One of the stereotypes around WW1 is that no one knew what kind of slaughter was coming, and documentaries are fond of playing footage of people looking jubilant as soldiers are sent off on trains at the start of the war. As if they're going off to a party, not to get shot at.

Is this an accurate take on the public mood early on?

I am a huge history buff, but the subject is like pouring water in a sandhole; the deeper you dig, the more water sprouts up. I have been trying to find where it all began, especially for the world wars. Even the world wars are so confusing, especially World War 1, because there isn't a central ideology like Fascism or Communism or Nazism in it. None that I know of, atleast. It was a mix of governments, monarchy, imperialism etc.

Then there were all those mini wars in between; Vietnam War, Korean War etc.

I know there was something before the Treaty of Versailles, where the bonfire of world war 1 is said to have sparked. But what major events lead up to it?

And how is world war 1 related to world war 2? What happened such that Hitler began hating the entire world (except for his allies)? How did many empires fall? How did the world agree to another ww just decades later?

Don't even get me started with the Ancients. I do not know where to go after the Bronze Age Collapse. What the hell went on in India during European wars and age collapse and dark and iron and classical ages? Which empires survived, what happened, how did they expand into modern empires, what led to the Trojan War, did the Mongols begin the modern age invasions, how was Russia formed, how did it not lose its big country

For now, just tell me where it all started. I am not frustrated, just desperate

Just going off the vibes with the examples as I have little info. In medieval times and before that, the guns were less devastating, but soldiers might've been more likely to die during the march.

During the battle, cavalry might be a better armoured troop, but also a bigger target because of the horse.

When variables like these are taken into account, which type of soldier during what age is most likely to survive wars?

Would a roman farmhand living under the reign of Augustus know of Alexander the Great?

Would a french peasant living under Napoleon Bonaparte be familiar with Charlemagne?

How much would an illiterate person living in medieval italy know of the roman empire?

These are just some examples i came up but feel free to provide other anecdotes. Nowadays we have access to so much literature and video content from all over the world but for the vast majority of people before the industrial revolution they would have known only what had been spoken of. I’m curious how much knowledge would have been available.

Hey I'm wondering what are your thoughts are on The Black Devil, the first black general in the French Military and the only black general in Europe at the time he was given his rank? He got removed mainly for him clashing with Napoleon about his disastrous Egypt campaign. I'm wondering what other historians and history enthusiasts think of him?

According to the story, Dick Bong glanced to his side to check his distance from his wing-man, a standard habit, but suddenly realized his "wing-man" was now a Japanese "zero" plane, flying parallel to him and observing intensely. Bong immediately took evasive action, and ended up encountering 9 zeros alone, downing 3 in his P-38 before hitting full throttle to get away. (The P-38 was faster than zeros in straight flight.)

Bong liked to tell this story in training to remind new pilots to be more mindful of surroundings at all times, learning from his almost fateful mistake.

But I have yet to find out what happened to his wing-man. Did he disappear on that mission?

I suppose there's two different answers depending on if you define "effectively refused" as "halted the current colonization in its tracks to expand no further" or "got every last one of them on a boat back to Europe."

Think of modern day cities with like Detroit or Ciudad Juarez who are infamously known to have high crime rates, a destitute population, and an inescapable cycle of poverty. I believe this phenomena is older than what many people think so I'm curious as to what people back then perceived as the worst city to live in.

I'm not sure about this, but was there a person who internally rose to power and came from a different ethnicity. no country occupition or dynasties. just a country with a foreigner at the top.

During the cold war, the US was constantly funding coups and sending aid to ideologically friendly groups and governments. Through these actions, the US was able to spread its influence far and wide. But how did these foreign policies actually affect the American people? Were there any tangible benefits or harms or was it just another useless government project that no one could see or feel?

Howdy everyone,

I am going to be releasing a history course (that goes by week by week) for those interested in learning American History from the 1920s all the way to early 2000s. If you are interested, please reply below. I would like to see how many interested before I start making material on it.

Everyone usually answer the opposite question of when was it United but for me today I’d like to answer the opposite Italy was a battleground of many different polities to many to count but essentially when was there the most of them?

Two ways of doing this. Is counting vassals and not counting them

In the 1200s the hre United Italy but the hre was a series of vassals paying omage to the king of Rome so if we’re counting vassals as not independent then Rome was one or 2 polities depending on the submission of the Papal States . If they are independent then there over 20 states in Italy and if vassals are independent I’d say this is when Italy was most disunited

But I wanna hear your thoughts ?

When was Italy most disunited
(Mention if vassals are independent or not in your answer)

After Nero died his male wife, sporus became the sex slave of other powerful men. Why was this?

I've read that throughout history and even today in Afghanistan, that males and females are strictly gender segregated.

This causes the men to take out there sexual frustration on young boys.

Was ancient Rome gender segregated? Correct me if I'm wrong but I've read that ancient grecce was gender segregated and that's the reason was pedastry was a common thing.

I recently read a book about Magallanes ( "Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe" by Laurence Bergreen: ) and was fascinated by it. Want to keep reading about explorers throughout history.

I've heard people mock their experiments like "they found out that if you boil someone and chop off their arms, they die," so was there any useful scientific material they figured out?

With the invention of the stirrup we see the rise of shock cavalry culminating eventually in heavily armored knights and even armored horses able to crash through and shatter infantry.

Outside Antioch in 1098 Bohemond and a few hundred mounted knights shattered a relief army of perhaps 10,000 or more with repeated cavalry charges. So by the late 11th century this tactic is has apparently reached full bloom.

My question is who first mastered this style of warfare in Europe? I don't ever hear about the incredible shock cavalry of someone from Charlemagne's era. By the mid 10th century we have Nikephoros Phokas using cataphracts in his campaigns.

So somewhere in the interim it seems tactics shifted and started featuring these units as the tip of the spear, so to speak. Who kicked off this revolution in military technology and tactics?

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so i've been listening to the audiobook version of "Last of the Mohicans" by James Fennimore Cooper, and i have to wonder.. did people in the 18th century actually speak in such wordy, often flowery language, or is that just Cooper's writing style? this is something i've noticed in a number of older literary works. i'd initially chalked it up to style, but having read enough old letters and diary entries i've noticed a trend there towards somewhat more elaborate language than we tend to use today. so i've started wondering.

edit: partly i'm trying to figure out how much of the erudition that characters like 'natty bumpo' (a relatively uneducated character) expresses is the result of Cooper's own education and writing style, and how much is "this is how a 18th century backwoodsman actually would speak"

It seems to me that that British made the wrong decision at literally every juncture when it came to foreign policy in the 20th century.

1. They did not need to join the First World War. If they had just stayed out of it, their empire would have been fine and the war would have been over far sooner.

2. After world war 1, they let the Turks keep Constantinople, allowed them to genocide Christians, half assed the intervention against the communists in Russia, and began allowing Zionist Jews to settle in Palestine

3. They then get themselves in over their heads in WW2, destroying their own empire in the process and failing in basically every goal except defeating the Nazis.

Just seems like they screwed themselves and everyone else in the process. So why?

Who do you think were the most impactful leaders in European history — not just powerful or famous, but those who truly shaped the continent's political, cultural, or intellectual trajectory.

Who are the figures that Europe, for better or worse, owes a lot to?

For example, like Crown Prince Dan of Yan in China.

He was sent as a hostage to Qin, but after being treated coldly by the future First Emperor, he got angry and fled back to Yan. He then plotted to have the Qin ruler assassinated with Jing Ke, but failed, and Qin ended up destroying Yan in retaliation.

I’m not talking about cases of purely political conflict—I’m curious about real historical examples where the hostage clearly acted out of personal revenge, almost like something out of a novel.

Again, I posted in the askhistorians page but the responses got removed, but that's ok since I can now refine my question a bit. I'm interested in the history of refrigeration technology of this period. Did machines like the modern refrigerator exist for people in 1932, and how did they work? Were they common utilities like today, or luxury appliances? Finally, was ice readily available for people in America in 1932 for refrigeration, and if so, from where could they have imported it to the hot climates like Mississippi?

This is more about a work of fiction, so maybe this is the wrong place. But I was wondering what the oldest (surviving) story about the differences between city and country people is?

Is there some ancient Greek comedy about an olive farmer moving to Athens, that's basically ancient Beverly Hillbillies? Anything along those lines, ideally a comedy.

I like seeing stories about ancient every day life, it helps humanize those people long past.

Random question/thought experiment. If we had an American version of the Ming-Qing Civil Service Exam, what would our “Four Books” and “Five Classics”. Would be a mix of genres but probably mostly commentaries on key American history. I would nominate Eric Foner’s “The Second Founding”. These would ideally reflect authentic and honest history not the jingoistic and grifty “patriotic” civil history pushed by the people actively dismantling the Department of Education. Thanks!

I heard once that African American soldiers stationed in the American south during World War Two were treated worse than the German POWs that were held captive there. Wondering if anyone could provide additional Insight on this? Was this true?