AskHistorians

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Sanguinusshiboleth on 2023-09-26 22:08:39.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/YomTov7 on 2023-09-26 20:17:29.

My understanding is that the Treaty of Tordesillas basically split the world in two and Portugal got everything east of the line and Spain everything west, but is that really all there was to it? Why didn't Portugal just ignore the treaty in favor of colonies? I'm sure that they could've made up some sort of excuse if they really had wanted to get territory (especially considering Brazils borders go way past the line agreed upon). Even with the treaty there was still territory like Greenland that they could've taken.

I'm sure there's a reason since they didn't I just was wondering if anyone had any insights or opinions as to why.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/siyavash96 on 2023-09-26 19:39:22.

Refering here to the battle of Ming Sha

For starters i don't actually believe it and all the sources in Wikipedia article seem biased but was hoping someone could provide a more authentic account of the battle.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/RusticBohemian on 2023-09-26 19:21:55.

Original Title: In only three years, from 1959 to 1962, the population growth rate of the Philippines dropped from 4.40% to 2.87%, and never recovered. Did the Philippines get access to birth control so early, despite their poverty? What happened?

Data.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Orpheus6102 on 2023-09-26 17:03:25.

Many people are familiar with the FBI’s COINTELPRO, does anyone know if the USSR, UK and other countries had similar programs? And what were the techniques and strategies of dealing with their own dissident groups?

Any recommendations on books, articles, or documentaries about how governments (ie law enforcement, intelligence, etc) have dealt with revolutionary, dissident and militant groups? Or how those groups responded to repression? Specifically what were the various tactics and strategies used to infiltrate, disband, sow distrust, and create criminal cases against specific members of those groups?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Miyamotivational on 2023-09-26 18:20:03.

During the Georgian Civil War in the early 1990s, several Caucasian groups took up arms against the Georgians, including:

• Ossetian separatists
• Abkhazian separatists
• The Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus, which famously consisted of Chechens but also included Abazins, Avars, Circassians, Balkars, Dargins, Karachais, Kumyks, Lezgins, and Laks (and of course Abkhazians/Ossetians).
• Bagramyan Battalion, composed mainly of Armenians.

What factors led such a diverse range of ethnicities to align against the Georgians during this conflict?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/riksarkson on 2023-09-26 17:56:41.

Ctesiphon's location wasn't central at all and it was occupied multiple times by the Roman Empire since it was near the western border. And still it was the capital for hundreds of years. Why?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/R1ght_b3hind_U on 2023-09-26 17:40:49.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/AnInterestingUSA on 2023-09-26 17:11:28.

Original Title: Today, articles about the recent “economic miracles” of India and China, amongst others, are commonplace. To what degree was American industrialization an “economic miracle?” and did it receive as much popular attention as we now give other developing countries?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/MintyCitrus on 2023-09-26 16:19:32.

Usually opposing generals or military leaders are shown to ride out and discuss final terms of surrender, or talk some smack. This seems incredibly risky to send out such important commanders, regardless of how much honor would dictate safe conduct on such a parlay. Would this have ever really happened anywhere in history?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/AlanSnooring on 2023-09-26 14:01:08.

Welcome to Tuesday Trivia!

If you are:

• a long-time reader, lurker, or inquirer who has always felt too nervous to contribute an answer
• new to /r/AskHistorians and getting a feel for the community
• Looking for feedback on how well you answer
• polishing up a flair application
• one of our amazing flairs

this thread is for you ALL!

Come share the cool stuff you love about the past!

We do not allow posts based on personal or relatives' anecdotes. Brief and short answers are allowed but MUST be properly sourced to respectable literature. All other rules also apply—no bigotry, current events, and so forth.

For this round, let’s look at: Ecology & Ecological destruction! We may all be hurtling through space on a blue marble amid an ocean of stars, but on our journey, we’ve left our mark in ways good and bad. This week is dedicated to Ecology/Ecological destruction. Use this week to tell the stories of the harm we’ve caused, the harm we’ve presented, and the people and histories around the people who knew or have learned that this is the only marble we’ve got.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/spookyhiatus on 2023-09-26 14:09:21.

It seems odd to me that members of the Gray Board, who denied Oppenheimer’s security clearance partly based on Borden’s conclusions of Oppenheimer’s security file, didn’t even bother to ask how Borden was able to acces Oppenheimer’s security file.

Now I’m not familiar with America’s laws back then, but it seems to me illigal to spread a security file on him. It could be legal seeing though Borden was part of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy.

Also, how the hell did Straus have access to his file? Did Nichols have access to it as a lieutenant and did the both of them conspire together?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/DerpAnarchist on 2023-09-26 10:06:03.

Neither Old Korean nor Old Japanese are known to have had honorifics as part of their syntax, as opposed to their modern forms. Yet nowadays, they are essential parts of their language and while they can work without them it is usually considered inappropriate to the degree that few to noone would do it. This would beg the question of how language and customs would change so drastically as to affect everyday speech to this extent, not just for the traditional elites, but for the common people as well.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Macavity0 on 2023-09-26 13:00:06.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/jobrody on 2023-09-26 13:34:53.

I understand that it happened state by state, starting with Vermont in 1792, but I imagine this must have been a highly contentious issue in every state. How did the movement towards greater enfranchisement start and gain traction? Did the landed class fight it tooth and nail? What are some books/papers that might be of interest on the subject?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/just_breadd on 2023-09-26 13:15:36.

With Emperors minting their own coins and currencies and it being very difficult for ancient states to take money out of circulation, I always wondered: How can an economy function when the value of the coins shift so relatively quickly. Would there be different conversion rates, ie 10 of Decius' coins were worth 1 denarius minted under Caligula? Or would they be treated as of same value?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/M41arky on 2023-09-26 11:02:50.

I’m writing a piece for a school project on the reasons behind the collapse of Yugoslavia and I understand part of it was due to the ethnic tensions in the region but I’m struggling to find any sources on where the hatred for different ethnicities came from, especially since the idea was to have a state for the southern Slavs to protect themselves from anyone threatening their language, culture, etc.

I’m currently looking at the Ustase and the independent state of Croatia and the crimes they committed against the Serbs. What was the root cause of their ideology, was there any reason in particular why they wanted a “pure” Croatia?

If anyone knows any good sources or books, just anything on the topic that’d be awesome.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Winningestcontender on 2023-09-26 09:48:58.

Hello! I realized I know very little of one of the most influential operations of the second world war. I'm looking for something along the lines of John Keegans "The first world war" or Beevors books on Stalingrad or Normandy. This subreddit has made me vary of just picking up any old book, and I lack the prerequisite knowledge to vet the books myself.

Any suggestions on where to start?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/holomorphic_chipotle on 2023-09-26 09:09:05.

As far as I know, the term "age of revolution" became popular after the 1962 publication of Eric Hobswan's book. His book highlighted the economic and social changes that resulted from the convergence of the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Though at the time it "revolutionized" (if you allow me the bad pun) the field, with regards to current understandings of global history, the book only looked at Great Britain and France.

In the context of Atlantic history, the concept has been used to examine the American war of independence, and in Spanish speaking historiography la "era de las revoluciones atlánticas" is common. The Haitian revolution complicates the panorama. If the age of revolution was real, what are the common threads of a popular revolution (France), a conservative revolution of Creole elites (Mexico) and planters (USA), a successful insurrection of self-liberated slaves (Haiti), and the rise of Britain's "second empire". On top of this, the concept is now being extended to the Fulani jihads in West Africa.

Hence my question: outside the narrative structure typical of popular history books, what is to be gained by attempting all-encompassing theories? Does such a concept still make sense?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/DeleteWolf on 2023-09-26 07:40:13.

I don't know if this is the right word, but I just learned that jefferson davis, the president of the Confederacy, was charged with treason after the civil war, but the charges were dropped?

Why?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/antisocialite_- on 2023-09-26 07:33:39.

The was before the Jamestown brides sailed and she was 16 years old. Tracing my genealogy and trying to understand why she would have chosen this dangerous journey. The ship muster might be incomplete but it lists her as the only woman aboard. (Ship is the Diana). She later married a man 25 years older than her. Her brother came to the colony about 15 years later.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/ThatcheriteIowan on 2023-09-26 06:42:33.

In practical terms, why is Robert Walpole considered the first prime minister, rather than some of the "first ministers" or "chief ministers" that came before, say, Godolphin, Strafford, Burghley, or Wolsey?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/imperator285 on 2023-09-26 03:28:56.

I read that the species originates from the taiga region of Canada. It then migrated to Asia, where it was later adapted to hotter climates. Since camels are well adapted to cold and snowy weather, e.g. Mongolia and Bactria, it seems they would be useful for certain situations. But in all my reading of history it seems the animal never made an appearance north of the Mediterranean. Is it because Europeans simply didn't like the animal or is there another explanation?

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Adventurous_Rock_310 on 2023-09-26 04:31:14.

If you could send digital sources as well, that would be so cool! I am having so much trouble finding information on Scotland specifically.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/askhistorians by /u/Firm_Ruin_6178 on 2023-09-26 02:27:36.

An interesting discussion came up during a seminar on Euripides' Medea, in which the eponymous, long-suffering ex-wife of Jason bemoans the lot of women, claiming "for what it’s worth, / I’d rather fight three battles, shield to shield, / In the first line of men, than once give birth!" There's a lot to discuss considering the facetiousness of Medea in this passage and her appeals to the Chorus (slave women she hopes will support her in her campaign of revenge); but I was curious as to the historicity of the statement. How do the fatality rates of hoplites, heavily armored and (at least for the Athenians) more valuable as prisoners than corpses, compare to those of childbirth during the era?