021-09-20

We hear about the Neolithic Revolution as if it was a night and day change. But were there still hunter gatherer societies livings alongside them? Were they phased out gradually or did they really just disappear suddenly?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

Why did Julius Caesar cross the Rubicon as it is on the eastern edge of Italy when he came from Gaul towards Rome?

1 Answers 2021-09-20

527 / 7255

Back to start