I find it interesting that two similar and closely related countries which began Westernization around the same time had such different results. From the First Sino-Japanese War it's clear that Japan was by far more capable militarily than China, even in spite of its size, and was able to surpass China's power less than three decades after reforms began. Not only that, but ten years later, Japan was able to face Russia and win, distinguishing itself as a peer to Western imperial powers. From what little I've read, it seems that the Meiji Restoration was astoundingly successful, and achieved more than could ever have been hoped for at the time reforms began.

In contrast, the reforms happening under the Qing Dynasty seemed to accomplish very little. This is especially striking because the impetus for change was seemingly much stronger in China (the Opium Wars as compared to Japan's encounter with Matthew Perry). How did an enormous country with an urgent need for military modernization and Westernization wind up weaker than a relatively small country with a more distant need for Westernization, after just a few short decades?

What did the Coachella Valley, the city of Coachella in particular, look like in the 1910s? I'm wondering, in particular, what the major roads were. And, this is probably a futile question, but are there any maps of the city, or the valley in general, from this time period (or the '20s)?

I have a story I'm working on that takes place in Coachella, that happens to be in an alternate history timeline with a point of divergence during WWI. Coachella, in the timeline, reaches a population of a couple hundred thousand by the 2030s, when the story takes place (in part because the aircraft industry moved there from Burbank, though I'm not sure how plausible that'd be). I know I can probably just make stuff up, but I don't want to -- I mean, I know there would be radical changes over 100 years, but the main boulevards would probably remain the same. Anyways...

Thanks.

When I say chattel slavery, I mean that these slaves bought and sold like property, like the slavery of Colonial America (And as I understand it, this form of slavery is the oldest, so I imagine there are a lot of examples). How wealthy was the average slaver? The guys who go out and capture slaves? Also, how were slavers perceived by their peers? Were they considered normal? Were they hated? Was there some kind of nobility in the job?

I was reading the History of Europe (since the 100 years war) and I noticed that France has always been a great influence on the continent. Why is that?

Edit: Thanks, I learned a lot in this tread. It's funny how location can pretty much determine the future of a tribe.

I just finished reading John Ralston Saul's biography on Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin, and came across many references to the Orange Order. A cursory wikipedia search revealed some information on the general background of the Canadian organization, which mentioned that Scottish and English individuals also joined. However, I'm more interested in the ideological and social aspect of the organization.

With that in mind, how different were the two organisations? Did they share the same ideology, or celebrate certain dates like the Irish Orange Order? Was the Canadian Orange Order an extension of the Irish organization, or did it operate separately? How aware would members of one be aware of the activities of the other? If there are any reliable sources on the subject, where could I find them?

I'm basically asking by what merits they got in and how did one get appointed.

Say a Bible since those were fairly common and a relatively consistent length.

Did illuminated texts take substantially more time to create?

also could you tell me how many casualties this army would have inflicted, and who the ottomans were at war with at the time, assuming they were at war.

Today, we're used to toys being tied in with movies, games, books, sippy cups, and every other conceivable piece of merch that could bear an icon. What was the first fictional franchise to really market itself as merchandise across a wide range of products? Buck Rogers? Flash Gordon? Mickey Mouse?

I am studying Russian, and am extremely interested in all the soviet rumours of massive bunkers, etc., and was wondering if any of you knew of any evidence for Metro-2.

Was it only the circumstances or really great diplomacy behind this? Or both? What was the "secret"?

I know that Dr. Salk didn't patent his vaccine, but were there any other scientists or doctors that did not patent useful inventions?

Define "immediate" as you like, although I am primarily concerned with the first few decades. My main interest is in things like size and complexity of trade networks, vigor of the urban economy and overall economic productivity rather than the well known theory of increased average quality of life due to demographic easing.

I'm asking this because there is a fairly widely stated hypothesis that the Antonine Plague of 160 CE is to blame for the reduction of economic activity in the Roman Empire through the second century, particularly in terms of long distance trade, and I am curious about a comparative approach.

I was watching "The Great Dictator", and in the scene in which Hynkel is throwing a great inflatable globe about, it struck me that even with the technology of flight circa 1940, it still must be really difficult to get the landscape you see from a plane into context enough to draw an accurate map. We had fairly spot-on maps then, though. This got me thinking about ancient maps, too. I know they're often inaccurate, but I'd like to know the techniques ancient (and more recent) cartographers would use. Small-scale maps I can understand, but what about mapping a whole country or continent?