1. What were the goals of Italy in general in WWII when they fought with the Axis?

2. What were Mussolini's reasons for joining with Germany in WWII, personal (if any) and political?

3. Were there any indications in Mussolini's history that he sought what he ended up seeking in WWII as part of the Axis? For example, Hitler reportedly argued for a fulfillment of German lebensraum in Mein Kampf: did we have any indications of Mussolini's personal goals that were comparable?

4. Italy switched sides during WWII, if memory serves...was it able to significantly contribute to the Allied war effort after switching sides, or was it embroiled in internal conflict?

I find Italy's history from the fall of the Western Roman empire to its eventual unification in the 1860s to be fairly fascinating, particularly its rather vibrant political scene during the Renaissance and beyond.

But I often wonder, is there scholarly consensus on what produced the highly fragmented nature of the area, at a time when many other fractious areas on the continent were gradually coalescing into larger dynastic states?

I mean, I know that it's wrong to think of many European polities at the time as very strong, centralized states in the same sense as we'd conceive of them today. But regardless, kingdoms like France, Spain, England, and even the Archduchy of Austria represented much larger territorial units that were ruled by central authorities that gradually grew in scope. Their scale eclipsed the Italian city states considerably. What caused this divergence?

So we have the Kingdom of Naples in the south, and the Papal state in the central part of the peninsula. But the northern part of Italy was fragmented and yet still a great center of wealth and prosperity. Had any single power been able to emerge as its master, it seems like it would have been a considerable power right in the center of Europe.

What prevented this area from being united by a common ruler or government--whether it be a dynastic family or some sort of analogue to the republican governments that ruled many of Italy's city-states? I guess one way to ask the question is something like "What did happen in France or Austria or Castille/Aragon that didn't happen in Italy?"

What stopped any given Duke of Milan from rising to conquer Florence and Venice and Pisa and Genoa, etc? Did the merchant republics of northern Italy simply have no aspirations to expand at home beyond their immediate environs?

I realize this is a complex question, and one that might not have anything resembling a clear-cut answer. But I'd appreciate any sort of insight into the topic, even if it's just ideas about what set Italy apart rather than any sort of grand unifying theory.

Is it realistic at all that he escaped to South America or is it tabloid BS?

I think I understand the Alawite, Hezbollah, Iranian connection, but I'd love to better understand how Sunni Hamas became their, or some of their allies.

Hello all,

once again I am working on a historiography outside of my subject zone and wanted any advice on books I should be looking at. I am writing a paper on the controversy over the exact cause of the Black Death in Europe. I have already read Cohn, "The Black Death Transformed", Benedictow's "The Black Death" "Biology of Plagues" "Plagues and People" "From the Brink of the Apocalypse" and Twigg and Ziegler for more classic work. What I really need is contemporary articles talk about the Black Death and perhaps more modern counter-arguments to the "plague deniers." Any sort of help would be much appreciated!

My family have a Basque exchange student staying with us at the moment, and he identifies as and speaks Basque as does his family and everyone around him. He's from Pamplona, so upon initial research, I was confused, because it's not in the Basque Country (autonomous community), but rather in Navarre.

I already knew that the Basque Country extended up into France, so I realised that while Navarre isn't in the Basque Country (autonomous community), it's in the wider Basque Country region.

Why is this the case? Even geographically, it's sandwiched in between the two Basque countries. Is it because the lower half of Navarre doesn't have a high enough % of Basque speakers?

As there were some Jews in Central and Eastern Europe who were also gay or Communist or socialist or disabled or mentally ill, were such Jews counted among the Jewish victims or among such other victims?

I can't imagine that in Eastern Europe, Jewish victims came across members of groups like gays, Jehovah's Witnesses, socialists, etc. who would also have been transported to the camps?

I don't need statistical data, but more personal one as I am conducting a family research. I looked everywhere online, but it seems this part has not been digitalized yet - no wonder having in mind the size of Austria-Hungary. The good thing is that my family comes from a small town/village in the Bács-Bodrog region (today's Serbia) and we have a very specific Hungarian surname. Any Hungarians here who could help me? I live in the US... A friend of mine tried in Serbia, but they told him that they don't have the census data from 1880, only 1982 onwards.

At some point in the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire and the transition of the eastern half into the Byzantine Empire, the last remnants of roman military organizations and government institutions also disappeared.

We know the name of the last roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, but what is the last recorded imperial Roman legion? When was the last meeting of the Senate?

I have friends who post on Facebook and talk about their support of both Israel and Palestine. I don't know much about the conflict and would like to be able to form my own opinion on the matter. I don't expect you to know any more than me on who is in the right, because there is an abundance of propaganda out there trying to sway everyone one way or the other. But do your best and I'll appreciate it!

For example, Mozart wrote The Turkish March. Haydn also wrote a Turkish March. Beethoven apparently did as well, although that was in 1809.

I've heard statistics ranging from 10% to 30%, but never anything that explains the numbers. Can we base it on the number of men, airplanes, or equipment? Also, I know that many people wanted the U.S. to concentrate on Japan because of the Pearl Harbor attack, so how and why did they choose a Europe-First strategy?

I have heard (no source, so could be entirely incorrect) that the decision to bomb Japan was made several years before the bomb itself was first constructed. Considering that at this point both Germany and Japan would have been viable targets, what went into this decision-making process? Is it true that it was somewhat racially motivated, as it was easier to garner support to bomb a relatively alien nation, compared to the familiarity with which most of the allied forces (and their leaders) had with the germans?

My understanding of the rise of AC is that it's often taken as a simple and necessary technological innovation, but that view seems to me to understate the existence of alternatives to AC both in the form of architectural practice(designs and building materials that were more suited to natural or passive ventilation) and in the form of cultural practices(longer vacations outside of cities, less active office activity and school breaks during the hottest part of the summer, or lunch being a more substantial meal). My question, then, is how was AC able to displace these other means for adjusting to seasonal or regional hot weather?

First time posting here!

So long story short, A few friends got into a debate at the bar about the Free Masons last night. I have heard of the Free Masons before but I am not really knowledgeable on the topic. I decided to listen in half-way through the conversation. I became interested.

Today I revisited the topic and decided to do a little research. Through this research, I happened to stumbled upon Rosicrucianism. There is a wealth of knowledge out there. Upon reading different things, I felt like I got a bunch mixed information. Were they a philosophical, moral and social society of men who have a belief in a Supreme Being? Like the freemasons? We're they connected with the illumanati ( was the founder an ex-free mason? ). Maybe this is all true and I just am not understanding how they are all tied together. There was just a lot of information out there and I would like to get a stronger, clear cut, grasp on the Free Masons and Rosicrucianism. I love reading books, so if you guys have any suggestions of books I can go buy on the topic would be much appreciated!

I thought about this question recently when reading about early japan history. Their writting system and the chinese one are well know, but what about the numbers? Surely an empire so fond of administration such as China would have invented one.

I'm particularly curious about these ones because on the other hand they did retain their writting characters to this day, but the question apply to as much civilisations as you can answers, I find it very interesting what early isolated humans thought of writting past the "adding sticks" phase. All the better if we have pictures of it.

Also, were the indians the only ones to invent the zéro? How did it went?

Finally, I vaguely remember hearing that one of the precolombians civilisations had a twenty based system rather than the ten based one we're accustomed to. Were there others différents systems?

I just wanted to know how the major/minor Germanic kingdoms banded together in order to form Germany as it is presently.

Thank you all in advance. This sub is truly an amazing hub of information.

As an extension to that question, why is the stone used in some European countries when they are based on the metric system.

Thanks for answering!

Hello friends. I have seen the movie "Reds" about the Russian Revolution. It is a wonderful drama - and a period piece. Now I am curious to really understand the circumstances of that revolution. All I really know about Russia is in context or relative to WWII. Is there a good documentary that covers it ? It seems quite complex regarding the type of governments and the logistics of that amazing event. You really don't get lots of material about it in western media in general. Thanks.