Historians of Reddit, can you recomed any any books on the topic of the Russian Army through out the era of muskets and black powder?

If 90 per cent of the native population is estimated to have died after European contact, doesn’t it rule out earlier settlement or trade?

It's not a simple yes or no question that came to my mind. I would appreciate a good soul clarifying this for me:

• I was taught that feudalism took place in France before the absolutism, and absolutism before the French Revolution.

• A friend of mine disagreed with this view, and said feudalism ended only in its abolition right before the French Revolution. That's the base for his argument:

One of the central events of the French Revolution was to abolish feudalism, and the old rules, taxes and privileges left over from the age of feudalism. The National Constituent Assembly, acting on the night of 4 August 1789, announced, "The National Assembly abolishes the feudal system entirely."

So these are my questions actually:

1. A political system can be both absolutist and feudal? If yes, what are some examples?

2. When was the vassalage abolished in France? Can a country be feudal without vassalage?

3. Should we say that France before the French Revolution was not feudal but with some remnants from the feudalism age or it was feudal with an absolute monarch? Are there some examples of remnants from the feudalism in a republican system?

4. Conclusion: after all, was France feudal before the night of 4 August 1789 or not?

I heard that Hitler wanted to bombarde cities like the Allies, but it didn't happen. Instead, the Luftwaffe remained on defense.

I read somewhere that the modern British accent didn’t come about until the late 1600’s to 1700’s and was initially only used by the aristocracy. Also, that the first “Americans” probably sounded more like modern US Americans than modern Brits. Also, also that Shakespeare had more of a modern “American” accent than a British one. It’s always bothered me in movies like The Patriot that early American settlers don’t have British accents. But if the above is true, I’d now have to applaud them for historical accuracy.

This is a bit of a family mystery about my tight lipped deceased grandfather’s service in WW2. Edward Goldfine was an officer (a “90 day wonder”) serving as a MP, who never divulged the reason for his voyages. He was apparently the only person serving in the army on board.

Conjecture has ranged from carrying secret orders or diplomatic communications too important to risk by wireless with possibly broken cyphers, to guarding prisoners.

I have minimal information — no numbers from enlistment or discharge (destroyed in the 1973 personnel records files), nor ship names. He never spoke about it.

I’d be happy to hear any pointers on the kinds of operations he might have been carrying out, and ideas on where I could possibly research to get more specific information.

Arguably there is the matter of oceanic separation, but this is also true of Tasmania, an island the size of Ireland. Why did New Zealand and Fiji decline, whereas Tasmania opted to join?

See his signature in his wiki page for an example. In general he seems to sometimes replace a terminal s with a z but not always. See first result for james k polk handwriting. I can't find any source that explains the behavior as some sort of normal cursive standard of the time.

Is it related with the bureaucracy on the election of the new emperor? (election made by the princes and recognition by the pope)

I recently had a friend recommend Edward E. Baptist's "The Half Has Never Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of Making of American Capitalism" after expressing interest in reading more about the history of American slavery and its influence on the economic development of the United States. However, when searching for reviews of the book, it appears that Baptist's central thesis, that the institution of slavery drove the development American capitalism and economic expansion, is fairly controversial, especially amongst economists.

How historically accurate is Baptist's "The Half Has Never Been Told"? Is the relationship that Baptist draws between slavery and rise of American capitalism valid?

Hello! A couple friends of mine wanted me to run an alt-history game taking place in Chicago in the 30s. I know I want organized crime involved, so I want to have a good understanding of organized crime, its causes, its major events, its major characters, etc. Any good book suggestions?

When Abdulhamid was forced to reinstate the constitution, every ethnic group in the empire was celebrating this as a day of liberty and salvation. Shouldn’t this event be significant in many ex-Ottoman country’s nation building?

I guess I can think of several reasons, those who carried out the revolution, the Committee of Union and Progress, later turned into ultra-nationalists and perpetrated genocidal policies in WWI, and the later Turkish Republic wished to distance themselves from the CUP. Is there anything else to it?

Would the invasion of Poland have been delayed significantly? What was the plan if the Soviet Union has reacted militarily?

I am sorry if this question has been answered before but I am genuinely curious. It looks like the U.S. didn't really have a dog in the fight on top of having a large German population. What made them go from fighting the British 100 years earlier to joining their side?

I'm interested in the planning, invasion and retreat of the Grande Armee from Russia. Does anyone have a suggested read on the topic?

Thanks!

It feels like a more recent change, but America First policies and slogans date back to Woodrow Wilson and World War I. This phrase has a different impact during wartime, but was it a feeing shared by “the Christian majority” at the time?

I ask this question because I’m curious how we got to where we are now. I hope this isn’t against the rules as it undoubtedly holds reference to modern politics and a specific political party repeatedly attempting to ignore a separation of church and state. But my question isn’t meant to sow political responses, but a genuine question about how we got from “Point A” to “Point B.”

The teachings of the Bible that were emphasized to me (as an outsider, I was raised Jewish) are similar to most other religions in that there is an emphasis on morality that can be boiled down to some interpretation of “The Golden Rule.” That is, treat others as you would like them to treat you.

The modern association that Christianity has in popular culture is one of isolationism. People who are portrayed as fervently religious are often depicted as having views that espouse isolationism: an opposition to immigration, religious freedoms only applied to their own religion, social welfare programs seen as laziness.

Are there identifiable moments that can be seen as mile markers along this journey? Is it just a slow drift? Has this always been true and we’re just amplifying the voices of specific sects?

Hi, I’m looking for recommendations for books (or any other content) that cover what life was like during and after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (say 400 to 700 CE). Anyone have good recommendations for this time period?

I’m looking to write a story set in 1623 in a rural town in England, and as I don’t know much about the period need to do quite a bit of research. Does anyone know anywhere I can find more information, or know of any good books to read, which may start to give me an idea of the way people (across all classes) lived out their daily lives in this time? Anything which covers any aspect about daily life - from what people’s houses looked like and their amenities, to what they ate, to popular occupations and roles of men/women - would be really helpful.

I just realized something while thinking deeply. History, is pretty much a collection of stories.

Does history includes events that is fictional as well? To be honest, I'm not sure myself on that one. It's a question that came to me.

The phrase, "those who don't learn from history, are doomed to repeat it", did someone experienced this? If yes, then how many times did it happen?

Why do people keep history? What I meant by this is, is there more reasons that I'm not seeing or thinking very well? I'm not that smart. One of those reasons is, or the simpler version, is to know what not to do in certain situations. To not forget about them, preserving knowledge from the past. Is there more to it?

Seems kind of an odd thing to think about, but where did the Dutch get the engineers for this job? Were they military engineers, or civilians? Did they import expertise from abroad, or self-sufficient when it came to canal-building?