I've spent the day reading about aerial combat in 1915/16 and I've been unable to shake the image of dirigibals firing broadsides at each other like galleons before men swing across with cutlasses between their teeth.

Sadly all attempts to discover the answer only seems to bring up sourcebooks for steampunk RPGs (possibly because it's ridiculous).

So, over to you!

I know how Ataturk is seen in Turkey and how his life is taught to students so I was wondering what people with no bias would say about him. Was Ataturk a dictator in the way he ruled or was his method more democratic ?

Edit) Thank you for the answer /u/yodatsracist

I was reading about Paul Revere recently in the novel The Fort by Bernard Cornwell which gave a very negative depiction of him. However reading his Wikipedia page it mentioned that he had developed techniques of mass production working with metals.

So I was wondering about other examples of people or organisations that used mass production prior to the industrial revolution.

I have now read two authors who claim that Charles V's empire, including Spain, Holy Roman Empire, Naples, Sicily and the Netherlands, was unsustainable as a unified monarchy.

I read the claim first in Immanuel Wallerstein's first World Systems book, but now I've read it in the work of another scholar, Henry Kamen, who actually specializes in that period.

The basic idea is that the very extent and structures of Charles V's kingdoms made them unworkable as a unified power. There was insufficient infrastructure given the immense size of the state and its military/bureaucratic needs. According to Kamen, American gold and silver helped it survive, but that in the long run it was unsustainable. This helped lead to the division of the empire between his family members.

How true is this?

A quick google search has led me to conclude that the word appeared in the late 15th century--which would have been plenty of time for Shakespeare himself to learn it, I think.

I'm curious how widely known the word might have been. Would nobles going to Shakespeare's play recognize the use of metaphor and be able to name it? What about merchants and peasants? (I'm sure all these people were capable of understanding metaphor--I wonder if they knew that particular term).

EDIT: Spelling

I know that poland was seen as a vassal state to the HRE and paid tribute in its early years as a duchy. but i wondered what kind of influence the HRE had over polish politics, and if there ever was a german prince that was put on the polish throne? and were there any difference in the policies of the teutonic knights and HRE towards poland?

Pictures are an easy way to help an illiterate story teller to remember a story, so I wonder if they'd be part of early versions of the Torah.

Did they admire the Greek culture (religion, art, literature, philosophy, science, etc.) or view their own as superior?

I am writing fiction and I want to depict with a moderate amount of accuracy at least one character who is a jew in the first century CE. I am english and I write in english - however I need advice on how to include or use Jewish terms and which language to use. For example, when having a Jewish character discuss ‘God’, I could use something like ‘Adonai’ or ‘YaShem’ - which I believe are English depictions of Hebrew? (if they are the wrong word choice feel free to explain/correct me). Although my fiction is not focused on Jewish practices at that time and it is not ‘about’ being Jewish or anything of the sort - its more to do with Romans actually - I want to be able to depict the Jewish terminology and any ritualistic practices somewhat accurately.

The terms and words I see in use in books about Judaism (that I believe are Hebrew) - would these mean anything to a 1st century jew? I have read many times that Jews were often bi-lingual speaking Aramaic and Koine Greek - therefore are words like Elohim, Torah, mitzvah a total anachronism if i depict a 1st century Jew using them? Do I need to find Aramaic translations of these terms or are Hebrew and Aramaic interchangeable for the purpose that I’m describing?

(I don’t want to bog the reader down with hundreds of these terms - just to add a flavour to my text in the same way that any other historical author might. Like if I used ‘gladius’ instead of sword when writing about a Roman soldier - it adds a touch of historicity. I hope I’ve explained myself well enough).

This is my current understanding, though it could be incorrect:

-Before Islam, most Arabs were nomadic pagans (though there were Jewish and Christian tribes)

-Islam is an Abrahamic religion, which reveres Abraham, Moses, Jesus and other figures from the Old and New Testaments

-Arab Muslims would consider themselves descended from Ishmael, Isaac's brother, the son of Abraham

Did pagan Arabs see themselves in relation to Abraham and Ishmael? Was an association with this line of descent restored by Muhammad, the Koran and Islam?

With the range of US bombers, island hopping was required to get in range of the Japanese mainland. Why, with the USSR as an ally, were bombing raids not conducted from the USSR, which was well within range? I know the USSR was engaged in battles like Operation August Storm with Japan late in the war. Was there a reluctance to have US forces inside the USSR?

We use the birth of Jesus Christ to record time. A.D stands for "after death" and B.C. stand for "before Christ". How was time logged before the invention of this system for tracking time? Was it based on someone else's birth or something else? If so why did it change? Why use Jesus Christ's birth and not someone else? Was time even tracked back then or not?

My apologies if this is in the wrong subreddit. I'm not sure where else to post this kind of question. If someone else already asked this could you please link me to it? Thanks!