I'm currently reading an epic historical fiction novel based on World War II called "The Winds of War" by Herman Wouk. It's a great read but I don't know how historically accurate it is.

One tidbit that stood out to me was when a fictitious U.S. Naval officer explains some of the reasons why U.S. casualties were significantly lower than those suffered by other major players. One of the reasons he cites is that "We planned and fought that kind of war, expending money and machines instead of human lives where possible."

Is this statement true? If so, how did it play out in reality? In what ways did American expenditures of money, machines and human lives differ from other Allied or Axis powers?

I mean like the states purchased alaska from Russia but why didn't they "discover" it before columbus did rediscover it?

I know that Denmark was swiftly defeated by the British in the Gunboat War, and just wandered what Denmark had to gain from joining an alliance with Napoleonic France.

Sorry, if this question has already been asked, I have searched this subreddit for it, but could not find it.

Thanks.

Like are there any places that were left untouched, or any surrounding towns that resemble Old Paris?

I am aware of France attempting to encourage speaking of only the French language in the past. I'm also curious if there have been any attempts (successful or not) to create an Occitain nation. I know that now the Occitain language isn't spoken as strongly in the region anymore, and that there's a nationalist movement that will probably never succeed due to that fact.

A bit of an eccentric question for this sub, sorry in advance if it doesn't belong here.

Basically, what the title says. Really just asking out of my own curiosity and web searches don't seem to turn up an answer.

Did they start out as civic fraternal organizations like the modern(ish) grange society? Did they have any known connections to Jacobitism or other external influences? Also, did they were described as wearing white aprons indicate any known connections to Freemasonry?

I was recently reading a book on Robert Clive and found myself wondering how (militarily, economically, politically) the Europeans gained so much power and influence while starting from simple trading stations. The Indian subcontinent was full of powerful warlords and factions like the Marathas and Mughals - so why were Europeans, relatively few in number, not greatly disproportionate in technology, and, at least in raw resources, poorer - able to dominate the region within a couple of centuries?

By numbering system, I'm asking about the numbers themselves (i.e 1, 2, 3, etc.) and also our mathematical symbols (i.e. +, -, *, /). Did this system originate out of, say, Europe and spread elsewhere through colonization? Did it start somewhere else?

And that he wasn't simply a literary device used mainly by Plato to describe his ideas and detail his stories? There's no way that Plato's works were simply dictations of his time with Socrates - and more often than not, he was simply a literary device rather than Plato giving historical details surrounding Socrates' life and death.

I know that in WW2 there were a couple (maybe even less than that?) jewish people that were deemed noble jews, one of them being Hitler's family doctor.

How were those deemed noble treated? Would they be seen as part of the master race, even though they were of a different religion?

Thanks.