What are some of the best books to read to get a general history of labor?

Looking for something that covers post-Industrial Revolution labor as well as a less intensive overview of labor pre IR. Thanks so much for the suggestions!

2 Answers 2014-05-02

Why did Hitler spare the Swiss?

I noticed on historical maps that when Nazi Germany was expanding, it went around Switzerland and took all of the countries around it. Given that Switzerland had a neutrality policy and wouldn't have revolted against the Nazis, it seems like easy pickings, so why was Switzerland spared?

2 Answers 2014-05-02

When ancient people named the planets after their gods, did they really believe that what they saw in the sky was that god, or did they know it was just an object named after them?

11 Answers 2014-05-02

Slavoj Žižek argues that Ukraine experienced its best years under Lenin. Is this true?

This is the article.

The relevant parts:

There was nonetheless a historical irony in watching Ukrainians tearing down Lenin’s statues as a sign of their will to break with Soviet domination and assert their national sovereignty. The golden era of Ukrainian national identity was not tsarist Russia – where Ukrainian national self-assertion was thwarted – but the first decade of the Soviet Union, when Soviet policy in a Ukraine exhausted by war and famine was ‘indigenisation’. Ukrainian culture and language were revived, and rights to healthcare, education and social security introduced. Indigenisation followed the principles formulated by Lenin in quite unambiguous terms:

The proletariat cannot but fight against the forcible retention of the oppressed nations within the boundaries of a given state, and this is exactly what the struggle for the right of self-determination means. The proletariat must demand the right of political secession for the colonies and for the nations that ‘its own’ nation oppresses. Unless it does this, proletarian internationalism will remain a meaningless phrase; mutual confidence and class solidarity between the workers of the oppressing and oppressed nations will be impossible.

Lenin remained faithful to this position to the end: immediately after the October Revolution, when Rosa Luxembourg argued that small nations should be given full sovereignty only if progressive forces would predominate in the new state, Lenin was in favour of an unconditional right to secede.

In his last struggle against Stalin’s project for a centralised Soviet Union, Lenin again advocated the unconditional right of small nations to secede (in this case, Georgia was at stake), insisting on the full sovereignty of the national entities that composed the Soviet state – no wonder that, on 27 September 1922, in a letter to the Politburo, Stalin accused Lenin of ‘national liberalism’.

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Watching "The Last of the Mohicans" got me wondering: Were there any examples of native Americans ambushing and massacring large columns of men (on any side) during the 1700s as depicted in the movie?

If so, what were these fights like? How high were the casualties? How did the men on both sides go about trying to win the engagement? What happened to survivors, POWs etc?

2 Answers 2014-05-02

Did Horror exist as a freestanding genre before the 19th century?

Obviously horror and fear were important parts of morality plays and fables, but did stories where the fear was the primary draw exist before the last two centuries?

2 Answers 2014-05-02

How easy/hard was it to stop 9/11 (both planes) from happening?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Was there any indication for a genocide in the Bosnia war from 1992-1995?

I am writing an essay about the genocide in Srebrenica but I can't find any indication that it was predictable. Could you give me your answers and some sources, please?

Thank you!

2 Answers 2014-05-02

What was the first recorded battle in history?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Does World War I actually deserve the title of World War?

My vague impression of it is that it was contained to Europe and parts of the Middle East. Was there major fighting in the rest of the world that actually warrants the name?

4 Answers 2014-05-02

Did Jerusalem fall in 607 B.C. or 587 B.C.?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Did people of Pompeii consider themselves as romans?

In the movie Pompeii (2014), there is tension between inhabitants of Pompeii and Romans, implying Pompeiians (?) did not consider themselves as romans. A comment on imdb claims it's completely wrong historically. Who's right, Hollywood or random guy on internet?

3 Answers 2014-05-02

Are there examples from history of a commander deliberately sending his troops to die?

3 Answers 2014-05-02

What was the level of French racism towards the citizens of the North African colonies (as i know for a time Algeria was considered to be a department of France and not a colony)?

I just read the story of the American 369th Infantry Regiment (an all-Black regiment of US Army that was detached to the French Army in WWI) and how the French accepted them with open arms. Can someone shed some light on French feelings on Africans at this time, and in general?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/369th_Infantry_Regiment_%28United_States%29#History

1 Answers 2014-05-02

We always hear about how the Allies broke the German codes in WWII, but what about the men who made the code? How much do we know about them?

We always hear about Turing, and the Colossus computer, breaking the Enigma code, and others. But what about the men (and women?) who created the codes used in German communication? What kind of contribution did they have, and do their contributions still linger in any kind of meaningful way today?

3 Answers 2014-05-02

How sure are we that the year is actually 2014?

Hey, Historians,

How sure are we that the current year is actually 2,014 years after Jesus's birth? Is it not possible that a couple years somehow 'fell through the cracks' and weren't accounted for. It's not hard to imagine a few years were unaccounted for when the Roman empire fell (let's say in the 400's) since the Barbarian tribes would have had different calendars than the Roman empire did. Wouldn't the collapse of a major empire and a transition from one culture to another be a point of concern for accounting time?

3 Answers 2014-05-02

Did Rock and Roll ever reach the USSR?

A little more expanding: Was Rock music ever remotely popular during the 50s/60s in the USSR or any Soviet satellite states? Was there some kind of underground movement, and how did the Soviet government approach it?

3 Answers 2014-05-02

Who was General Tso?

Was he a real person or a caricature created to market a certain type of chicken to Westerners?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Ex-SS soldiers in the French foreign legion?

I heard years back that a lot of waffen SS personnel fled Germany after the war and joined the FFL, being that you can enlist under a false name and all that.

Is this true?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Ancient Egyptian mummies are known for having bad teeth (large cavities, abscesses, etc.). What was dentistry like in ancient Egypt and what treatments were available to someone suffering from bad teeth?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

When did the food reserves run out in Leningrad? Also how common was cannibalism in the city, and if one resorted to it how likely was the person to get caught?

2 Answers 2014-05-02

Need help finding material on the Spanish Civil war.

Hello. I have been looking for books or sources about how the Spanish Civil War affected social change for a school project. I haven't had much luck finding books on the subject. I could really use some more sources in English or Spanish to complement the ones I already have.

2 Answers 2014-05-02

Historically, how Sharia Laws applied to the non Muslim community in Islamic states? Is there any evidence of separate laws for these non Muslim community?

Due to recent controversies regarding implementation of hudud laws in my country, I wishes to learn from historians in this good subreddit regarding the implementation of sharia laws in the past.

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Religious revolution in Europe?

What motivated Luther to defy the Catholic Church and call for a reformation of (really a revolution in) Christianity? In your answer, please discuss: 1) two of Luther’s acts that revolutionized the practice of Christianity in Western Europe; 2) two ways in which the Catholic Church responded; and 3) two larger non-religious factors that contributed to his unprecedented success. Last, how did Luther’s revolution change European society? European politics?

1 Answers 2014-05-02

Were ancient temples and burial sites really "booby trapped"?

I've always wondered if this was just a common movie trope or the real deal. Is there any historical backing to this popular portrayal of ancient temples?

2 Answers 2014-05-02

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