Why did Germany feel the need to help Austria-Hungary, but then attack France for no reason? It seems a little ridiculous.

Why did Lithuanian (probably) differ from the Proto-Indo-European language less so than any other extant languages? Was it sufficiently geographically isolated? Were the factors encouraging linguistic isolationism the same factors encouraging religious isolationism?

I've been wondering a lot about why the Iraqi boarders were drawn up the way they are. It seems to create friction from all three major Muslim sects within the same boundary. I've heard some say this was on purpose, that the British wanted the Kurds, Sunni, and Shia to fight so the British could maintain power for longer. Yet I've also read that it was strategic in that bringing the north in provided more oil. Also that boundaries were drawn in the way it was easiest for the British to defend while their military was weak after WW1.

Is there any evidence that points to one or the other? Or is it a mixed bag and all of these reasons played a part in the creation of Iraq?

Hello friends. Lately I have found myself intrigued in Nordic mythology. I was wondering, does anyone have a good book or podcast on the subject they'd like to reccomend?

Thank you for your time.

What's the context? Are they anachronisms in the movies? Did they have modern rifles and revolvers in the 1860s?

In The Clash of Civilizations Huntington says:

In 1919 Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, and George Clemenceau together virtually controlled the world. Sitting in Paris, they determined what countries would exist and which would not, what new countries would be created, what their boundaries would be and who would rule them... [pg. 91, 2011 edition]

I have a few questions here.

• To what meeting is he referring? I am not a smart man.

• Is this a reasonable assertion to make or his he embellishing a little (or a lot)?

• While I don't know much about it either, was this a similar event to the Scramble for Africa meeting of European nations (the name of which escapes me)?

• Can their decisions be directly linked to geopolitical phenomena that occured as a result of said decisions?

• What do we know about the decisions they made and if/how that differed from expert policymakers who foresaw problems with their plans (and what were those problems/did they come true)?

Any other analysis or input of any kind would be appreciated. I'm an IR student doing some pleasure reading and came across this interesting statement, so I figured I'd get some outside input as it seems a bit over the top.

How did someone inform their boss if they were sick?

And if informing the boss was impossible, what happened when workers recovered and returned to work?

Was there a similar movement in Canada?

In the Bible the creation of the world is attributed to God speaking it into existence. I've read that Egyptian mythology also attributes the world creation to aound (a song). Are there other creation stories that revolve around creation through sound or music and if so, what are they and is sound the most common creation...agent?

my grandfather was part of them and I couldn't find any information anywhere else

One big thing I always hear in response to the Emancipation Proclamation is that it didn't really actually free slaves. So what did it actually do? What was it's purpose?

My own googling seems to give conflicting accounts. Specifically around the time of Julius Caesar, some sources seem to say that as a province it was governed by a prefect (Pilate) and some say it was a semi-autonomous kingdom ruled by a king (Herod.) How exactly did this system work?