texts: Why did Coloman of Slavonia leave Sajó bridge weakly defended against the Mongols?

texts:
During the beginning hours of the Battle of Mohi, Coloman of Slavonia was able to repulse the Mongol attempt to secure the bridge for their safe crossing over the river.

But within two hours after that, the Duke returned to Hungarian encampment after leaving a small force to defend the bridge.

It was clear that Mongols were invading and the bridge was crucial for their plans. It doesn't make sense to me as to why would a seasoned commander like Coloman leave the bridge weakly held.

The bridge was narrow enough (It took the Mongols 4 hours to cross with their army even when they were unopposed after retreat of the small Hungarian guard detachment). Any good military commander would have seen the opportunity to make the Mongols bleed right there like the Scots did with the English at Battle of Stirling Bridge.

So why would an undoubted excellent commander like Duke Coloman just pack his stuff and leave to celebrate victory? I know there were still some doubts about Mongol intentions among the Magyar but I still can't see why Coloman was so oblivious to the danger and the opportunity.


texts:
I know this person was a family member.  I have family on this side who served in the Civil War as well as WWI and WWII.  I identified the hat pin as Infantry, 8th Regiment, Company B.  Also, I think it is after the Civil War because of the crossed rifles on the hat plus the quality of the photo.
I would like to know the approximate year this uniform was worn and the type of medals pinned to his uniform.  It will help me identify the person.
Thank you for any help you can provide!


texts: Why did nationalism in all of Europe surge in the 19th century?

texts:
Nationalism in all parts of Europe surged in the 19th century, the centuries old multinational states of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary broke apart and by the end of the century this jingoism culminated in World War I.

How come?

As always in history it's multiple causes acting simultaneously and causes leading to other causes. I want to know how and why nationalism rose everywhere.

Can it be claimed that it started with the Greek war for independence and that the effect and success of creating a small nation-state for the first time (Kingdom of Greece) fueled the others in their nationalism? And did this originate from a "fault" on the Ottoman side?


texts: Why did the Russians lose to the Turks in 1711 after defeating them in 1700 and the Swedes in 1709?

texts:
The Russians captured Azov and Taganrog in a war with Turkey that ended in 1700. Then they decimated the Swedish army at Poltava in 1709, thereby crippling their main enemy, and freeing the bulk of their forces for action against any enemy, including Turkey.

The Russians were "on a roll" by 1710. How and why would they lose Azov and Taganrog to Turkey so soon after winning such victories? Or did these victories make them overconfident?

Conversely, if the Turks won, it didn't seem to have done Sweden or its King, Charles XII, any good (given the ending of that war), even though they were allies of Turkey. Why is that?


texts: How did Native Americans defend militarily?

texts: I've seen Native Americans as great warriors who charged armies and raided settlements but I haven't heard much about their defensive capabilities. When they were attacked, did they have set up any stationary defenses (i.e. palisades)? Did they make use of any other inherent advantage of defense?


texts: What did "Publius" refer to in the Federalist Papers?

texts:
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay wrote The Federalist Papers under the pseudonym "Publius".

In college I had heard that Publius referred to one of the founders of the Roman Republic but that thinking seems to have fallen out of favor. Is there consensus on what Publius, as far the Federalist Papers goes, refers to?


texts: Could the U.S. have used "Lend Lease" to force Germany onto the horns of a dilemma?

texts:
During the fall of 1941 (but before December), the United States waged a "war short of war" against Nazi Germany's submarines using escort vessels, the Reuben James, the (James) Greer, and the Kearny that was operating in "waters necessary to the defense of the United States," that is, all the way out to Iceland (according to President Roosevelt's definition). They were protecting convoys of British and Canadian transport ships.

The Lend Lease Act of 1941 gave Roosevelt the right to lend or lease military equipment "vital to the defense of the United States."

Could America have taken this to its logical conclusion and escorted British supply ships all the way to Britain, or even Russia, or better yet, shipped arms to them in American vessels? This would be to force the Germans to either "lay off" American ships, or else risk war with the United States by sinking them.


texts: How was the East German local bureaucracy consolidated after unification?

texts:
Related: How did Germany deal with the East German communist Government structure after unification?
The question I linked above has a great answer for the general picture, but I am more interested in tracking down how the process went in individual jurisdictions. This includes me finding references for questions like:

When senior officials got forced into retirement, how were their replacements picked?
For jurisdictions where established officials were left in charge, what was the reasoning to do so? How were they kept under check?
How were oligarch takeovers prevented, in case any ousted officials tried to organize as mobs like in St. Petersburg after the Soviet collapse?

To clarify after a comment, I am not trying to answer those under this post so much as trying to find help on accessing references on transitions in local jurisdictions


texts: The Triple Alliance vs The Allied powers vs The Allies

texts:
England, Russia and France formed the Triple Entente .

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Turkey as a supporting country formed the Triple Alliance .

This is what my History book says in the First World War chapter. But wait, is Allies and the Allied powers the same thing as the Triple Alliance or are they the same thing as Triple Entente?

I think that both are the same as Triple Alliance(They seem to be inflections of the word "Alliance"). I am asking this question because in the same chapter, my book uses the words Allies and Allied powers(to describe a group of countries). I tried searching the web but i am getting confused.


texts: What sort of boat transported transport the French colonial Governors of New Orleans?

texts: I am writing a description of the changeover of the French colonial Governors of New Orleans in 1753, from Vaudreuil to Kerlérec. There is mention of a Governor's boat used to take important guests to and from Balize while the ocean going ships were delayed by the lightering necessary to cross the bar at the Passes to the Gulf. I am wondering what sort of boat this could have been and whether it might have been part galley rowed by slaves or soldiers. Most grateful for ideas on this.


texts: I am trying to identify both the place and the type of plane in this photograph. My father is inthe centre middle row (William Bone), who as far as I know stayed around Leeds during the war - I assumed that this photo was taken at Avro, Leeds but am not sure, and i haven't been able to track down any records for the factory there. However, i would be intereted to know what type of plane they are stood in front of.


texts: Why did the grip-centered viking shield fall out of use relative to the kite shields?

texts:
Did Normans have battle advantage with strapped kite shields over Saxons and Vikings with their grip-centered shield style of fighting?

What often comes to my mind are battles like Hastings (1066). It seems to me that grip-centered round shields were designed especially for single-combat. So do you think the reason Normans(and later whole Europe) began using the strapped kite shields was due to the fact that single-combat wasn’t as popular in their culture anymore? Were kite shields superior to the center-grip round shield when used in mass-combat? What do you think?


texts: Do photos of Wernher von Braun and Neil Armstrong exist? Have they ever met?

texts:
A quick google search for the term "Korolev and Gagarin" reveals many photos of the two together - surprisingly, as Korolev's identity was kept strictly secret up to his death.

When searching for "von Braun and Neil Armstrong" and many other related search terms, one will not find any pictures of the two together.

Do any exist? Where can I find them? And did the two ever meet at all?


texts: Who started the first official spy agency in the world?  By spy agency, I mean a dedicated team under the control of a ruler, who specialize in intelligence gathering and counter espionage.  Something similar to the French Secret or the Shinobi or MI6.


texts: Were death rates greater than birth rates in premodern urban populations?

texts:
In the book by Peter Turchin, War and Peace and War. The rise and fall of empires, on page 151, I found the following sentence:

  Until modern times, death rates of urban populations always outweighed their birth
  rates

This is said as a well-established fact, with no comments and no references.
This sounds very surprising to me, and I wonder, even if true, how could this be
determined.

Can someone shed any light on this?


texts: Why did animation become so huge in Japan compared to other countries?

texts:
I'd like a general explanation of the historical/cultural reasons that have made anime in Japan so big.

There's clearly disproportion between the Japanese population (I doubt that at any moment since they started making anime they were more than 2% of world population) and the rest of the world's in the production of animation. For example,some sources estimate that currently they are around the 60% of cartoons, as shown here for example. That's more than 20 times what they should produce if production were more and less shared among all world population.

What are the reasons animation has ended up being such a big phenomenon in Japan?

Not sure if this goes here or in anime.stackexchange.com, but as I'm asking about the historical/cultural reasons, I think it fits better here.


texts: When was Silver ever more valuable than Gold?

texts:
These days we pretty much take it as a given that gold is more valuable than silver. The obvious example is the Olympics and other such competitions that give "gold" medals for first place and "silver" for second.

When I was younger I read somewhere that silver was actually rarer than gold in Europe, up until the Spanish started exploiting the New World silver mines, and the massive infusion of silver into Europe devalued it.

I haven't ever seen that stated since, so I doubt its true. However, I did find a reference that silver was in fact rarer in Egypt during the Old Kingdom.

So it seems there probably were extended periods in literate areas where silver was more valuable than gold. What (and when and where) were they?


texts: Were the living standards in Medieval Europe a lot worse than in the Muslim world?

texts:
This comment, tells us that during the dark age, the living conditions in Muslim world were considerably better than that of medieval Europe.

Even it this was true for the people at the top, was it true for the "average" person?


texts: Tocqueville and the phrase "The great experiment"

texts:
The line "The great experiment" has become famous for being used by Tocqueville for describing the birth of modern democracy in America. It is supposed to be in the last paragraph of the first chapter of his book Democracy in America.

However, french versions do not have this line and modern american versions do not have it as well. Does someone know an edition of this book that actually contains this phrase?


texts:
How did Titus die?  Do we have any historical sources that are less fanciful than the Babylonian Talmud, quoted below?   Are there any other records of his symptoms prior to death?

  According to the Babylonian Talmud (Gittin 56b), an insect flew into
  Titus's nose and picked at his brain for seven years. He noticed that
  the sound of a blacksmith hammering caused the ensuing pain to abate,
  so he paid for blacksmiths to hammer near him; however, the effect
  wore off and the insect resumed its gnawing. When he died, they opened
  his skull and found the insect had grown to the size of a bird. The
  Talmud gives this as the cause of his death and interprets it as
  divine retribution for his wicked actions.

From: Titus (Wikipedia)


texts: Does the rule of tincture apply within a variation of the field?

texts:
I've been trying to come to a clearer/more precise understanding of the rules of heraldry and the resources I've been looking to for information have been vague on a few specifics of the rule of tincture (i.e. avoiding metal on metal / colour on colour). From what I've found, said rule:

Does not apply between divisions of the field (ex. Quarterly Azure and Gules is fine)
Does not apply to furs
Does not apply to charges that lie partially atop more than one division of a divided field
Does not apply to charges depicted proper

However, I haven't been able to find something definitive stating for certain whether the rule of tincture applies to variations of the field (wherein said variations consist of tinctures rather than something depicted proper). For example, would 'Barry of eight Sable and Gules' be in violation of the rule of tincture, or is this another situation that is excepted from it? Some sources I've looked at have considered some patterns to be both variations of and divisions of the field, such as gyrony, further confusing the issue.

Additionally and regardless of how the tinctures comprising a variation of the field are considered under said rule, is the rule of tincture considered to apply to charges overlaying a variation of the field, or not?

I'm aware that there are certainly existing examples of arms that don't follow the rule of tincture (and am unsure as to what extent the prevalence of said rule extends across different European heraldic traditions), but would still like to have a more precise knowledge of its extent in certain cases such as this.


texts: Border crossings between USSR and Afghanistan in the 1960s

texts:
For a (fictional, but set in the real world) story set in 1962, I need to get my protagonists from the USSR into Afghanistan. I've done some research and found no reliable information about the historical status of todays border crossings. In the west, near Aqina the border crossing was officially opened in 2007 - did it not exist before or was it closed for some time? What was its status in 1962? In the middle, at Hairatan, the bridge was built for the Soviet invasion in 1979. What was there in 1962? To the east, the Tadschikistan border is described a "porous", but roads are sparse and typically run along the border, not over it. Many of them are fairly recent and probably didn't exist in the 60s.

I've exhausted my sources and hope for an answer or pointers to other sources.

So how to cross over from the Soviet Union into Afghanistan in 1962? It would be best if there were at least two options that my protagonists could discuss.

(additional information: For reasons, taking the plane is not an option)


texts: In the 1930s, the zeppelins LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin and LZ 129 Hindenburg made frequent transatlantic voyages. They had a top speed of around 85 mph, but I doubt they could manage that throughout the flight, especially with wind and storms. This leads to the interesting question of how long were the passengers stuck on a balloon with nothing but the vast expanse of sea underneath to look at?


texts: What did men wear at night in the Middle Ages in Europe?

texts:
The question:
I'd like to know how did people, especially males, used to dress while sleeping in the Middle Ages in Europe.
I suppose the nightwear changes both according to the exact time period and to where in Europe (mostly because of the different climate, but culture might be another factor).

Why I'm wondering about this:
I know something about day dresses because of medieval fairs but at night I can only imagine tunics and maybe some form of underwear? I got told underwear did not exist at the time but I'm not sure Christianity would have allowed people to sleep together with nothing under the tunic.
Were night trousers, such as in modern pajamas, a thing?

A note if too broad:
If differences are really great, the tendencies for the middle-upper class (not poor, not noble) around the end of the Middle Ages period in Christian central and northwestern Europe (Germany, France, England) interest me more.


texts: Why did the USA stay out of the League of Nations?

texts: Woodrow Wilson, who was President of the USA at the time of the League's creation, was the person who pushed for the inclusion of the League in the Treaty of Versailles in the first place. Why is it that he never managed to convince the American people, and the Senate, to have the USA join the League?


texts: How frequently were homing pigeons used in the World Wars?

texts:
It seems that the strategic weight of specially bred pigeons is much higher than I thought at first, based on the number of pigeons used and the effort to stop them. (In WW2 Germans even trained falcons to hunt pigeons, so there was a whole side-battlefield of birds). Wikipedia mentions the pigeons often, but doesn't really show a lot of details or links. I thought they were mainly used by secret services, but the French troops even used mobile pigeon coops.

So my question is, how often were pigeons used in WW1&2? The Germans seem to have learned from WW1 and trained falcons. I would be interested in knowing what kind of information (situation reports from the front, secret agent reports, are there some photos/protocols) was carried by pigeons and on what time scales this was done (hours, days). What average distance did these pigeons have to fly?


texts: Where does Akbar the Great's "Great" come from?

texts:
According to Wikipedia:

  Akbar was accorded the epithet "the Great" due to his many accomplishments, among which was his record of unbeaten military campaigns that both established and consolidated Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent.

The cited reference for this claim is Domesticity and Power in the Early Mughal World by Lal, Ruby (2005). However, all that the linked Google Books excerpt states is:

  Mughal histories speak of Akbar the Great and his many accomplishments.

The above sentence is unfortunately unclear and ambiguous.

I would like to know:

When was he accorded his epithet? Did it happen during his lifetime?
What was the actual epithet in Persian?


texts: What name is taken if a man marries into a noble house?

texts:
In regards to marrying into noble houses, if a noble man marries a noble woman from a different house, I would assume one of two things happens:
1. The woman takes the man's name and the two houses become allied to one another.
2. They make their own name and marshall the coat of arms.
If this is incorrect, please do correct me by all means.

But say a common man marries a woman of a noble house. Does he take their name? Does she take his name but he is of her house? Or, assuming the noble woman is the heir, does she take his name and the name of the house changes also?

I would point out I am speaking in general for fantasy purposes (and yes, I know I can technically say what I want because I'm making it up, but I'd like to have strong basis in fact), so I understand that this exact situation may in fact never have actually occurred; but even so, I'm supposing there'd be a set precedent in case.

EDIT: As it's fantasy it isn't strictly European but drawing from pretty much anywhere with a similar social structure. Information from any European country or elsewhere (Russia, for instance, but anywhere) would make me very grateful, especially if the area could be mentioned in the answer.
Also, let me stress, this isn't like a plot point or anything, I'm just curious but as I'm thinking about it in terms of personal fantasy fiction it doesn't have to have a real-world example of it happening to satisfy me. I realise it's an unlikely thing to happen but the point is it is possible.


texts: What was a "Teuctli" in Mesoamerican history? I do not know how to spell it. I know that was some kind of leader.


texts: In the pre-Antebellum particularly during the 1850's did slaves and free blacks have rights? Or even citizenship perhaps?


texts: Battle of Queenston Heights, 13 Oct 1812: 23 American soldiers held as British deserters

texts:
The Battle of Queenston Heights was a British victory. Of the captured American soldiers it was determined that 23 were former British soldiers who were charged as deserters.

Is there a reliable list of their names? Were other captured Americans accused of being deserters?


texts: Why no Holy Roman Emperor ever accepted a name, coinciding with a name of a Roman Emperor?

texts:
For instance, no Holy Roman Emperor was named Constantine, or Alexander etc. On the other hand, many Byzantine emperors had names of previous Roman emperors (Constantine, Theodosios, Tiberios, Justinian, Anastasios, etc).
There are some Holy Roman Emperors with Latin-derived names, such as Maximilian, but the Roman emperors had different names, even if similar, such as Maximinus, Maximus, Maximianus.
Many Latin names are or were popular in Germany, such as Marcus, Martin, Justin and Julius. But it seems the Emperors avoided them. Some Holy Roman Emperors had name Otto, which is similar to Otho, but still different.
At the same time, many Popes took names, coinciding with those of Roman Emperors.
For comparison, just a list of grand princes of Rus that had names, coinciding with names of Roman or Byzantine emperors (up to spelling and adaptation): Konstantin, Mikhail, Alexander, Vasily, Ioann, Feodor, Alexis, Peter. Some of them repeat many times.


texts: What developments in Jefferson's life caused him to withdraw from the topic of slavery in political discourse?

texts:
Where Jefferson once saw slavery as the central flaw in Virginia, a sentiment he forcibly expressed in his Notes on the State of Virginia, he later “began to adjust his thinking to concentrate instead upon his conduct as the master of Monticello." What developments/factors in his life led to this change in attitude, and why did he change his position?

(Quote is from Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter Onuf's Most Blessed of the Patriarchs.


texts: In which modern-day location did the historical battles of Bagrevand happen?

texts:
Wikipedia names at least two "battles of Bagrevand",

In 371 between Persia and allied Roman-Armenian forces
In 775 between the Abbasid Caliphate and rebelling Armenian princes

both occuring in the "plains of Bagrevand", but it did not name the modern day location of these battles. "Bagrevand" itself has a Wikipedia entry, but it is only described as "a region of the old kingdom Greater Armenia" without mentioning any specific location. Where approximately is the historical plains of Bagrevand?


texts: What happened to priests in Germany during the Protestant Reformation and the wars of religion?

texts:
I'm curious to know what happened to them as Protestantism spread.

I've researched a little in the Catholicism in Germany Wikipedia page's section on the Reformation. (Couldn't find anything there.) I got curious because I have some vague idea about what happened in England, but little idea about the protestant (and protestant ruled) parts of Germany.


texts: In World War 1, because war broke out between the triple entente and the central powers (and they happened to have a lot of foreign colonies),  the allies made posters to recruit soldiers from all over the world to fight in the trenches. This would include both Africa and India, I have found US propaganda posters and Canadian ones, but I was wondering where to find Indian propaganda posters.  Surely there must be some on the web?


texts: Did any "tanks in front" tactic exist during WW2?

texts:
I am searching for a tactic that would be in service in the British and/or French army during WW2. It would consist in placing the tank on forward position of other elements, especially in front of artillery position and fixed anti-tank position.

I know there was at the time the idea, in Allied forces, to use tanks as small groups alongside infantry. Still, this did not oblige them to put them so close to the ennemy: they could be there to help infantry in its counterattack (like during WW1).

Two examples for this tactic:

During the battle of Hattun, the French tank division was in front of Belgian's antitank position (mainly guns and mines). The fight with German panzerdivision resulted in heavy losses on both sides, but apparently French had the possibility at the end of the fight to fall back behind Belgian positions. Not sure if it was an advantage or not.
During operation "Battleaxe", British tanks always acted as spearheads, during assault as well as during the night: they were guarding the line. This resulted in heavy losses at the beginnin of the operation, and later British infantry and artillery were pushed back by German weapon cooperation.


texts: Did anybody expect that Edward VIII would abdicate?

texts:
King Edward VIII abdicated in December of 1936, less than a year after he ascended in January, to marry divorcee (and still-married) Wallis Simpson.
But before his ascension (i.e. during the reign of his father King George V), was it widely expected he was going to force a marriage to Simpson? I understand that the abdication was unusual and a surprise, but was it even conceived of, before it came to a head?
From Wikipedia:

By October, it was rumoured in high society and abroad that Edward intended to marry Simpson as soon as she was free to do so

In other words, when did it become an inevitability?


texts: Was Mansa Musa's gold as serious an inflationary problem in Mamluk Egypt as is portrayed, and, if so, how did the Mamluks recover from it?

texts:
There are numerous sources claiming that Mansa Musa, King of Mali, was one of the richest people alive (#1, #2). Essentially, these claim that Musa was one of the richest people in the history of the world, and that the gold he took on his journeys caused significant inflation in Egypt:

Mansa Musa wasn't stingy about his wealth, either. He would frequently bestow gifts upon dignitaries he met with. On his stop in Cairo, he spent so much gold to the poor that he caused mass inflation.

#1

Musa is known to have visited the Mamluk sultan of Egypt, Al-Nasir Muhammad, in July 1324. Despite his nature of giving, Musa's massive spending and generous donations created a massive ten year gold recession. In the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca, the sudden influx of gold devalued the metal significantly. Prices of goods and wares became greatly inflated.

#2
A previous question on SE also exists which relates to Mali in general (but not to this topic in specific), which further referenced a Time article that is no longer available on the same link. I found a BBC article with more or less similar info:

Mansa Musa left such a memorable impression on Cairo that al-Umari, who visited the city 12 years after the Malian king, recounted how highly the people of Cairo were speaking of him.
So lavishly did he hand out gold in Cairo that his three-month stay caused the price of gold to plummet in the region for 10 years, wrecking the economy.
US-based technology company SmartAsset.com estimates that due to the depreciation of gold, Mansa Musa's pilgrimage led to about $1.5bn (£1.1bn) of economic losses across the Middle East.

History.com seems to outdo the others with reference to detail:

From the markets of Cairo to royal offices to the impoverished people that crossed his path in Egypt, Musa’s generosity and purchase of foreign goods left the streets littered with gold—a resource that was greatly appreciated and in short supply. The people were thrilled—at least at first. Though well-intentioned, Musa’s gifts of gold actually depreciated the value of the metal in Egypt, and the economy took a major hit. It took 12 years for the community to recover.

However, a look at the Medieval Egypt related Wikipedia entries suggests that the origin of the problems was not as easily determined -- or, at least, does not highlight the Malian king as the clear source of these issues (was the Mamluk economy undergoing difficulties even without the Malian king's entry into Cairo?). That said, Wikipedia also doesn't describe the contention between al-Nasir Muhammad and Musa in nearly as much detail as the History.com article above did so perhaps it's light on detail. The mention, on Wiki's al-Nasir entry reads simply (#3):

Though the economy of Egypt flourished during the third reign of an-Nasir, there were financial problems and a rise in prices caused by the circulation of underweight and alloyed coins. An-Nasir minted a few thousands new coins to replace the spurious coins.

So, in light of this, I would like to ask whether the gold that was brought in by Mansa Musa really was the ultimate cause of Egypt's problems -- as most easily accessible reference documents seem to suggest -- and, further, what solutions did the Mamluk government employ to try and rectify the situation? Information on methods that they tried to employ but which did not succeed would be highly useful as well.
I should note that why I am trying to look into this is because Mansa Musa's case seems to be one of the earlier documented cases of (hyper)inflation.


texts:
Note: maybe this should be on the law stack exchange, I really am not sure!

In 1930, Al Capone made the cover of Time Magazine. Assuming this image was taken by Time Magazine, they would have had to call in Al Capone, have him sit for a headshot, and let him leave. Wouldn't this be considered aiding and abetting a criminal in that they knew who he was but didn't try in any way to stop him or arrest him? I asked a teacher about it and he said laws were different back then- but were they so different that aiding a criminal wasn't illegal? If it was illegal, why didn't the federal government do anything?

Note #2: if this should be broken up into more than one question, also, please let me know! Thank you!


texts: Is the Loi Lamine Gueye- law n ° 46-940 of May 7, 1946 enacted by the French Parliament active even today?

texts: How many countries(former French colonies) have annulled this? And, has this been annulled by France as well after the dissolution of French Union?


texts: How did Roman armies survive in the desert?

texts:
I'm writing a novel set in the third century. A general is marching his army through the middle of the Syrian Desert. How did Roman armies with tens of thousands of soldiers survive in the arid wasteland. How did they get food and water?

I've tried to research on this specific topic, but I couldn't find much, only anecdotes about Antony, Crassus, or Trajan. But nothing about how they specifically survived in the desert, only that it was hard and that they somehow got through it.


texts: What was the most important cause of the Second World War? Obviously there was the Treaty of Versailles which played a significant part; the War Guilt Clause, Reparations, Disarmament and territorial clauses, etc. But, what about Hitler's actions? The failure of appeasement and the failure of the League of Nations?


texts: What exactly were currours, and what were they used for?

texts:
In researching this question on Medieval light cavalry, I came across this reference to "currours" in Wikipedia, with no link:

  Many countries developed their own styles of light cavalry, such as
  Hungarian mounted archers, Spanish jinetes, Italian and German mounted
  crossbowmen and English currours.

(emphasis mine)

The only other decent references I could dig up were some uncited opinions on this miniatures message board that they were used on the scottish border, and some speculation based on the etymology of the name.

There's also this dictionary entry, which implies the word may also have been used for forrest rangers.

So what exactly were the English light cavalry currours, and how were they employed?


texts: What was El Greco's relationship with the Spanish Inquisition?

texts:
2007's biopic El Greco claims the painter was put on trial by the Spanish Inquisition, more specifically Grand Inquisitor Fernando Niño de Guevara, for blasphemy. The film is a heavily fictionalized version of the painter's life and doesn't necessarily claim historical accuracy. Nevertheless the tribunal (and acquittal) is the film's major plot element and since it was largely successful (in Greece and Spain), the painter's struggles with the Inquisition are sometimes quoted as fact.

This, however, is quite hard to believe. El Greco would occasionally be invited to tribunals as an interpreter for Greek speaking defendants, and the Grand Inquisitor is most probably the subject of the painter's Portrait of a Cardinal. His relationship with the Inquisition seems to have been generally amicable, and it would have been highly unlikely he could continue producing works with religious themes if he had any kind of troubles with the Catholic Church.

Is there any record of El Greco ever having troubles with the Inquisition during his time in Toledo?


texts: Why didn't Asian teams participate in the 1950 World Cup?

texts:
The Fourth World Cup was held in Brazil in 1950. It has the distinction of being the first World Cup held after a 12-year hiatus for World War II.

It also has the distinction of being the only World Cup India ever qualified for, due to all the other teams in their region dropping out during qualification. However, India also ended up having to drop out after qualification, and never played a game.

Why did so many teams from one region drop out? Was it a financial issue? Were they protesting something?


texts:
This question continues from Literacy in the classical world

It seems that literacy rates for populations prior to mass education becoming prevalent were estimated to be 20% or lower. However, it can clearly be observed (when learning new languages) that literacy (as defined as being able to read and write in a given language's script) is often far easier than fluency.

For example, the Hangeul script was derided by Chinese-educated Korean scholars as being trivially easy to learn, being designed for ease of study. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangul#Other_names It was given names such as "script you can learn in a day" . Despite this, censuses taken during and after the Japanese colonialisation era showed that prior to aggressive governmental efforts to push literacy by implementing mass education, literacy rates were extremely low. http://fightforjustice.info/?page_id=3174&lang=en

  The percentage of South Koreans unable to read decreased sharply from 77.8% in 1945 to 41.3% in 1948, down to and 13.9% in 1954.

Similar arguments can probably be made for European alphabet-based scripts such as Latin, Greek and Cyrillic, which were not significantly harder to read and write than Hangeul (which was only easy to achieve literacy compared to Chinese)

Since we can assume that people living in communities would need to be fluent in a common spoken language to communicate with each other, the fluency rate would then be very high. Why then, was literacy so low prior to the advent of mass education, when literacy was clearly highly beneficial? Were there any artificial barriers to entry that caused this low literacy rate?


texts: What is the oldest known board game for 3+ people?

texts:
What is the oldest board game for 3 or more people? The oldest one I'm aware of is Halma from 1883 or 1884. Interestingly, Chinese Checkers was supposedly derived from it a few years later, even though that game came from Germany, not China.

Anyway, 1880's is pretty modern. I'm hoping there's some much older, maybe even ancient, board game for 3 or more people.

For it to be a board game, it has to involve a board space in which pieces are placed or moved around. So no card games, and no dice games like yatzee.


texts: What is the reason that not all roman emperors named a month after them?

texts:
As far as I know, Julius Caesar and Augustus named the fifth and the sixth months, respectively, after themselves, but why didn't Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero do the same while there were enough unnamed months left?

Was there a change in thinking or were Caesar and Augustus just really more "self-aware"?


texts:
Industrial strife has often been cited as a major reason for weakness in the British economy during the 1970s. For much of the 1970s, UK politics appeared to be a battle between the government and the unions. In 1979, Margaret Thatcher was elected to power. She won the battle against the trade unions.

What were the factors that aided Margaret Thatcher in her victory against the trade unions when her predecessors failed?


texts: Have large human bones been used as measuring instruments?

texts:
Have any of the six types of large bones from the arms1 or legs2 of human beings ever been used (to a significant or considerable extent), in ancient or prehistoric times, as measuring instruments for estimating lengths or distances ?

1 The humerus (upper arm), the ulna and the radius (forearm).

2 The femur (upper leg), the tibia and the fibula (lower leg).


texts: Were there efforts made in the 19th century to inoculate the natives against smallpox?

texts:
I live in British Columbia and it is well known that, in the late 19th century, there was a massive crash of the native population.  Up to 90% in some particularly unfortunate areas (Haida Gwaii, for example).  A lot of this was due to smallpox.

I'm aware of the timeline of early Western medicine, around Pasteur and Koch, so I always assumed that, whatever the intentions were on the US, British and Canadian side, there wasn't much that they could have done about it, had they chosen to help.

However, on visiting Maui, I was extremely surprised to see that some of the missionaries there, around 1865, were trying to vaccinate the Hawaiians against smallpox.  Looking it up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox_vaccine, it turns out that smallpox was atypical as it was known, even with limitations of Western medicine at the time, that you could take steps to protect populations at risk.

Hawaii aside, when did large-scale effort start, in either the US or in Canada, past the 1850s or so, to inoculate native New Worlders using what was then known about smallpox vaccination?

Just to be clear, this is not a question about intentional contamination, such as blankets issued for that purpose.  Or even an episode such as www.macleans.ca.how-a-smallpox-epidemic-forged-modern-british-columbia/ , where it might (or not) have suited the authorities to have an epidemic.


texts: Initially, I understand the Macedonians had a Greek culture (Art, Religion, etc) because they were Greek. But then the Romans dominated the Macedonian Empire and adopted their culture too, and that fusion would give birth to what is known as Greco Roman Culture. But why did the Romans adopt their culture at all?


texts: I was just wondering if during WWII or any time during Hitler's tenure (1933-1945), did the Germans give any special consideration to Jewish veterans of the First World War? By special consideration I mean were they given any exceptions/pardons, and possibly not subjected to the savage brutality that was often the fate of other jewish Germans during that time. I have been searching for this question for a while, and any answers would be appreciated.


texts: Why did Helots fight alongside Spartans?

texts:
Unlike many slaves, the Helots were Greeks who outnumbered the Spartans who held mastery over them. They several times rebelled against the Spartan rulers, at last successfully.

Yet it seems that Helots in large numbers accompanied the Spartans' into battle. How was order maintained? Why didn't they turn on the Spartans in battle? I would also be interested in any references describing the Helots and the techniques Sparta used to control them.


texts: How did ancient armies keep the route of supplies to their battlefield?

texts: How did ancient armies like the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Chinese, or even in later times, the Arabs and Mongols keep the route of supplies going to support their armies marching through the vast areas they covered? Did they build supply centers in the places they conquered and use caravans to send the soldiers supplies from there? What did they do when they failed to conquer a city where they laid siege for years? What would happen if there was not any food sources nearby?


texts: Who would have used this c1890s canvas bag?

texts:
I have an OLD canvas bag measuring 14 x 11", opens to two pouches. It has a leather strap on the back that makes it look like it was possibly used as a backpack.

Printed on the front is "2 SEP.CO.   16".

Inside is stamped "Ridabock & Co., 141 Grand St., New York". There is a second stamp, most of which is too faded for me to read, but I can make out "Sep 1896".

I have researched this company and see that it was at that address (141 Grand) in the 1890s. (photo of an ad I found is included, which also states that the company are "Manufacturers of Military goods of every description, U.S. Army Officers Regulation Equipments a specialty", from march 1894 Army & Navy Journal).  The last mention I can find of Ridabock at that address is 1896.

I find references to "Sep. Co." as Army "Separate Company", but I can't really find anything in particular beyond that to explain who might have used this.

So I think this item probably dates to the time frame.  Can anyone speculate on  what this type of bag might have been used for, and by whom?


texts: How accurate is Russell on liberalism versus fanaticism in war?

texts:
After the second world war, reflecting on the rule of empiricism versus various kinds of dogmatism in political philosophy, Bertrand Russell writes (Philosophy and Politics, 1947; emphasis mine):

  It is commonly urged that, in a war between Liberals and fanatics, the fanatics are sure to win, owing to their more unshakable belief in the righteousness of their cause. This belief dies hard, although all history, including that of the last few years, is against it. Fanatics have failed, over and over again, because they have attempted the impossible, or because, even when what they aimed at was possible, they were too unscientific to adopt the right means; they have failed also because they roused hostility of those whom they wished to coerce. In every important war since 1700 the more democratic side has been victorious.

How accurate was Russell's assessment in 1947? Has its accuracy changed since? To my naive knowledge of history, it seems particularly wrong for revolutions (I am thinking Iran, and some of the more recent ones), is that the case?


texts: What are the red and white sectors of The Tower of Babel (Rotterdam)?

texts:
If you look at the finished lower levels, they are homogenous colored, but two small sectors, separated by another two sectors. Those different colored sectors are colored red and white.

Looking at the detail, it seems those are the sectors they use to move raw material to the section in construction.

What does this mean? Which are the materials the author is depicting?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_of_Babel_(Bruegel)


texts: What were the responses to Copernicus' heliocentric theory?

texts: Popular explanations often mention that the "Catholic Church" had a problem with Copernicus and his heliocentric theory, neglecting that even a scientific disagreement at that period would likely have occurred within the Catholic Church. What were the different responses based on different aspects of the theory? Some of the different viewpoints I seek include Catholic theology, Protestant theology, math, astronomy, and philosophy.


texts: Were Roman emperors in the first century AD shown as holding stars in their hands?

texts:
The New Testament Book of Revelation starts with an image of the exalted Jesus holding several stars in his hand.

I read in a commentary that there were coins at that time which showed Roman emperors holding several stars in their hand. According to the commentary, the stars signified the global reach of the Roman empire. If that was the case, the image in the Book of Revelation would have been a highly political statement.

Unfortunatly, I didn't find any images of such coins. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Stars_on_coins shows some coins where the Roman emperor is on one side, and a star on the other, but no coin like described above.

Did such coins or other similar images exist?


texts: What was the typical error with dead reckoning navigation?

texts:
Suppose we are trying to navigate with just a compass and lag (dead reckoning, plus some latitude measurements), like people did before they started using chronometers and lunar distances method. What typical error can we expect? Does anybody have examples of illustrations with actual and perceived tracks?

So far, I found an article "The Empirical Reconstruction of Columbus’ Navigational Log and Track of his 1492–1493 Discovery Voyage" of Colonel Peck that shows actual and perceived tracks in one of Columbus's voyages. (there is also one more map there)

Also, I found map in Steven Callahan book(sorry, legend is in Russian):


texts: How did the SAGE system send data to in flight assets for intercept tasks?

texts:
According to Wikipedia, the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment system could automatically update the autopilot of the F-106 and the guidance system of the CIM-10 Bomarc. Presumably this would send either a destination or a vector to the asset in flight, allowing it to intercept a target that had changed course after the asset had taken off.

How was this upload of data to the in flight asset performed? Were there any provisions to prevent a malicious enemy from sending messages that steered the asset off course?

It was most likely a radio frequency system, so I am specifically asking for details of the radio unit and the nature of the communications. For example, the designation of the ground based transmitter and the airborne receiver.

Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-Automatic_Ground_Environment


texts: Is there a citable reference of druids using curved swords?

texts:
Pliny writes of druids using sickles to cut mistletoe,

and there are curved swords (coined Falcata in the 19th century) from the pre-Roman Iberian peninsula.

Are there any references to druids actually using these curved swords? The timing and location seems plausible, but I've not found a direct reference other than those implied by games, like Dungeons & Dragons, where the druid character class (loosely based off of Celtic/Gallic historical druids) wield (rather anachronistically) scimitars

and khopesh swords,

in what appears to be an effort to associate them with a curved sword.

This may be unanswerable since

  "not one single artefact or image has been unearthed that can undoubtedly be connected with the ancient Druids." Hutton, Ronald (2009). Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britain. p. 23

I did find this, but I can't read Latin. It does however have the words, druid and machaera Hispana, the latter referred to in the article on the falcata.

Thanks to the helpful comment from @Comintern, the portion that mentions the curved sword comes back from google translate as

  The reason that he was angry because he allowed himself the knowledge of the means of the old fabu-
  1am and take away : * Do Thou, of course, are not the one . ' * We / I
  * Caesar, not to recognize me , for when this was done,
  I was a whole . Afterwards it belonged to me, the eye in the battle of Munda,
  5 , torn out , and at the head of some bones . Nor helmet if
  seem to recognize that . Spain is divided saber /
  He forbade her performances Caesar and business fields in which
  viripotens the cause of strife and lawsuits had been a soldier in his favor.

and the portion that mentions druids

  The Germans differ much from these usages, of safety. for
  20 they have neither Druids to preside over those who the things of God , nor

But there is no clear correlation between the two, nor is the translation clear enough to provide any insight.

I also found this

from the Deal Warrior find, but the sword is not curved, nor does it have the characteristic hilt of the Iberian curved sword.


texts: Why was a gold standard not stipulated in the U.S. Constitution?

texts:
It is a known fact that some of the founding fathers wanted to limit the power of the federal government.

I have heard it said on the History Channel that one of the ways they did this was by implementing a gold standard.

Given the enormous effort placed into formulating the Constitution, why was the gold standard not a part of it?


texts: What is the title of the Magritte painting that shows a horse-headed woman looking out of a stone window?

texts:
I hope this is a reasonable place to ask this question, at least until an art history StackExchange shows up.  My memory is hazy about this but I seem to remember a René Magritte painting that depicts a horse-headed woman, facing right, in front of a stone window or sill, with hills in the distance.  The overall painting might have had a blue or grey tint.  The painting is not "Pure Reason" (1948) or "The Fine Idea" (1964), both of which feature similar horse-headed ladies, but no sill.

For bonus points, I'd love to know more about that painting -- where it is currently, when was it painted, and what does it mean.


texts: During World War I, why were church bells stopped until the war was over?

texts:
I was watching a movie yesterday called War Horse. In this movie they mentioned that when England joined World War I, the church bells stopped tolling until the war ended. Then, the bells started ringing again.
What was the reason for that?

Source:

  'War Horse': It's hard to care about animals while you're waiting for the sound of church bells.


texts: In the 1920's, why did the German government fire working women if their husband was employed?

texts:
To cite this german speaking site:

  Hatte eine Frau trotz der wenigen Stellen einmal eine Anstellung erhalten, war ihr diese nicht auf Dauer sicher. So gab es zum Beispiel aufgrund der schlechten wirtschaftlichen Lage und der damit verbundenen Arbeitslosigkeit seitens der Politik eine Kampagne gegen Doppelverdiener. Frauen drohte die Entlassung, wenn ihr Mann berufstätig war.

Which means roughly translated:

  If a women had - despite the little amount of jobs - got  a job, the employment wasn't secure. Because of the poor economic situation and the hence high number of unemployment the government had started an campaign against double earner. Women risked to be fired if her husband were employed.

That doesn't make sense to me. The industry in that time was, because of the war in a high demand for workers. Women were able to fill that gap, but were according to the quote fired if their husband was already employed. I guess that resulted in a big damage for the industry in that time, because they had even fewer workers.

Therefore my question: why tried the government in the 20s to fire working women if their husband was employed?

EDIT: regarding the location: The site unfortunately doesn't explicitly says that its content only relates to germany. The only given hint is one section talking about the everyday life of berlin:

  [...]Wer um 1920 zum ersten Mal nach Berlin kam, wurde von der ungewohnte Dichte und Hektik des Verkehrs geradezu überwältigt. [...]

Which translates to:

  [...] Persons visiting Berlin around 1920 the first time, were almost stunned of the density and  flurry of activity. [...]


texts: Is it true that Adolf Hitler foresaw a surrender on the Western front in the last week of April 1945?

texts:
David Irving's controversial book Hitler's War seems to imply that after his nervous breakdown during the battle of Berlin, Hitler realized that defeat was imminent and decided that surrendering in the West to save what was left of Germany from the Soviets was the right way to go about things.

Certain memoirs as well as the last chapter of Kershaw's book Hitler also seem to hint at him wanting someone else to negotiate a surrender with the USA after his death - possibly Goering at first, but after his expulsion the job fell on Doenitz. If that's true, it would also explain Doenitz's attempts to make a separate peace on the West as his first (albeit woefully short-lived) initiative in May.

On the other hand, Hitler was livid at hearing that Himmler had attempted to make peace with the Allies as late as the end of April, by when it should have been obvious that now was the time to surrender to avoid further bloodshed.

Is it possible to reconcile these possibilities?


texts: How did the Russian-American Company respond to employee desertion?

texts: The Russian-American Company (head office: St. Petersburg) monopolized transit and commerce with the Russian American colonies and outposts. Almost the only people carried on Company voyages were employees, a few of which deserted, or attempted to desert, in California. How did the Company respond to employee desertion?


texts:
The Wikipedia says the following about the death of Pocahantas:

  In March 1617, Rolfe and Pocahontas boarded a ship to return to
  Virginia; the ship had only sailed as far as Gravesend on the river
  Thames when Pocahontas became gravely ill. She was taken ashore and
  died in John Rolfe's arms at the age of twenty-two. It is not known
  what caused her death, but theories range from smallpox, pneumonia, or
  tuberculosis, to her having been poisoned.

It seems strange that she should die so suddenly at so young an age and at a critical juncture, no less. She died shortly after discovering that John Smith was alive. Is there any additional information that is more definitive about the way she died?


texts:
The Chabad/Lubavitch Jewish group have a tradition that this song originated as a military march played by Napoleon’s armies as they invaded Russia:

http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/media_cdo/aid/862529/jewish/26-Napoleons-March.htm

Is there any historical backing to this tradition?


texts: What are the problems archaeologists face in deciphering Indus Valley writing?

texts:
From this link on Indus Valley writing, I came to know that:

  The first Indian script, developed in the Indus Valley around 2600 B.C. is still undeciphered. Thus, it is still not possible to fully understand this civilization, as we have no readable records of their beliefs, history, rulers or literature.

That means until we can understand the writings, we cannot understand the culture properly. But many ancient languages have been deciphered to date.

So what are the reasons archaeologists have not been able to understand the writing of Indus Valley?


texts: How did Hitler imagine his succession? (for the case nazis would win the war)

texts:
I am not asking about any resolution he might have made in the feverish April of 1945.

Do we have any information how Hitler imagined the government of his Reich after he would have died from old age? Did he wish to appoint a specific successor? Produce an heir? Or would they transition to some form of rule other than one-person dictatorship?

Note: My question is not duplicate of this. It asks about who would have succeeded Hitler had he died before 1945, and Göring is definitely not the answer to my question, as he was only four years Hitlers junior.


texts:
The Igeler Säule is a Roman sandstone column dating back to 200-215 CE (h/t to @justCal) and together with the Drususstein (made in honour of Nero Claudius Drusus) according to Wikipedia

  the only funerary monuments north of the Alps dating from antiquity that remains in its original location.
  Heinz Cüppers: Die Römer in Rheinland-Pfalz., p. 463 via Wikipedia

The Dutch Cartographer Joan Blaeu made this in 1649

What is the ruined tower in the background of this 1649 drawing of the Igeler Säule by Joan Blaeu?

A closer look at the mystery object here(a crop from here):

I know the church on the left side is the Alte Kirche St. Dionysius by searching the internet and using google maps and earth. But I cannot find any information on the structure on the right side. Unfortunately Google maps streetview has no coverage there and does not give a name to the field with this structure inside it. Further searches for images and art don't show the remnants of the structure to the right side.

Another map identifies the area where the structure seems to have appeared in the drawing as the local cemetery:

update

I have emailed the people in Germany who work with the Igeler Säule, and while they could not definitely tell me a yes or no they did give me 3 sources to look at which will answer my question.

I have found and linked the first source as pdf but the other two books are not in my possession.

H. Dragendorff, E. Krüger, Das Grabmal von Igel, Trier 1924
J.Mersch, La colonne d‘Igel, Luxemburg 1985
N. Folmer, J.Krier u.a., Carte Archeologique de Grande-Duche de Luxembourg   Feuille19,Mertert-Wasserbillig, Luxemburg 1983.

  The second and third mentioned documentation will perhaps be helpful
  in this context.
  from the email


texts: Was Fascism capitalist or communist or as many say, was it a "third type" of ideology? I have searched wikipedia and other sources but due to different opinions, I am confused.


texts: Is there any idea of why Cao Cao's parents would give him a nearly identical name to the family name?

texts:
I've been doing a lot of reading up about the Three Kingdoms era of China, and Cao Cao stuck out to me as an interesting name. After some research I found that the words in Chinese are different, and there is a slight pronunciation difference. Cao Cao's given name (操) apparently roughly means "virtuous conduct"; although it looks as though the character could also be translated as Chinese slang for "f*ck," it can be assumed this wasn't the intention of his parents in ancient China, and the general consensus from that Wikipedia discussion confirms this. The other thing I gained from that discussion was that the family name Cao (曹) really has no meaning and stems from the state of Cao, but because the family background of Cao Cao's father is very hazy, the connection to the first prominent person to bear the name Cao (Cao Can) is iffy, but the two families are probably connected. The worrying thing from that Wikipedia discussion is the lack of citations, so I was hoping to affirm the points that were in there.

The other question I have is whether or not there was any recorded or reasonably theorized reason of why he would have been named Cao (操). The other part to this is whether or not anything addresses the similarity between his two names. I have absolutely no idea if there is a reasonable answer to the question, but I'm also just interested to hear theories based on whatever evidence we do have, preferably with more citations than on the Wikipedia discussion page.


texts: What was the persecuted group that was formally banned from leaving France?

texts:
I remember reading a long time ago about a marginalized group on the southern coast of France who was persecuted by the French government. This group for quite understandable reasons wanted to leave France but the French king at the time passed a law forbidding members of this group from leaving France because he didn't want them to be able to escape persecution. This always struck me as rather a rather chilling display of how petty humans could be, but when I tried looking further into this I have had trouble figuring out exactly which group this happened to.
I could have sworn this group was the Huguenots, but the Huguenots are a religious sect and I could have sworn the group was mentioned as a distinct socio-ethnic group with their own distinct traditions. I remember it was a mentioned that they weren't originally native to the area but settled the French shore from boats that landed on the southern shore of France, but I'm not sure if I'm misremembering things and the original source was talking about something else (this was several years ago).
The Wikipedia pages on the Huguenots are also not super clear. There is a mention of emigration being banned for Huguenots on the Wikipedia page for Huguenots, but it is not mentioned in much detail. The Wikipedia page for the Edict of Fontainebleau doesn't mention Huguenots being forbidden from leaving France at all. Looking up Huguenots more generally finds a lot of articles about successful Huguenot emigration to England, the Netherlands, and North America, but little to nothing about the Huguenots being forbidden to emigrate. For example, the Huguenot Society of America makes no mention of the Huguenots having been forbidden to leave France. As a result, I suspect the original anecdote was referring to the Huguenots but I am not sure.
Given this, what was the persecuted group that the King formally forbade from leaving France? Was it the Huguenots or was it a different group?


texts: What names did the ancient Egyptians give to different stages of their history?

texts:
The Egyptians, at least the most enlightened, had a relatively accurate idea of a large part of their past. It is striking to see how Manetho knew pharaohs from 2,500 years before his time when other peoples of the Antiquity needed only three or four centuries to pass from history to legend.

But I cannot find any quotes to illustrate the names the Egyptians gave to the different periods of their history. I remember that in the novel Sinuhe the Egyptian by Mika Waltari the people of the 18th Dynasty referred to the "age of the pyramids", which for them was almost a thousand years old in the past and which we know as the Old Kingdom. But that's just a novel and I don't know how authentic it is.

Did the Egyptians under the Ptolemies, or the Egyptians of the time of Ramesses II, have specific names for the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, etc. Or did they only remember the names of their pharaohs?


texts: Why weren't Germans acceptable as Roman Emperors?

texts:
Romans of various ethnicities ultimately rose to be Emperor, such as the Illyrians during the Crisis of the Third Century, of which a notable example is Aurelian. But as far as I know, no Germans did so, even when they were in a (military) position to do so, such as Ricimer. One could argue that the Eastern Emperor would have opposed this, but that is exactly my question: Why would he? What was wrong with a German Emperor, since there had previously been Illyrians and others?

My suspicion is culture. The Emperors of other ethnicities were heavily Romanized, the Germans less so. They were too 'foreign' to be Emperor.


texts:
A friend of a friend has just written that Washington, Lafayette and Jefferson all rode side saddle to ease the pain of their war injuries.  Before I proceed to dismantle this person with extreme prejudice, I wanted to double check.

I can't find any record that Washington was wounded during the Revolutionary war, and I'm very skeptical that Jefferson, who never fought, was wounded. (Perhaps he fell during his flight from Williamsburg?)

Is anyone aware of any record of any of the founding fathers riding sidesaddle for any reason?

Update with a couple of notes:

The FOAF didn't specify a time period. From the context of the comments it sounded like she was referring to the post-revolutionary period.  I'd be happy with evidence showing Washington (or the others) in a side saddle at any point in their lives, but I'd be happiest with the Revolutionary war period.
I'm aware that I have asked SE to prove a negative, and that I should eat some crow because I've criticized others for this in the past.  Is there any evidence that Washington was either wounded, or suffered from some other ailment (e.g. arthritis, back / hip problems) that might have required him to ride sidesaddle?  I'm aware that Washington was renown as a rider during the revolutionary war; are there contemporary accounts of his riding towards the end of his life?
I should eat more crow because I haven't documented my preliminary research. Some of it is in personal interviews with the historian of the International Side Saddle Organization.  I've also searched for any evidence that Washington was wounded during the Revolutionary war - I found no indication of any serious wounds during his career.  I see that Lafayette fought with a leg wound during the battle of Brandywine, but I haven't found any evidence that he rode sidesaddle.  (Jefferson has no military career other than cowardly flight, so I'm going to exclude the possibility of war injuries for Jefferson).
Riding sidesaddle doesn't necessarily imply an injury to the bum.  Sidesaddle can be a more comfortable seat as a result of back injuries.  I'm not an authority on the subject but I understand it can also be more comfortable for people who suffer from scoliosis, and for certain leg injuries.


texts: What disease did Augustus recover from in 23 BC?

texts:
I am currently reading John Williams' "Augustus", or, to be precise, the German translation. I know the book is mostly fiction but there is one thing I'd like to know. The book dwells on Augustus' disease in 23BC, which was so serious that everyone believed he would die (see Wikipedia). Then, the book says that his nephew Marcus Claudius Marcellus died soon after Augustus' unexpected recovery "of the same fever".

I know from the above article on Wikipedia that the cause of Marcellus' sudden death at the age of 19 is unknown. But is Augustus' disease known? What did he suffer from?


texts: What is the current U.S. monetary standard?

texts: Despite my greatest efforts, I could not find any information about what standard the U.S. is using at this time. Apparently, we used to be on a gold standard. What about now? Do we even have a standard?


texts: Where can I find documents from the Nuremberg trials about war crimes of the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union?

texts:
I want to read documents that were used to prove German war crimes in the Soviet Union, incl. crimes against civilians and treatment of Soviet prisoners of war.

So far I found the following:

Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 3 contain some mention of forced labor from the Eastern Europe.
20th day, Friday, 14 December 1945

I also looked at Nuremberg trials project. The search for USSR yields mostly documents related to Yugoslavia (which to my knowledge never was part of the USSR).

Search for Russia results in following documents:

Transcript for NMT 2: Milch Case
Extract from a medical conference report concerning malaria in Southern Russia
Affidavit concerning the SS Einsatzgruppen (Task Forces) operation in Russia, including the extermination of Jews
Affidavit stating that the order to execute captured commissars was not carried out under Rendulic's command in Russia
Affidavit concerning the non-application of the Commissar Order under von Leyser's command in Russia, and his character as an officer
Instructions to SS economic and administrative offices for the transfer of economic administrators in eastern Europe to Germany
Regulations for SS Economic and Administrative Main Office administrators in Russia, Poland, Norway, and Serbia, including management of economic enterprises and concentration camps

Search for Ukraine gives following results:

Cover letter and an outline of a speech concerning the treatment of civilians in the Ukraine
Cover letter and an outline of a speech concerning the treatment of civilians in the Ukraine
Memoranda concerning the methods used during the deportation of workers in the Ukraine
Memoranda concerning the methods used during the deportation of workers in the Ukraine
Cover letter and an outline of a speech concerning the treatment of civilians in the Ukraine
Cover letter and an outline of a speech concerning the treatment of civilians in the Ukraine
Transcript for NMT 3: Justice Case
Memoranda concerning the methods used during the deportation of workers in the Ukraine
Memoranda concerning the methods used during the deportation of workers in the Ukraine
Letter to the chief of the Industrial Armament Department (in Berlin) concerning the execution of Jews in the Ukraine
Brief arguing that the imposition of German law in occupied territories was a war crime
Transcript for NMT 4: Pohl Case
Transcript for NMT 1: Medica Case
Transcript for NMT 2: Milch Case
Transcript for NMT 7: Hostage Case

Today the majority of historians agrees that the Germans were way more cruel on the Eastern front than in other occupied territories (France, Netherlands etc.).

If that's the case, where and how can I find the documents from the Nuremberg trial that prove that?

Postwar Soviet history books claim that the Germans burned down every village they invaded (especially in Ukraine and Southern Russia). Why, then, don't I see any Soviet documents on German war crimes (only German ones)?


texts: What happened to all the undivided shares of California ranchos?

texts:
The Mexican province of Alta California granted cattle ranches to many prominent citizens. The properties were huge, so surveying was very expensive and often vague.  These ranches dissipated into smaller holdings after the US takeover of the state. At the time, people often owned an "undivided" fraction of a ranch. For example, Martina Castro deeded undivided ninths of her Rancho Soquel to her nine children. Any co-owners who lived on the undivided ranch presumably did so under mutual agreement.

Today, we have a similar concept called tenancy in common, but land offered publicly for sale always seems to have fixed boundaries and no co-owner. The ownership of undivided fractions of rural land may have gone out of style.

How did surveyed lots replace undivided parts? Did a new law change the regulatory context, or was undivision just a quirk particular to the ranchos and the uncertainty around their legal confirmation?


texts:
How literate was the ancient world? I'm particularly interested in the Romans, Greeks, and Egyptians in, say, the first few centuries BC. It's hard to find authors willing to give an explicit number, though sometimes ranges are given:

  [It is] unlikely that the overall literacy of the western [Roman] provinces even rose into the range of 5-10%. [1]

and

  In ancient Egypt levels of literacy were very low, less than one per cent. [2]

Most stick to descriptive terms:

  a very small percentage [of Roman Britains were literate] [3]

But there is evidence that it was not too low, e.g. Vindolanda. So what is known for different cultures? I've read a (semi-)famous book on the subject---some kind of Classics prizewinner, focusing on pre-Roman and Roman Egypt, published maybe 8 years ago---but even that didn't often, if ever, give numbers. This is somewhat frustrating because I don't know what "a very small percentage" is. 10%? 1%? 0.1%? 0.01%?

Any reasonable information would be welcome. I'd be happy to split this further if there's enough information (4th century BC Romans, Athens in its Classical Period, etc.) but so far the information I have seen deals with all of these together (thousand-year periods across the entire Mediterranean).

William Harris, Ancient Literacy, 1989, p. 272.
http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/themes/writing/literacy.aspx
Ellis Evans, Language Contact in Pre-Roman and Roman Britain, Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.29.2 (1983), pp. 949-987.


texts: How heavy were the heaviest war hammers actually used?

texts:
On the German Wikipedia page about warhammers it says their weight reached from 3 to 14 Kg! Having done some really heavy sports in my past, I was truly surprised by this last number! I searched extensively. First of all I found one more reference to the same number on Mittelalter Wikia. There they claim the so called Luzerner Hämmer (hammers of Lucern) had a long haft and weighed 14 Kg.

I also tried some more general searches. The Bec de Corbin reproduction here weighs 3.75 lbs. This article about pole axes lists examples up to 7 pounds 11 ounces (which is just below 3.5Kg). This reproduction weighs just 2 pounds 4 ounces.


texts: How common were foreigners in the Weimar republic?

texts:
Was it common to find foreigners in Germany during Weimar Republic and the beginning of the Nazi regimes?

Because they do not seem particularly attractive historical periods but I found many statistics reporting separated figures for foreigners but no direct data of the presence of foreign people on German soil (censuses or other).

Do you have any insight by yourselves or are you aware of sources I can use to find more data about that?


texts: What is known about early history of Judaism?

texts:
What do we know about early history of Judaism? Do we know the timeline when these modern traits of modern Judaism developed:

1 Lifestyle restriction that we now find in Torah, such as the prohibition of pork, etc.

2 Written Torah.

3 The rest of the Old Testament.

4 Fairly common literacy that included the study of Torah.

5 Rejection of polytheism, that is, worshipping only one God.

6 Monotheism, that is, there is only one God.


texts: What are some major military successes the Soviet Union achieved against the Western World?

texts: What are some major military successes achieved by the former Soviet Union against the Western World that shook the US and its Cold War allies?


texts: What language is the inscription in Masaccio's Holy Trinity

texts:
Masaccio, the Italian Renaissance master, has a painting called the Holy Trinity.  In the bottom part of the painting, is a cadaver tomb, with an inscription.  I have been able to find plenty of sources translating the inscription, but no source anywhere mentions what language the inscription is in.  I'm assuming latin, but it could just as likely be Italian as well.  Can anyone tell me what language the inscription is in?

Here's a link that describes the painting and the inscription:
Holy Trinity Fresco by Masaccio (Wikipedia).

Here's the inscription:
IO FU[I] G[I]A QUEL CHE VOI S[I]ETE E QUEL CH['] I[O] SONO VO[I] A[N]C[OR] SARETE

Apparently, this inscription translates to:
I once was what you are and what I am you also will be

BONUS POINTS:
Why are there square brackets around certain letters when people write out the inscription?


texts: Why are the German and French languages so different?

texts:
My understanding (which could be wrong) is the following:

During and before the period of the fall of western Rome (roughly 400 AD), the Franks and the Alemanni were tribal people who moved around a lot.  The Romans called both of those people "Germans", so they must have been quite similar.  I assume they must have intermingled quite a lot, since they were in constant contact with one another.

Once the "Dark Ages" began, the Franks sort of stayed where France is now, and the Alemanni stayed where Germany is now, though the lines must have been blurry, since Charlemagne was a Frank, but I've heard Germans call him Karl der Grosse, and claim him as being German.

Right, so based on that background, how come the French and German language have evolved to be so different, or were they already very different back then?  If so, why and how?


texts: I read that the Mongol Empire conquered and unified China. My question is... how were the Mongols able to conquer so much when China's population almost certainly was larger during that time period? Was it because of the use of special tactics, technology, or due to other factors?


texts: Queen Anne of England died without surviving issue despite 17 pregnancies. Did any other monarch try so hard to produce an heir without success?

texts:
Queen Anne (reigned 1702 – 14) had seventeen known pregnancies during her marriage to Prince George of Denmark (b.1653, d.1708) but she died without surviving issue. Only five of her pregnancies led to live-born children and all of them died before she even ascended the throne. One son, William, lived to the age of eleven, dying in 1700.
Did any other monarch have so many known pregnancies yet fail to produce a surviving heir? If not (and I suspect not), which monarch comes closest to this (unwanted) record?
The question applies to both men and women who were monarchs in their own right and could be with more than one husband or wife (in the case male monarchs, this obviously means their wife or wives pregnancies!).


texts: How was King Henry VIII able to get syphilis?

texts: How did King Henry VIII get this disease when syphilis was a disease originating from the Americas?


texts: Why did Bakht Khan switch sides in Indian War of Independence 1857?

texts:
Bakht Khan was one of the key commanders of the Indian Liberation Forces fighting against the British for independence of India.

From his early life, It is known that he was enlisted in British Forces in India (Possibly was still enlisted when the Indian mutiny started?). He even rose to the rank of Subedar which was the second highest rank available to Indian native soldiers serving in British forces back then which means he was:

Capable in terms of leadership skills
Fluent in English which means he was adopting to British culture somewhat or at least that he had accepted to live with it.
At good terms with his British officers otherwise he would not have been promoted

He even fought for the British in First Anglo-Afghan war despite being an ethnic Afghan (From Yusufzai tribe) himself.

Yet when Indians rose up against the British in 1857, Bakht Khan brought his contingent of Rohilla Pashtun Soldiers to the Imperial Capital city of Delhi and decided to fight for the Old Emperor and was eventually granted the title of "Lord Governor General".

Why did he do that? He appears to have no qualms in fighting for the British in the past, even against his own Folk be it in India or Afghanistan. He seems to have never shown any resistence to the British in the past, otherwise he would not have been promoted to Subedar rank.

Yet in 1857, he rises against the British even though many Indians including the 21 Princely states of India were fighting on the British side.

I know a simple assumption would be that he was motivated by patriotism or by his conscience finally waking up. But I am looking for something he may have said in this regard or some Historian may have established about it.

Is there any reasoning provided for his act in contemporary or modern works on the Indian War of Independence?

Another Question but you may ignore it if you want as I don't want to broaden the scope. Was he still enlisted in British Forces when the Rebellion started?


texts: Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?

texts:
I've been reading a little bit about Victorian publishing bit I'm struggling to get a feel for how common and how similar Victorian bookstores in London would be.

This is all I've read. It sounds like by about 1890 all you have of fiction in shops are thin serials, and in fact there's more libraries than shops. Is that true?

How's common would a Victorian bookshop be?  Would they stock modern size novels,  or would they be more for scientific literature?


texts: How did ancient empires account for slow propagation of information e.g. in their legal codes?

texts:
Mathematician Alain Connes cites a French legal rule that explicitly accounts for propagation of information at finite speeds substantially below the speed of light:

  There was a legal rule according to which a law decreed in Paris on
  day J was applicable in Paris on day J, but it was valid at distance n
  km of the capital only on day J + 1, at distance 2 n km on day J + 2,
  and so forth, where n is the number of kilometers covered by a
  stagecoach in one day.

Large ancient empires, such as the Roman Empire, must have seen similar situations very often. (E.g. the emperor makes decision X in Rome on day J, but it's yet unbeknown to the governor of a remote province when he partially counters it with decision Y on day J + 1).

How did the Romans and others deal with these situations? Was it completely ad-hoc or did they also have special applicable rules in their legal codes? (Although I'm referring to an emperor in my specific example and emperors may not have been constrained by legal codes, relevant situations must have also occurred e.g. in private business across the Mediterranean.)

UPDATE This week´s Economist carries an article about the economics of interstellar flight which makes for interesting related reading. It cites an early (perhaps tongue-in-cheek) paper by Paul Krugman who even came up with two fundamental theorems of interstellar trade :-)

  Such trade will be affected by relativity theory, which shows that
  beings on Earth (or Trantor) will see time pass at a different speed
  from those who are on board cargo ships moving between the two. This
  could make it hard to calculate the net present value of a shipment.
  And the fact that messages can move at best at the speed of light (and
  cargoes more slowly still) might do odd things to the ability to
  arbitrage between the economies of the two worlds.

As I thought more about the question I was also reminded of George Nashes biography of Herbert Hoover: Hoover was sent to Australia in 1897 as a young mining engineer. A visit to headquarters for a thorough briefing was a then especially important part of his preparation because instant world-wide communication was impossible and relatively junior persons had to make independent decisions on the spot. Presumably this was even more the case e.g. for say imperial generals in ancient times and is less the case today.


texts: Do (modern) audio recordings exist for the sound of Ancient Egyptian, Ancient Coptic, or other ancient languages?

texts:
Here are audio recordings of the Akkadian or other Babylonian languages. They are of modern people reenacting it, but it sounds great. Good intro to the real ancient world.

Do any audio recordings similar to that exist for these languages?

Ancient Egyptian
Ancient Demotic
Ancient Coptic
Ancient Gothic
Old English
Old Norse
Amharic (Book of Enoch)
Avestan
Ancient Greek
Ancient Latin
Tibetan

I only found this, but it's basically vocabulary words. I am looking for a full reading of something. Also, not looking for chanting with music behind it, unless that's all that really exists.


texts: When did cultures start to emerge in ancient Peru?

texts:
Upon understanding John Rowe's theory of horizons, I became a bit confused about what should be considered a culture. This concept isn't very clear to me.

According to John Rowe, the earliest period is named Preceramic and it spans from Who knows when up to 9500 B.C., and it does mention the first evidence of human occupation.

This Preceramic period ends in 1800 B.C and from then on it mentions Chavin as a culture (properly) and begins to build up horizons, or this is what I'm understanding.

However, I'm still confused if, according to this theory, is it okay to assume that when humans started to settle in ancient Peru before 9500 B.C., did they constitute a culture?. Other than John Rowe's, is there any recorded evidence which suggests the use of that particular name for the humans who settled in that time frame?.


texts: What factors led to the rise of political parties in the United States?

texts: I know that at the time the Constitution was drafted partisan political parties did not exist, not in the way that we conceive of them today, and George Washington did not have a political party. However, John Adams was a member of the Federalist Party, and the Federalists were the first political party in the US. What factors led to other political parties taking shape in the US?


texts: Was George Wallace's American Independent party (1968) "the same party" as Strom Thurmond's Dixiecrat party (1948)?

texts:
The party that nominated George Wallace for president in 1968 (the American Independent Party) seems very similar to the State's Rights Democratic Party (aka. Dixiecrat) that nominated Strom Thurmond for the presidency in 1948.

Were they 'the same party' separated by twenty years? Did they have the same ideology? Did they attract the same voters? Did they have any of the same people in leadership positions?

If not, what were the important differences between the two parties?


texts: Are there any reliable documented records of members or operations of the French Resistance during World War 2?

texts:
I am working on a research project in which a Polish World War 2 veteran has received a number of medals from France.

These medals are as follows:

Commemorative Medal of the War 1939 - 1945
War Volunteer Cross (Instituted Feb. 4, 1953)
Cross for Combatants (light blue and pink stripes)

I know that the veteran in question was a pilot for Britain and there is a persistent story (yet unconfirmed... other than the medals) that he was shot down in France, linked up with the French Resistance and possibly engaged in missions with members of the Resistance during his time with them before returning to Britain to continue his service there.

Are there any well-documented records of members of the French Resistance and the missions these members were a part of?

The purpose of this question is to find resources that might help in my search to possibly link the medals to some action taken by the veteran during his tenure with the French Resistance.

My worry is that these records may have been either never created or lost due to the nature of the guerrilla warfare that the French Resistance engaged in.


texts: What was the cultural background of Burgundians?

texts: In the Middle Ages there was a big country in Europe between France and German kingdoms, Burgundy. What language did they speak there? Were they more German or French in origin?


texts:
We have an antique doll which we would like to learn more about. Can you please identify which time period this could possibly be from and the traditional dress they are wearing? If it's possible, the country of origin would also be useful.

There are no markings on the piece. It looks hand made. Purchased for £15 from Battle, Hastings (UK) back in 1999.


texts: What happened to people's houses during the Soviets' reign?

texts: With the adoption of Communism in the Soviet Union, what happened to private property and those who occupied it? Did landowners (including the oligarchy and simpler land owners) retain any rights to "their" property? Were they permitted to stay in their residencies or were they moved to communal apartments? If they were moved out, did the Soviet union destroy these private homes or house troops with in them? Did this change throughout the communist period?


texts: How did a new Inka recover from being cut off from his inheritance?

texts:
When a reigning Inka ("Inka" is the quechua spelling, matter of preference) died, his successor was disinherited and all properties, servants and lands were split among the Inka's other offspring. The Inka was expected to be a great warrior and this tradition was meant to incentivize constant conquest and expansion.

My question is, how did the successor recover from such a setback? If I'm reading this correctly, he was denied income from lands and his subjects now served his siblings or the Qoya, the late Inka's wife.


texts: What happened to the compass platform on the Titanic?

texts:
Whatever happened to the Compass platform on the Titanic? Was it ever found in the wreck site?

I’ve found out what it was used for but no explanation to whether They found any sign of it in the debris field just curious because it was a unique structure that I’ve always been fascinated by.


texts: Which country had the largest indigenous itinerant population?

texts:
Which country has or had the largest numbers (in absolute and/or relative terms) of indigenous itinerants in any period of history? For this question, I consider itinerants to mean a group for which travel is a significant part of their lifestyle, and travels individually or as a group, through a broader settled society.

This does not include nomadic groups like the Mongols, because they did not travel through a settled society, or refugees, migrants, etc because travel was for resettlement, it was not a lifestyle. For the purposes of this discussion, I would also like to exclude the Romani (unless considering them in the country of their origin, northern India) since they are mostly concentrated in countries to which they are not (in one sense) indigenous. I would also exclude tourists because only a small proportion would fit my definition.


texts: How to cite sources in a way thats translateable

texts:
When I'm in a discussion with a fellow from a different language background and we both don't speak the language of our primary source, but both refer to translations to our native languages, How would we then go on to make a proper citation?

Say I speak German and English and use the German translation of a work. My fellow speaks Spanish and English and uses the Spanish translation of the work. The work itself was originally in Sanskrit and we speak English with one another.

Is there a proper way to do that in historiography, so that we can practice proper citing techniques?

For context: This is a problem that a group I correspond with has. We want to talk about a subject and the majority of the group uses one translation and some others (including me) use a different one. Now I want to encourage all of us to use a translatable citing technique.


texts: Why did Operation Market Garden go ahead when the allies knew German armor was in the area?

texts: Montgomery's ill-fated operation to capture the Rhine crossing at Arnhem was ingenious but fatally flawed.  Evidence suggests that the Allies knew there were German armoured units in the town a few days before the first paratroopers landed, so why send them?  The paras had no effective anti-tank weaponry and so surely it was suicide to carry out the original plan.


texts: Had any 20th century navies used damage-control specialized vessels in battle fleets?

texts:
A followup or extension of this question: Was the tugboat ever part of a WWII battle group?
Was there ever a ship in a modern navy specially equipped or converted so that it could keep pace with battle groups and assist damaged vessels? For example by evacuation of crew, providing spec trained personnel, power, water pressure and foam for firefighting, towing, etc...

For example after the Forrestal fire a destroyer approached the carrier and used its onboard fire hoses to quench fires on the larger vessels flight deck. Were there ships intended specifically for this role?


texts: Was the Battle of Trafalgar strategically pointless?

texts:
On a tactical level, the Battle of Trafalgar is one of the most analysed naval battles in history and there are many books and papers covering the battle itself. Most of the strategic analysis covers the events that lead up to the battle, explaining how and why the fleets came together. As it was the last fleet battle of the Napoleonic Wars, it's easy to assume that the British victory effectively decided the war at sea.
However, an article by Rémi Monaque (a French historian and former naval officer) suggests that there was no strategic purpose to fighting the battle -

Nelson did not save England from French Invasion. In fact, on 23
August, Napoleon, who the day before had been watching out for a sight
of the combined fleet on the cliffs of Boulogne, suddenly gave up his
master plan, and decided to march the Grand Armeé towards the heart of
Austria...The tragedy of Trafalgar that evoked so much heroism and
cost so many human lives was thus an unnecessary battle without any strategic
stakes.
"Trafalgar:A French Point of View" (A Great and Glorious Victory, ed. R Harding, 2008, ch.5)

The crux of his argument seems to be that because the British and Combined Fleets had come together purely as the result of Napoleon's invasion plan, once the threat of invasion was removed, there was no longer any purpose in the fleets engaging. He dismisses the mission that brought the combined fleet out of Cadiz (supporting French forces in Italy) as "entirely secondary" and so, presumably, of no strategic value to either side.
Although the article doesn't explictly state it, I'm assuming that Monaque supposes that the alternative to battle would have been the continued blockade of the combined fleet in Cádiz (until the Spanish revolt in 1808). From a strategic point of view, would that have had the same outcome or were there stategic benefits to fighting?


texts: What kind of suspension did Roman carrucae have?

texts:
The German Wikipedia on post coaches states that the Roman carrucae (there described as a Reisewagen, something like travelling vehicle) already had suspension and a passenger cabin. I tried to find information about it, but all articles seem to concern a heavy wheeled plow.
But models of Roman coaches for the cursus publicus seem very detailed, so I dare hope information might be out there.


texts: Are tech workers in the Siberian city of Tomsk really "descendants of those sent to the gulags"?

texts:
I've been listening to the BBC podcast The Hackers of Siberia. The notes on the web page include:

Intellectuals banished to an inhospitable land, settled in Siberia and created a pool of talent from the time of the tsars. Generations of creative people have been perfecting their skills here ever since. These days the reputation of Russian hackers has reached every corner of the world and Siberian hackers are the best.
‘SiBears,’ for example, are ethical hackers in the Siberian city of Tomsk. As they prepare for a hacking competition in Moscow, they reveal their motivations and the secrets of their success. What tasks are the hackers set? A whole city is built, with its own railway and hospitals, and the task is to hack into the city’s infrastructure. Alternatively, hackers can try their hand at hacking while drinking vodka with each attempt to break the code.

At the very end of the podcast can be heard:
Interviewee #1:

There’s still competition in Silicon Valley. It’s very, very expensive to live there, and there are many difficulties in getting a visa.
People say that in provincial Russia, every day life is quite difficult, with lower standards of living, and difficulties in finding work. But in this vacuum, in reality, it is easier to create your own work.
I consider Tomsk as a sort of playground, which allows me to develop. I develop, together with Tomsk.

Interviewee #2:

What I have found here, in Siberia, is an incredible talent pool of gifted, freedom-loving computer security enthusiasts.
They are the descendants of those sent to the gulags here. The irony is that now, the State wants them back!

When scientists and intellectuals were released from the Tomsk gulag, did they in fact just settle nearby, and eventually start families, who's descendants are now "ethical hackers" such as the one in the interview? For those that had existing families, did some bring there families to Tomsk as well?
I'm just having a hard time understanding if this is just metaphorical irony, or if what the speaker describes is actually what happened.


texts: Are there any publications in English about the Saltukid dynasty of Erzurum?

texts: I went to Turkey recently. I stayed in Istanbul and then I went to Erzurum. I noticed that the Historic structures in Erzurum were quite a bit older and different in architectural style (the Saltukids were much older than the Ottomans and not as influenced by Byzantine culture) than the ones found in Istanbul. I want to find or more about this dynasty but there aren't any English language texts about them. Does anyone actually know of any studies/books about them?


texts: Was there a battle were Russians forces rallied around a religious icon to achieve victory?

texts:
I remember on my last visit to Moscow, there was an incredible art piece where a group of priests carrying orthodox icons are surrounded by soldiers with spears and swords.

I remember the legend behind the piece was something along the lines of:

  After an initial defeat, the priests come out of the cathedral with the icons. The Russian forces regroup around them and ended up winning the battle".

I cant remember the name of the city, the year or against who they were fighting, but I would like to see that picture again.

Does anyone remember a battle where this has happened?


texts: Did imperialist Japan ever want to annex Hawaii because of the Japanese minority living here?

texts:
Hawaii had been colonized by Japanese people during the 19th century, before it became an American territory. There was an estimated 40% of Japanese in Hawaii in 1900 and 43% in 1920; thus we can extrapolate it would have been similar during World War 2; this is far from being insignificant.

Considering the irredentist trend of the time, I think Japan could have been especially interested in annexing Hawaii, justified by the long presence  of Japanese there and the very large Japanese minority.
Was Japan interested in the Japanese Hawaiian population ?


texts: Does the reversal of the ribbon on a military medal (South Africa / UK; WWII) carry meaning or is it simply an error?

texts:
My father was showing me his father's WWII medals for service in the South African military. Having found images depicting the official order of wear I noticed that some had reversed ribbons. I presume that this was simply a mistake, but can someone please confirm this?

The 1939-1945 Star is almost always depicted with the darker blue on the left, but ours is on the right.
The Africa Star is again almost always depicted with the darker blue on the left with ours in reverse (the image has a bar, but this is the only depiction of the reversed ribbon that I could find).
The Defence Medal that we have has its ribbon sewn such that the King's head would lie on the reverse when worn (i.e. I presume that one wouldn't wear a medal with the stitching visible).

The Defence Medal in particular is what lends me to believe that they are in error, but I thought that it was odd that 3 of 5 had this trait.