The catholic church has always had trouble keeping even a tiny portion of its men celibate; simple arithmetic suggests that in communities where polygamy was common serious problems must have ensued.
Most (but not exclusively) interested in 19th century Mormon approaches to this problem (if it was a problem). I know the FLDS was fond of kicking out its young men for small or trumped-up offenses.
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Specifically, would they have been more evenly matched with the U.S. if they had concentrated on aircraft carriers instead of battleships?
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Did Sumerian scribes truly believe their old kings had ruled for 40,000 years, or was it just an intentional exaggeration?
How many of the rulers are considered to be real?
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Was there any direct contact or trade?
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How difficult was it to convert cruisers into carriers (presumably as a result of the 1922 Washington Treaty)? What work would have to be done?
How effective were converted cruiser-carriers compared to carriers built as such from the ground up?
How effective in attacking ships were torpedo bombers versus conventional bombers using armor piercing bombs?
What proportion of a carrier's air wing would be fighters versus torpedo bombers versus conventional bombers (and were these last two interchangeable)? Did different nations prefer a different mix? Would the mix be different from carrier to carrier in the same nation's fleet?
Which aircraft type would be used to scout for the enemy (fighter, torpedo, bomber, dedicated scouts, other)?
What sort of search pattern was used to locate an enemy fleet? Was any effort made to use mathematics, geometry or statistics to find the most efficient and effective search pattern? Did the UK, US and Japanese use different search patterns? Would their search pattern be different if they knew approximate locations of the enemy?
If no enemy was suspected to be nearby, would some aircraft always be in the air to scout just as a precautionary measure? What about always-in-the-air fighter screens to protect against enemy bombers (even if no enemy was suspected to be nearby), or would these two roles be filled by the same aircraft at the same time?
What major lessons were learned by the UK, US and Japanese in terms of aircraft carriers from 1900-1939? What about 1939 - 1945?
In 1939, what role was envisaged by the UK, US and Japanese for each of destroyers, cruisers, carriers and battleships? Was this role played in practice during the war? What role werethese class of ships playing by 1945?
(I realize that these are a lot of questions--if even some of these can be answered I'd appreciate it!)
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What exactly is a "Justice of the Peace"?
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I've not found anything to suggest Yay or nay...
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I know they were a Germanic tribe that ruled Italy, but compared to other tribes like the Franks and the Ostrogoths, I can't find much on them.
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In Uncertain Empire: American History and the Idea of the Cold War Stephenson makes the purposely provocative argument that the Cold War ended in the early 1960s. (For anyone interested in his argument, most of it can be read here through Google Books, beginning on page 19). Stephenson sees the Cold War as solely an American construct centered specifically on the Soviet Union and Europe. The beginning of detente in 1969 was perhaps the most obvious signal that the Cold War had already ended several years prior, with the two superpowers easing their antagonistic relationship and instead cooperating with each other to, among other things, ease domestic unrest. In other words, while most historians see detente as an anomaly in Cold War history, Stephenson sees it as the end result of an American perspective on global affairs that had changed in the early 1960s--detente was not a break with the past but instead a continuation. With that in mind, it can then be assumed that Reagan's aggressive foreign policy in the early 1980s is the true anomaly in the Cold War, and "Reagan's detente" from late 1984 to the end of his presidency represented a slide back into traditional, normalized U.S. relations with the Soviet Union.
I first read this article around a year ago and absolutely loved it. It'd be great to hear some other opinions on Stephenson's conclusions, and perhaps get a debate going on what people think the Cold War actually was.
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I am looking to write a historical fiction account of Sargon of Akkad, mainly because he is one of the very first recorded kings, but also because I have found no other great account of his life. His life seems to be perfect for an adventure story, but there are only scholarly writings on him to my knowledge - and very few at that.
I'm looking for historical accounts of his life. I'd be interested in fictional accounts as well if you know of any. My approach would be something like Homer to The Odyssey: Not exactly true, but close to what we might imagine, with blanks filled in with a bit of imagination.
Thanks
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This week, ending in August 21 2014:
Today's thread is for open discussion of:
History in the academy
Historiographical disputes, debates and rivalries
Implications of historical theory both abstractly and in application
Philosophy of history
And so on
Regular participants in the Thursday threads should just keep doing what they've been doing; newcomers should take notice that this thread is meant for open discussion only of matters like those above, not just anything you like -- we'll have a thread on Friday for that, as usual.
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While listening to NPR this morning, the host used the term 'Great Recession' when referring to the time between 2008 up until recently. I haven't heard this term be used to officially describe that time period, I've only heard 'recession' used. This made me wonder about the Great Depression time. I wonder if 'Great Recession' will be used to describe 2008-12 in future history books (or wikipedia).
I apologize if a similar question has been asked before. I searched for this topic but did not find anything.
5 Answers 2014-08-21
When slavery was being practiced in Colonial America and subsequently the United States were there any rules regarding who could be a slave? Could they be anyone or did they have to be African? Are there any examples of non-African slaves?
EDIT: Just to clarify a bit. If I was living in colonial America, could I own a white slave?
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I am aware of internal attempts to assassinate Hitler, the murders of political opponents prior to the war but how vocal was any criticism of the regime from ordinary Germans? Did it become more pronounced once the Germans started to get pushed back by the Allies?
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Were the churches in the Kremlin open and used as religious buildings? If not what were they used for and why weren't they replaced torn down and replaced like the Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow?
[here are wiki links for the cathedrals: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Dormition, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Archangel, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_the_Annunciation]
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Of course the holocaust was a crime against humanity, but was it actually illegal under either International Law or German Law?
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I'm wondering if things that are considered signs of a good lover (lasting long in bed, having a big penis) has been the same historically? If someone happens to know how different cultures approach this I'd be interested in that too.
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I've heard that he made a list of elaborate rules for his first wife to follow, including that she should cook for him, cease speaking when told, and to not expect affection. Also that his second wife was fully aware of his philandering, even to the point where he would write letters to her describing his relations with other women.
Are these stories true? Do they paint an accurate image of Einstein as taking a (for lack of a better word) selfish role in his marriages?
What was the effect of this treatment on his second wife? Did she accept it?
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