I know there are Mafia families in other cities, but why aren't (or rather, weren't) they as widespread and influential as they are in New York and New Jersey?
2 Answers 2014-02-03
I know it is a useful shorthand, but is it really to accurate to say France and England went to war in a time where some specific man held the English Crown, French titles, and a colorable claim to the French crown declared war on the current French monarch?
This man may have had bitter enemies amongst the English nobility and strong supporters amongst the French nobility.
Or we can take an older example. Khosrau II of the Sassanid Empire sought the help of Emperor Maurice of the Byzantines to regain the Sassanid throne.
After Maurice was killed, Khosrau ostensibly fought to enthrone his son.
So would it be accurate to say that the Sassanids and Byzantines were at war? Would it be more accurate to say Khosrau warred with Phocas, and then later Heraclius?
Am I putting too much focus on the individual? Am I putting too much focus on the stated reasons for going to war?
3 Answers 2014-02-03
I am teaching a class and we are doing a research project about Jewish Partisan groups and am looking for sources that I could bring to class to give to the students that would help them to research and understand the partisans.
4 Answers 2014-02-03
Central America as defined as being between the Maya region (Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Honduras) and Colombia.
1 Answers 2014-02-03
Welcome to this AMA which today features ten panelists willing and eager to answer your questions on Early and Medieval Islam. (There will be a companion AMA on Modern Islam on February 19, please save all your terrorism/Israel questions for that one.)
Our panelists are:
/u/sln26 Early Islamic History: specializes in early Islamic history, specifically the time period just before the birth of Muhammad up until the establishment of the Umayyad Dynasty. He also has an interest in the history of hadith collection and the formation of the hadith corpus.
/u/caesar10022 Early Islamic Conquests | Rashidun Caliphate: studies and has a fascination with the expansion of Islam under the first four caliphs following Muhammad's death, known as the Rashidun caliphs. Focusing mainly on the political and martial expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate, he is particularly interested in religion in the early caliphate and the Byzantine-Arab wars. He also has an interest in the Abbasid Golden Age.
/u/riskbreaker2987 Early Islamic History: specializes in the period from the life and career of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad through to the 'Abbasid era. His research largely focuses on Arabic historiography in the early period, especially with the traditions concerning the establishment and administration of the Islamic state and, more generally, with the Islamic conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries CE.
/u/alfonsoelsabio Medieval Iberia: studies the cultural and military frontiers of later medieval Iberia, with primary focus on the Christian kingdoms but with experience with the Muslim perspective, both in the Muslim-ruled south and the minority living under Christian rule.
/u/alltorndown Mongol Empire | Medieval Middle East and /u/UOUPv2 Rise and Fall of the Mongolian Empire are here to answer questions about all things Mongol and Islam.
/u/keyilan Sinitic Linguistics: My undergrad work was on Islamic philosophy and my masters (done in China) was Chinese philosophy with emphasis on Islamic thought in China. This was before my switch to linguistics (as per the normal flair). I've recently started research on Chinese Muslims' migration to Taiwan after the civil war.
/u/rakony Mongols in Iran: has always been interested in the intermeshing of empires and economics, this lead him to the Mongols the greatest Silk Road Empire. He he has a good knowledge of early Mongol government and the government of the Ilkahnate, the Mongol state encompassing Iran and its borderlands. His main interest within this context is the effect that Mongol rule had on their conquered subjects.
/u/Trigorin Ottoman Empire | Early Medieval Islamic-Christian Exchange: specializes on the exchange between the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Caliphate(s). He is versed in non-Islamic chronicles of early Islam as well as the intellectual history of the bi-lingual Arab-Greek speaking Islamic elite. In addition, /u/trigorin does work on the Ottoman Empire , with particular emphasis on the late Ottoman Tanzimat (re-organization) and the accompanying reception of these changes by the empire's ethnic and religious minorities.
/u/yodatsracist Moderator | Comparative Religion: studies religion and politics in comparative perspective. He is in a sociology department rather than a history department so he's way more willing to make broad generalization (a.k.a. "theorize") than most traditionally trained narrative historians. He likes, in Charles Tilly's turn of phrase, "big structures, large processes, huge comparisons".
Let's have your questions!
Please note: our panelists are on different schedules and won't all be online at the same time. But they will get to your questions eventually!
126 Answers 2014-02-03
For example, would the russian revolution not happen if it wasnt for Lenin? Would Communist China not be as bad if Mao wasnt in charge, but instead someone else?
1 Answers 2014-02-03
I am surprised by the lack of sources describing any resistance to Napoleon's reign in France, with such a violent revolution occurring so shortly before and Napoleon's defeat. My assumption is that constant warfare and revolutionary fatigue helped maintain a passive stance toward Napoleon's seizure of the government.
1 Answers 2014-02-03
3 Answers 2014-02-03
EDIT: Thanks for all these answers, but I'm really wondering if there was ever a case of a black slave owning an Irish slave. I really have my doubts about this one, but someone made that assertion in another subreddit.
This is what another redditor said.
"The Irish slaves were often the slaves of the black slaves, so go figure."
3 Answers 2014-02-03
So I'm doing a project from the perspective of a young boy who wants to become an archer. The date is 1329. He could go through his local Lord but I think this might have been outdated by then. Would have left his village to train somewhere? The date means that there isn't a war yet but sure they would still have been recruiting...?
2 Answers 2014-02-03
Previously:
Today:
The "Monday Mysteries" series will be focused on, well, mysteries -- historical matters that present us with problems of some sort, and not just the usual ones that plague historiography as it is. Situations in which our whole understanding of them would turn on a (so far) unknown variable, like the sinking of the Lusitania; situations in which we only know that something did happen, but not necessarily how or why, like the deaths of Richard III's nephews in the Tower of London; situations in which something has become lost, or become found, or turned out never to have been at all -- like the art of Greek fire, or the Antikythera mechanism, or the historical Coriolanus, respectively.
This week, we'll be taking a look at the history of mistakes that were made...because of alcohol.
Needless to say, this promises to be a rather entertaining topic. Alcohol is one of humanities most widely used substances, and has been used far and wide in almost every culture imaginable. However, the question here is...what have been some mistakes caused directly by a blunder due to alcohol?
First of all, there's always the military aspect. Was one culture known for having drunken revels on one day, who were subsequently destroyed when their enemies found out? Did an army fall apart because of a drunken mishap? Did drunkenness ever contribute to a war being won or lost?
On the other side, we have the political and social aspect! Have any wars been fought over something that was done while one party was inebriated? How about a marriage alliance that was forged over wine that later turned out to be disastrous for one of the parties? Perhaps an alliance was shattered? Perhaps a murder was committed! Tell us any and all wine-sodden woes!
Next Week on Monday Mysteries - A reincarnation of a past topic! The inaccurate films and books in your period! See you then!
Remember, moderation in these threads will be light - however, please remember that politeness, as always, is mandatory.
6 Answers 2014-02-03
1 Answers 2014-02-03
So my US History teacher has given us the option to do practically any research paper topic. I was really interested in the "Project MKUltra" & "Ted Kaczynski" although this is a very broad topic. I need to find a way to narrow it down and hopefully come up with a viable thesis. Problem is, as interesting as this topic may be, my biggest concern is its little relevance to US History. I mean it is cool and all that it is cold war related, but in terms of history... I'm not sure how this topic is at all relevant. PLEASE HELP!! If this topic is too irrelevant for a fully developed research paper... I may have to switch..
1 Answers 2014-02-03
Seems to me that every culture has kissing as a commonly accepted form of affection. Has this always been the case? Or was/is there a culture where kissing wasn't common? I mean it seems that it's just natural and that everyone has the urge to kiss the person(s) they love. But is that an inherit urge in humans? Or is it just because we have been raised to view kissing as such?
1 Answers 2014-02-03
I know modern day mothers in the developed world are getting older and older (often 30+) whereas my grandparents generation (born in 1932) were having children in their early to mid 20s. How has it changed over time? From how young to how old?
2 Answers 2014-02-03
England and Scandinavia are a long way from Constantinople. How did they travel there? How could they afford to do so? How difficult was the journey?
Also, how were they recruited? Did they just show up and say "Hello, I'd like to join the Guard today?", were men actively selected in their homeland by recruiters, or something else?
1 Answers 2014-02-03
3 Answers 2014-02-03
Was it really a beautiful story for most of them, or were they just used for diplomatic leverage?
1 Answers 2014-02-03
1 Answers 2014-02-03
1 Answers 2014-02-03
How did they practice religious life, especially considering a strong orthodoxy post-Justinian period? Was the antagonism to Melkite really strong, since it's closely associated with the ruthless orthodoxy - and if it were, would they do something violent to Melkite believers? How much important religion were to them?
How did the local city inhabitants react to travelers (from other cities) and foreigners? Or, even more, how did they react to people from the capital? Did they live an urban lifestyle, or an agricultural-rural one? What were the major occupations in the cities? Were there a lot of priests?
Were the cities had some sort of political autonomy, being in fringe and might be contested from neighboring empires? How did they perceive the Byzantine military?
I'm particularly interested in life in Edessa, Manzikert, and Damascus, in the early post-Justinian period (6-7 AD)... but any information on other cities and/or after the advent of Islam period are also interesting! Sorry if I asked a lot of questions, just wanting to know general life on there. Thanks a lot!
2 Answers 2014-02-03