Hello historians!
I am a Filipino student who is currently grade 12 and an incoming college freshman. I have been having uncertainty about going into AB History because my father points out that there aren’t many jobs that an AB History Major can really take.
However, I love history! A lot. History is my passion and I truly wish to take this course. However, I am scared that this path might lead me down a road that I may want to, but can’t turn around on.
I would just like to know: 1.What are the possible jobs of an AB History Major? 2.How much could an AB History Major earn per year (yearly income)? 3. If the yearly income is lower than average (Php 460,000 or $9,157.78), then what are some side jobs or extra things I can do to earn a little more?
Thank you again historians! I heavily appreciate the feedback. Also, I may have posted this question before, but I didn’t ask too intensively on it. Thank you very much!
1 Answers 2021-04-10
I study public transportation in college and know that many railroads in the US used to be electrified, but no longer are. I also have older family members that used to be employed by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and they recall a time that they took electrified commuter trains to and from Chicago, but electric trains don't run on that segment of track anymore. I was curious about what incentives drove this shift to diesel away from electric when electrified trains don't incur fuel costs.
1 Answers 2021-04-10
This just recently came within the 20-year rule.
The actual perpetrator of the murder was his bodyguard, but there's always been speculation that it was planned by figures elsewhere. The tribunals on the matter are generally regarded as flawed, so what do historians think? Who was responsible for the assassination of Laurent Kabila?
1 Answers 2021-04-10
How did they explain them?
1 Answers 2021-04-10
In 'Farewell Titanic' by Charles Pellegrino, he mentions the effect that a coal fire which burned for days before the Titanic set sail (which is also referenced here but in what seems like history-channel-like levels of theory) as making the iron more brittle on the side that the iceberg struck, possibly just 'putting it over the line' of the number of bulkheads that were then inundated with water and caused the ship to sink.
Is this coal fire now generally accepted as 'fact' and its effects in the same light? I saw there was a question here a few years ago but its answer was simply to a link that was no longer active.
2 Answers 2021-04-10
I've usually held Zhukov in low esteem because I thought he just sent waves of men at enemy lines to breakthrough. Now this isn't true at all as I've been recently reading some of his military operations which has radically changed my view of him.
However, I've recently started reading some old forums regarding about Zhukov.
Usually, his defense of Leningrad and Moscow is credited to him. His other (major) operations seemed to be debated on how much he was involved.
I've heard that Zhukov had little role in Operation Uranus and in fact Vasilevsky was the main commander who planned and executed. I discovered the source was mainly from Victor Suvorov which last time I heard he was a very controversial historian especially his book 'Ice Breaker' which was constantly criticized by many historians. (Whether Operation Mars was a Zhukov operation or not is something I'll try to figure out later because I believe it's still debated upon.)
Rokossovsky stated in his memoirs that Zhukov's role at Kursk and Bagration was over exaggerated and in fact it was Rokossovsky himself who actually planned the Kursk and Bagration operations which he claimed "that he only arrived just before the battle, made no decisions and left soon afterwards..." Of course it's a memoir and should be taken with a huge grain of salt especially with a rivalry that started to develop between Zhukov and Rokossovsky over the course of the war.
In all I don't really know how involved he was in the major military operations. How involved was Zhukov in these operations and was it major or exaggerated?
u/Georgy_K_Zhukov obviously
1 Answers 2021-04-10
I was always under the impression that we used the term Indian because early Europeans were mistaken that they landed in India. However, this HuffPost article explains that it wasn't possible, that we used the term Hindustan for India during that time. And that Europeans used the term Indio early on, which then morphed into Indian.
So, does that mean there are 2 different origins of the term Indian?
2 Answers 2021-04-10
Like when France, Belgium, and the Netherlands got annexed, what happened with their colonies?
1 Answers 2021-04-10
Was it when he was alive? Was there a hundred year period where people forgot about him
1 Answers 2021-04-09
It seems like in most interdynastic periods, and even in the Chinese Civil War it's always a northern faction that wins and conquers the south; not a southern faction that wins and conquers the north. Even both times China was conquered by outsiders, the Manchu and Mongols were both to the North.
1 Answers 2021-04-09
Hello Friends.
I am writing a piece of Historical Fiction, set in 15th century Peru. The prologue of the story establishes a historic context. I would like to verify that the prologue does not contain any egregious historical inaccuracies.
Admittedly, I have been creative with time lines, and causal relationships, to serve the themes of the story. I realize this somewhat contradicts my previous goal of historical accuracy.
Below is a condensed version of the prologue. This excerpt won't make sense as a complete story.
While keeping in mind this is a fictional work, if anyone has suggestions about how to improve the realism of this impression of Late Intermediate Period Peru, it would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.
---
15th century. Peru.
Innovation had impelled the emergence of the Inca. Their pivotal breakthrough was the Anden; the redevelopment of barren land for agricultural purposes. The construction of stone retaining walls and fresh water aqueducts, enabled steep mountain slopes to be converted into arable terraces.
As the proliferation of Andenes grew in scale, so too did the complexity of the civil projects. Born of this logistical challenge sprung the Quippu; a mathematical tool. Quippu were cords of hanging thread. Each knot, colour and yarn type of a Quippu thread described a unique record. These textile indexes facilitated numeric calculations which were crucial to the engineering of Anden. In addition, Quippu were also utilised to account for grain inventories, chronicle population censuses and relay coded messages. By harnessing such novel technologies the Inca pueblo burgeoned into a rich complex society.
Though while the Inca enclave flourished in the highlands, the once magnificent abode cities of the neighboring plains lay in ruins. For a decades-long drought had cursed the land. Densely populated historic centers had been decimated by famine. The remnants of bygone civilizations haunted the hinterlands; From the Yagua; wayward shaman communities of the Amazon jungle basin, to the Paraca; ancient tribes of the coastal desert. Exasperating the calamity came a fresh threat; the arrival of seafaring marauders from the Polynesian antipodes.
Intent on extending the reach of their imperial edifice, the Inca bureaucracy devised a cunning scheme. They would exploit the dearth to their advantage. Anden would feed the starving masses and Quippu mobilize the motley throng into a vast, coordinated work force. Missions of armed Inca viceroy were dispatched to colonize the frontier. In exchange for grain resources the peasant hands were employed to pave Qhapaq Nan; an extensive network of roads.
Yet, at every turn, revolt beleaguered the Inca conquest. To quash rebellion, the Inca enforced Mitma; the resettlement of multi-ethnic outlanders to distant, loyal territories. These disparate renegades were assimilated into the Inca state as new citizens, and persuaded to speak Quechua; the united tongue. An epoch of immense cultural upheaval swept through the region. Unprecedented, modern encounters came into being ; Herds of alpaca, monumental stone temples and the sumptuous luster of gold — All visions endemic to the saga of the Inca.
1 Answers 2021-04-09
Title basically. I am really interested in this time period and would like to learn about it more in detail.
Thanks!
2 Answers 2021-04-09
1 Answers 2021-04-09
In the 1991 Kevin Costner movie 'Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves', Costner's Robin Hood saves the life of a dark skinned Moor named "Azeem" played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman's character then accompanies Costner's character back to England and becomes involved in the various subplots of the film.
Reaction by other characters in the film runs the gamut from curiosity/wonderment to outright hostility, with characters asking him if God painted him or burned him (implying they had never seen someone with dark skin before), referring to him as a "painted man", being fearful when they find out he is a "Moor" (which I assume by that they mean an Islamic person), etc.
My question is, how realistic is this depiction in terms of reactions/attitudes by English people in this era toward someone with dark skin or someone known to be a Moor? This is assuming that I'm just a regular, run-of-the-mill person who had not traveled outside of England (so not a crusading nobleman, or a soldier, or a sailor, or a merchant etc. who obviously would have had a more worldly point of view). Would I have been hostile? Curious? Scared? Indifferent?
Were there any communities of color in England in that era in bigger cities/towns like London?
Thanks!
1 Answers 2021-04-09
If so, what did they smoke? How common was it? What were attitudes towards smoking like?
1 Answers 2021-04-09
I was watching a video about hygiene in Tudor England, (1485-1603) and they claimed that unless you were lucky enough to be in a town or city built by the Romans with their sewers, raw sewage would just flow through the streets. Since the Romans left England in 400AD, some 1000 years earlier, what prevented any of the architects, or anybody else from even attempting to recreate or copy what was already there?
Or at least, why the existing aqueducts/sewers weren't maintained?
2 Answers 2021-04-09
The Soviet Union claimed to be a workers state dedicated to improving the conditions of the working class compared to the west. In reality, what were their working conditions like and how well off were their workers (in terms of quality of life and afforded luxuries) compared to the average American (or western European) one?
1 Answers 2021-04-09
Was it straightforwardly boring and vanilla? Or are we talking at a level that an old Def Leppard roadie would refuse to believe? Nothing I've read that touches on the subject goes into any real detail.
1 Answers 2021-04-09
I'm very curious about the subject of interpolations, but I've been hard-pressed to find what even seems like an attempt at an exhaustive listing of known interpolations. In the scholarly literature, has any such endeavor been tried? I'm imagining a table something like the following:
| Interpolated Text | Name of Book/Scroll Interpolation First Found In (Year of composition) | Name of Earliest Book/Scroll Interpolation Not Found In |
|---|---|---|
| "I slipped this text into this historic work!" | Neoantiquitus (404 CE) [citation] | Antiquitus (900 BCE) [citation] |
If you've seen anything like this please let me know. I'm basically hoping to find a literature review containing a list of interpolations from works scattered throughout history. The more collected interpolations the better.
1 Answers 2021-04-09
I'm reviewing some primary sources (local newspapers) for a work project and have come across sections in early 1900 editions listing what seems to be common citizens and visits to family and or towns. Ex: "Kermit Sapp has returned from a visit to relatives"; "Mrs. J.w. Stubbs and Mrs. L.C. Wilson are spending several days in White Springs,Fla"
1 Answers 2021-04-09
I know that Napoleon Bonaparte received his military education at the Paris Ecole Militaire, but I couldn't find any further details regarding curriculum and training exercises, or anything like that.
Information on British, Prussian, Austrian, and Russian artillerists is pretty much unknown to me.
1 Answers 2021-04-09
The Snapphanes, Scanian 17th-century guerrilla combatants oftentimes depicted as having been either freedom fighters or pesky thieves, still remain shrouded in quite a lot of mystery—and I’ve got questions!
I can’t find anything about them on Reddit, let alone elsewhere (for example, at the local library or via the limited amount of online databases that an unemployed history geek like me has any access to), so I thought posting here might hopefully be worth a shot!
As far as I know—which, to be honest, isn’t much—, they constituted the Free Corps¹ in order to defend the Danish Army against the Swedish Army’s rampant devastations across the then Eastern Danish provinces, which in the course of the Second Northern War (1655–1660) and the Scanian War (1675–1679) eventually became Southern Sweden.
Moreover and to the best of my, albeit limited, knowledge, the Snapphanes initially garnered quite a bit of peasantry support when attempting to rejoin the Danish sphere. But as Sweden managed to gain a firm upper hand by way of seizing Danish provinces, the peasantry’s support quickly turned sour. From this point onward, with confrontations and armed conflicts now growing increasingly desperate, locals began seeing them as “worse than the Swedish Army.”
Now, then, some questions have been raised whilst stuck pondering on and wanting to better understand this hectic part of Scandinavian history.
######MAIN QUESTIONS
######SIDE QUESTION
######FOOTNOTES
1 Answers 2021-04-09
Hello /r/AskHistorians! I am Alex Wellerstein, a regular contributor here, and this week my first book RESTRICTED DATA: THE HISTORY OF NUCLEAR SECRECY IN THE UNITED STATES (University of Chicago Press, 2021) is finally available for purchase! Note that if you are interested in buying a signed and inscribed copy (for no additional cost, but it will be slower than ordering it normally, as I will be signing them all individually), see the instructions here.
I've spend some 15 years researching the history of nuclear technology (mostly weapons, but some power topics, especially where the two categories intersect) and researching the history of governmental and scientific secrecy in the United States. I am presently an Assistant Professor (recently promoted to Associate with tenure, starting in August) at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. I am best-known on the internet for being the creator of the NUKEMAP online nuclear weapons effects simulator.
RESTRICTED DATA covers the attempt in the United States by scientists, government administrators, and the military to try to control the spread of nuclear weapons technology through the spread of information about how said technology works. Here is the relevant "summary of the book" paragraph from the Introduction:
The American nuclear secrecy “regime” has evolved several times from its emergence in the late 1930s through our present moment in the early twenty-first century. Each chapter of this book explores a key shift in how nuclear secrecy was conceived of, made real in the world, and challenged. Roughly speaking, one can divide the history of American nuclear secrecy into three major parts: the birth of nuclear secrecy, the solidification of the Cold War nuclear secrecy regime, and the challenges to the regime that began in the late Cold War and continue into the present.
Part I (chapters 1–3) narrates the origins of nuclear secrecy in the context of World War II. This was a secrecy initially created as an informal “self-censorship” campaign run by a small band of refugee nuclear physicists who feared that any publicized research into the new phenomena of nuclear fission would spark a weapons program in Nazi Germany. As the possibility of nuclear weapons becoming a reality grew, and official government interest increased, this informal approach was transmuted into something more rigid, but still largely run by scientists: a secrecy of “scientist-administrators” created by Vannevar Bush and James Conant, two powerful wartime scientists, that gradually put in place a wide variety of secrecy practices surrounding the weapons. When the work was put into the hands of the US Army Corps of Engineers, and became the Manhattan Project, these efforts expanded exponentially as the project grew into a virtual empire. And for all of the difficulty of attempting to control a workforce in the hundreds of thousands, the thorniest questions would come when these scientific, military, and civilian administrators tried to contemplate how they would balance the needs for “publicity” with the desires of secrecy as they planned to use their newfound weapon in war.
Part II (chapters 4–6) looks at this wartime secrecy regime as it was transformed from what was largely considered a temporary and expedient program into something more permanent and lasting. Out of late-wartime and postwar debates about the “problem of secrecy,” a new system emerged, centered on the newly created Atomic Energy Commission and “Restricted Data,” a novel and unusually expansive legal category that applied only to nuclear secrets. This initial approach was characterized by a continued sense that it needed reform and liberalization, but these efforts were dashed by three terrific shocks at the end of the decade: the first Soviet atomic bomb test, the hydrogen bomb debate, and the revelation of Soviet atomic espionage. In the wake of these events, which reinforced the idea of a totemic “secret” of the bomb while at the same time emphasizing a nuclear American vulnerability, a new, bipolar approach to secrecy emerged. This “Cold War regime” simultaneously held that to release an atomic secret inappropriately was to suffer consequences as extreme as death, but that once atomic information had been deemed safe (and perhaps, profitable), it ought to be distributed as widely as possible.
Part III (chapters 7–9) chronicles the troubles that this new Cold War mindset about secrecy encountered from the 1960s through the present. Many of these were problems of its own making: embodying both the extremes of constraint and release, the Cold War approach to nuclear secrecy fundamentally rested on the dubious assertion that the technology it governed could be divided into simple categories of safety and danger, despite its inherently dual-use nature. These inherent conflicts were amplified by the rise of a powerful anti-secrecy politics in the 1970s, which motivated a wide spectrum of people—ranging from nuclear weapons designers to college students and anti-war activists— to attempt to dismantle the system in whole or in part. The end of the Cold War brought only brief respite, as initial efforts to reform the system faltered in the face of partisan politics and new fears from abroad.
Overall, I argue that one of the things that makes American nuclear secrecy so interesting is that it sits at a very interesting nexus of belief in the power of scientific knowledge, the desire for control and security, and the underlying cultural and legal values of openness and transparency. These at times mutually contradictory forces produced deep tensions that ensured that nuclear secrecy was, from the beginning, incredibly controversial and always contentious, and we live with these tensions today.
So please, Ask Me Anything! I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the history of nuclear weapons generally, but especially anything that relates to the topic of my book, or its creation.
I've been answering questions sporadically throughout the day... I still have a backlog, but I'm going to try to get to all of them either today or tomorrow. Thanks for asking them!
140 Answers 2021-04-09
It's common knowledge here that a huge number of Canadians served in WW1, compared to the population of the country and our distance from the fighting. Clearly we didn't have much choice entering the war, and a lot of the credit/blame goes to Robert Borden, but it seems like there was tremendous popular support in Canada for a vigorously-prosecuted war effort.
Where did that support come from? Was there any sense that hostilities might spill over into North America? Why would a rural farmhand in Manitoba think the war was important to his community and future?
1 Answers 2021-04-09