So the Germans used the Enigma machine to encrypt their communications during WWII, and the deciphering of the Enigma code was one of the factors that gave the Allies a decisive advantage during the war. But what did the Allies use to encrypt their communications and how did the Germans deal with deciphering them?

In media etc. there is often the image of the "broken WW1 soldier", having flashbacks, nightmares, not being able to function properly in society anymore. And when you learn about WW1 in school, I am sure it will almost always emphasize how terrible the war was for the soldiers in the trenches. But at the same time, I can't think of any depictions of the same for WW2 veterans.

Were the two wars so different that it, for lack of a better word, "broke" many of the soldiers in WW1 but not so much during WW2? Or is this a misconception?

And what was used to show that you were married before that?

Hi all,

I graduated college 3 years ago and since then have been reading much more history (I was a philosophy and biology major). One question that has become reoccurring for me is how do we learn from history? Part of the reason why I read history (beyond the fact that I just enjoy it) is that I think we can learn from other people's success and failures and so my question is how exactly should one read history if one wants to learn from it? Is there a specific way one should read history?

We learn of the historical warship fleets like the Spanish Armada, but how were attacks using these ships coordinated? Today we have a lot of ships floating in the middle of the ocean and they can be directed to go anywhere through radio communication. Were the historical ships just always parked in the same location and then launched against an enemy target as needed? Did they have to return home after they completed their mission, even if they were potentially needed elsewhere? Was there some way that communication between them happened?

My world issues teacher in high school told us that allied generals wanted to continue fighting in order to bring a total victory against Germany, is this true?

He also told us that they believed they would come back in ~20 years to "finish the job"

An employee of the CSA once told me this. It sounds like something that would be true, but I haven't managed to find any evidence one way or another.

Any book recommendations for an overview of Royal Navy operations against the United States during the War of 1812? Everything that I have or know of is focused on the US Navy and I was wondering about the other side's view of things.

I have noticed that historians from the US, UK and, to a lesser extent, Germany, seem to form a sort of circle, when it comes to the works that they reference most often, while France, Spain and perhaps Italy seem to form an opposing side, with France as the flagship. I have noticed this particularly in medieval history, as I have noticed that English speaking historians rarely reference the great French historians like Duby, Le Goff, Febvre, Pirenne, etc.

I assume this relates to a general disregard for the Annales School. What are your thoughts?