The Tercio was a massive formation with as many as 1,000 pike men in a large solid central block with smaller blocks of shot deployed at each corner:

So what prevented enemy cavalry from sweeping away the exposed corners of shot with a cavalry charge that avoided the central pike bloc?

Did the pikemen expand their formation in to a hollow square to protect the shot?

Did he shot retreat into the square or around the square under the deployed pikes?

And were the rear corners of shot positioned to provide all around fire power or are these the reload positions with the firing positions at the front corners?

In general, if musketeers took refuge kneeling under a protective canopy of pikes to avoid being trampled by cavalry, how may rows of shot could be protected by a line of leveled pikes?

On one hand the pay was low and the hours were long (and often the textile workers lived in a mill town, effectively meaning their entire lives revolved around their work.

On the other, it would presumably have been a new sense of freedom for the (mainly) women working there due to earning a wage, and maybe was a better life than what they would have lived on the farm?

I'm aware that there were some protests among the Lowell Mill Girls, but was that widespread or were many quite content? Are there any historians who have studied this issue?

Hi guys, this might be a legal question, but isn't it legally incorrect to classify the entire Khmer Rouge and its killings as genocidal?

Most of the victims were ethnic Khmers, targeted not for their status as Khmers (a national or ethnic group) but for their political status.

Is there therefore a difference between the legal crime of genocide and the mass killings of an ethnic, racial, religious and/or national group that is commonly called genocide?

In terms of armour, equipment and tactics, how did a phalangite protect themselves from missiles and how does a hoplite compare? As far as I know they had a small shield strapped to them and their sarrissas in the air provided a screen to block arrows.

How does this hold up against say, slingers or javelin armed men? How does a hoplite from say, Athens, compare in being able to block incoming missiles? How different is the protection offered to men in the back ranks compared to those in the front?

I keep looking at these neatly drawn formations of the Swedish brigade (their basic infantry tactical unit) and it looks as if the companies of shot in the center have to fire over or through the line of pikes in front of it. And with the wings of shot extending beyond the lines of pike both right and left, how did the form a continuous defensive line? How did they form a square against cavalry charges with only three lines of pike? The formation as shown does not seem to make any sense:

                     PPPP
                      SSSS

SSSS PPPP.........PPPP SSSS

                      SSSS

I know that a horse can easily trample people to death during battle, and forgive me of my ignorance, but I run across stories of dangerous horses and they seem a little extreme. Could a horse really disembowel a man ?

The reason for this question is:

My girlfriend's father is Iranian, although his family is from Azerbaijan, from what I understand. He fled Iran during the revolution, finding sanctuary in the Philippines (where he met my GF's mother, who is Japanese. Both of her parents now live in Japan, and she is Japanese. My girlfriend is 1/2 Japanese and 1/2 Azerbaijani/Iranian.

I'm asking for information because I'm going to be meeting her father at our college graduation next month, and I want to be able to understand his background and have meaningful conversations with him about America, Iran, Azerbaijan, the whole nine yards.

I should also probably mention that she has told me that her father does not like Americans (until she met me, at least), and that her Middle-Eastern family sounds very fragmented and different as a result of the revolution. For example, apparently her uncle (father's brother), was abducted by Iranian forces and is now a "propagandist" for the Iranian government.

What do I need to know about this situation to be able to have a real conversation with her father about all of these issues that pre-date our births, let alone relationship?

There are hundreds of them, and I don't much want to read more than one.

What's your favourite?

What's the most accessible?

What's the most authoritative?

What's considered to be the "classic"?

What's the most controversial?

My brain tells me they scrapped it, but my heart wants to believe there's a disassembled Bf 110 sequestered away in some forgotten aircraft hangar in California.

I am revising for an upcoming exam and I have to discuss Russia & the Soviet Union from 1917-1945, one of the syllabus points is the Bolshevik Consolidation of power from 1917-1934 and since I use palm cards to help me study, there isn't a lot of room to fit. I don't want anyone to go into a lot of detail, but more help me in the right direction for what you lovely people believe are the main points I should include on the palm card. (I have 16 lines if it helps)

Thank you!

Just to clarify:

I am asking whether Jesus believed that apocalypse would occur within his lifetime or the lifetime of his followers, or if he believed that the apocalypse would eventually occur at an unknown time.

Really, what's going on?