Were they simply informed and passionate about Marxism-lenninism, were they conscripted, or did they have more personal grievances with South Vietnam and the occupation?

I would like to have a kind of basic understanding of Belarusian history- more than what my school and my family gave me, I mean. Whether it's a focused book or not, but anything pre Soviet Union and the World Wars preferably as I have zero background knowledge pretty much.

For example, the cheap, reliable, and powerful T-34-85 or the mass produced Sherman, compared to, still very superior, Tigers and Panthers. Wouldn't they have been better off giving up the production of over-engineered tanks and stuck to mass producing Panzer 4's and Panzer 3's?

It's not like people would just let their enemies walk up to the wall to get an accurate measurement. Was there a lot of guessing and estimation? What would happen if they got to the wall and the tower was far too tall/short?

Ed Begley said on Real Time with Bill Maher last night that lawns were a remnant of feudal lords basically showing off how wealthy and non-dependent they were on food by growing grass with nothing on it, like they could support themselves so well that they could afford to have land with just grass.

Is this true? If not, when, where, how, and why did the concept of a lawn originate?

Was competence a matter of some other measure than general economic health? Did they even have metrics to judge overall economic well being?

I know it's an apocryphal story, but it's an interesting thought experiment about how much resources it would cost for Rome to do this.

Hey guys, I was recently listening to some Gregorian Chants on Youtube, and I got intrested in learning about a monks. As you can probably tell though, I have some questions. Also, these questions are centered around Medival monks (~1000 - 1400), not modern day ones.

1. What did monks do all day? Did they just sit around growing plants?

2. Who was in charge at a Monastery?

3. Were Monasteries often near Churches and towns, possibly even castles?

4. Were they subservient to a feudal overlord or did they just listen to the Pope

5. Did they do any form of fundraising?

6. Could monks leave the monastery at will, or did they have to have a reason? If so, what reason?

7. Were there different types of monks? (Aside from their monastic order)

8. What purpose did Gregorian Chants serve?

9. Did Nuns have their own form of something like a Gregorian Chant?

10. How and how often did monks and nuns interact?

11. What did monks do with their brewed beer?

I know that's alot of questions, but please answer as much as you know. I'm really curious about it. Have a good day!

If not, what prevented them from becoming senators? Are there any writings from women expressing frustration about the inequality between men and women?

I have to give a demonstration lesson to 7th graders about a pre-Columbian civilization as part of my second interview for a teaching job. The kids are in a class that focuses on 500 CE to 1500 CE and they have been doing independent studies on the Incan, Mayan, and Aztec civilizations.

I was asked to do a "close reading" exercise (basically marking text for content, vocabulary, etc. at length) for 12 year olds about a different civilization during that 1000 year period in the Americas.

Can anyone help guide me with a good place to look for a readily searchable (I have to give the demo in two days) civilization or, even better, a short passage about one that might be good?

Any help is useful. My knowledge of this topic is pretty lacking and I want to be as prepared as I can be in such a short period of time. Thanks!

I mean, Lincoln is the beez kneez. He abolished slavery, reunited the union, helped start the Freedman Bureau, he was the coolest. But some people call him terrible and among the like of Mao and Hitler. Why on earth would anybody hate the Great Emancipator?

Throughout the war they suffered constant defeat and humiliation, and would require continuous German assistance just to survive. What problems did they have that the other countries didn't have to deal with?

From the French Revolution onward, there's lots of proposed and actualized revolutions based around reason and enlightenment, liberalism and democracy, marxism, feminism, theocracy, anarchism, and so on.

There are power struggles and governments and social systems toppled prior to the French Revolution, but these seem to all be mere struggles between competing groups of people for power, there's nothing ideological or idealistic about them. If society is changed, it's more for pragmatic reasons than philosophical. The English Revolution is a partial exception, but that was initially motivated by a power struggle between parliament and the king, not grand ideological motivations.

So, what changed? Why is the idea and sometimes actuality of ideological revolution and the ideological remaking of society present in the western world pretty continuously from the late 18th century on, but prior to that not so much?