The 20th century began on January 1, 1901, and ended on December 31, 2000.
15
votes
2answers
84 views
+50
How popular was Mozart in France before WWII and after it?
Another intriguing statement by Robert Paxton:
I was surprised myself to learn that Mozart had been little played in
France before 1940, and that his prominence since 1945 in the French
...
7
votes
2answers
99 views
Why didn't the Arab states industrialize?
Why didn't the states of the Arabian peninsula industrialize around the time that Europe and East Asia were? Was it simply a lack of accessible natural resources? Why not import coal?
-1
votes
1answer
45 views
Why has the United States not attacked Iran in the past thirty years? [closed]
Why didn't the United States of America even try to attack Iran to change it's Islamic regime through a lightning war like Iraq war in past three decades?
According to my own opinion the Islamic ...
5
votes
0answers
59 views
Resistance in 1938 Czechoslovakia
I wonder if someone might help me. I'm writing a novel. My protagonist is a dual national (English born, German parents) bio chemist contracted to work for Freiburg University 1938. At the time ...
6
votes
4answers
20k views
If Bill Clinton was impeached, why did he finish up his second term
I don't understand how he could have been impeached but did not have to leave office.
2
votes
0answers
38 views
Who was Charles Kingston O'Mahony?
I've read his book The Viceroys of Ireland and am trying to find out more about him. The book was published in 1912 and I can't find any more information about him.
I was able to dig up references to ...
11
votes
7answers
1k views
What was the ratio of German to Soviet losses on eastern front during different stages of the war?
I've read somewhere that the ratio of Soviet to German casualties on the eastern front was 1.4 for the whole war. But what about data for different stages of the war? (this ratio wasn't constant after ...
9
votes
1answer
114 views
What role did Lucky Luciano play in faciliting South Europe invasion?
On the night of July 9, 1943, 160,000 Allied troops landed on the extreme southwestern shore of Sicily. After securing a beachhead, Gen. George Patton's U.S. Seventh Army launched an offensive into ...
5
votes
1answer
137 views
What is this strange uniform?
Colonel John Tiltman wears a very strange uniform in this picture, dated 1919.
The original webpage where I saw the picture is http://www.colossus-computer.com/colossus1.html.
9
votes
2answers
216 views
Did Hitler make the right decision for Germany when he called off Operation Zitadelle (during the Battle of Kursk)?
On the night of 9/10 July, the Western Allies mounted an amphibious
invasion of Sicily. Three days later, Hitler summoned Günther von
Kluge and Erich von Manstein to his Wolfsschanze ...
4
votes
0answers
40 views
What family or other connection bound Chiang Kaishek and Cai Yuanpei, two ideological opposites?
Politically, Nationalist China's Chiang Kaishek must be considered a "strange bedfellow with Cai Yuanpei. Chiang was a disciplined, narrow-minded conservative of the type one might expect from a ...
3
votes
0answers
50 views
How many firearms were owned by civilian population between 1836 and 1912 in USA?
How many firearms in total were owned by civilian population between 1836 and 1912 in USA (cumulatively, not simultaneously)?
The timeframe is what I would consider "Old West" timeframe, but starting ...
16
votes
1answer
2k views
Did World War II-era bombs actually whistle?
In WWII-era films and newsreels, aerial bombs are often shown making a whistling sound as they fall; starting high pitched, then decreasing as the bomb approaches the Earth (example here, starting at ...
5
votes
1answer
90 views
How big was the percentage of white people in the USA who were not against granting the blacks equal rights?
How big was the percentage of white people in the USA who were not against granting the blacks equal rights at the time when the blacks finally got the equality of rights (which I think was in 1964).
...
26
votes
7answers
2k views
Why did Hitler declare war on the USA?
Since there had not been any offensives launched by either side against the other, why declare war just because Japan had attacked the USA?
8
votes
4answers
268 views
Why did the Germans fall behind the Americans in the development of the atomic bomb after an initial lead?
I actually know certain facts about this matter, but am seeking guidance in interpreting these facts into "theories."
1) Theory 1, Economic: The Americans spent something like $2 billion (in money of ...
0
votes
2answers
76 views
Was the N.E.P. of Russia successful in terms of economics?
The Soviet's New Economic Plan was indeed a successful plan in establishing a comparatively strong postwar economy for the Soviet Union, but there were many imperfections: food prices fluctuated ...
0
votes
1answer
77 views
What aspects of Soviet life were not controlled by Stalin?
Stalinism controlled social life through propaganda, political life through the use of political crime and the politicization of life and the workers life, with proletarianism dominating all aspects ...
4
votes
1answer
65 views
How were dogs used in WW1
I know that dogs were used in WW1. I know that they weren’t vital, but didn’t play a reasonable role in helping the soldiers in the trenches. However, there is one thing that confuses me: How were ...
8
votes
0answers
111 views
What was the situation of homosexuals in the early Soviet Union?
Between 1917 and 1930, homosexuality was decriminalised in the Soviet Union. From the Wikipedia article on LGBT history in Russia:
The Russian Communist Inessa Armand publicly endorsed both ...
4
votes
2answers
73 views
Did the break up of AT & T in 1984 lead to technological innovation?
Are there examples of technologies developed since 1984 that would not have been likely to be developed had the Bell system stayed intact rather than being broken up by the US government?
UPDT: To ...
10
votes
3answers
277 views
Was Antarctica a factor in the Falklands war?
Were Argentina's and the UK's Antarctic territorial claims significant in the Falklands War?
3
votes
2answers
142 views
Why did Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng receive different punishments for their role in the Xi'an Incident?
Having failed to persuade Chiang Kai-shek to abandon war with the communists and instead unite to fight Japan, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng finally opted for force and captured Chiang in the Xi'An ...
18
votes
2answers
266 views
Why did the USSR give Crimea to Ukraine?
In 1954 Soviets transferred Crimea from Russian Soviet Republic to Ukrainian Soviet Republic.
Why is this strange?
The whole act, at least officially, was meant to be "a gift", a token of ...
12
votes
3answers
398 views
Was the Titanic tragedy at least partly avoidable?
Was there any way that Titanic's collision with the iceberg could have been avoided after the iceberg had been spotted? Could the ship have been saved from sinking by the pilot or captain after the ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
Was it impossible for the Germans to arrange a plane to East Asia for Subhas Bose?
Bose's journey from Germany to Singapore by submarine was a well-remarked incident of World War II history. But what was the need for the Germans or the Italians to use a submarine to transfer a ...
3
votes
1answer
63 views
What exactly was the Philby Plan?
From what I gather it was some sort of idea for an amicable settlement between Jews and Arabs in Palestine and somehow involved Ibn Saud. Weizmann and Churchill apparently supported it but Ibn Saud ...
6
votes
1answer
193 views
Did Erwin König Exist?
Erwin König Was a sniper supposedly killed by Vasily Zaytsev in the Battle of Stalingrad. The diary of Vasily Zaytsev mentions killing Erwin Konig, and there is a sniper scope in Russia, but there is ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
Did the fights in the Ip Man movie series actually occur in real life?
In a series of movies called Ip Man 1 and 2, based in WW2, a Wing Chun martial arts master called Ip Man fought with a Japanese general and a western boxer named Twister. Did these events actually ...
8
votes
2answers
311 views
Did the Olympics make the Star Spangled Banner the US national anthem?
A long, long time ago, I remember watching a TV miniseries about the first Olympics of the modern era in 1896.
One of the amusing substories I remember involved the USA's National Anthem and the ...
4
votes
2answers
202 views
Did either of the World Wars involve South or Central America?
Were any South or Central American nations besides Brazil involved (not necessarily officially) in either of the World Wars? If any were, I'd appreciate information on their degree of involvement.
6
votes
1answer
135 views
Argentina's involvement with the League of Nations
Argentina was a founding member of the League of Nations. However, Argentina left in 1921 when an Argentine resolution was rejected. Why, and through what procedure (if any), was Argentina allowed to ...
7
votes
1answer
101 views
What was the Soviet role in Syria during the Cold-War?
It is my understanding that the Soviet Union supported governments in Syria during the cold-war primarily as a counter-balance to American influence over regional powers particularly Saudi Arabia and ...
5
votes
1answer
67 views
What were acceptance criteria/process to the Vienna Fine Arts Academy in 1906-7?
One famous applicant rejected by the Vienna Fine Arts Academy was of course, Hitler. I got to thinking: so who was accepted instead?
To make sense of this we would need to know how was the admission ...
2
votes
2answers
66 views
How did the triple entente manage such a large breakthrough in WW1?
In WW1, there have been many attempts at breakthroughs in order to evade the trench system. The battle of Somme was one of the less successful attempts at a German breakthrough. Yet, before USA ...
3
votes
1answer
63 views
Did the Germans lose the U-Boat war in World war II because of a shortage of quality, rather than quantity?
In the "Battle of the Atlantic," the Germans lost almost 800 of their 1200 submarines (nearly two-thirds) sinking 3,500 Allied merchant ships and 175 warships. ...
7
votes
2answers
80 views
How did the Chinese help Khrushchev?
I read this in the source cited in this answer
Initially the Soviet assistance in China’s nuclear programme was
limited to the civil nuclear energy field. However, Moscow’s attitude
shifted in ...
7
votes
1answer
53 views
Which Japanese military officers helped Ho Chi Minh?
According to Wikipedia, in 1946 during negotiations between the French and Ho Chi Minh,
One demand by the French was the return to French custody of a number of Japanese military officers (who had ...
5
votes
3answers
220 views
Why didn’t Britain use its vast navy to get past trench warfare?
Before the start of World War I there was a large arms race between Britain and Germany and although Britain didn’t come out with the largest army – they had by far the largest navy in the world. This ...
9
votes
1answer
122 views
World War 1 Indian propaganda posters
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
104 views
Machine gun specs in WW1
I know that machine guns were a vital part of world war 1. I know that they were mainly used in the trenches as fixed position weapons. However, I would like some specifications about the machine gun ...
3
votes
1answer
79 views
Why did Germany attack Neutral Belgium in the first world war?
I have a basic idea about the Schieffen plan and I know that Germany attacked Belgium in the First world war. But I am slightly confused about this topic, as despite the fact that the schieffen plan ...
8
votes
2answers
114 views
Amount of time an aeroplane could stay in the air during the last stages of WW1
I know for a fact that aeroplanes were used at the last stages of the first world war to capture images of the enemy trench system and supply lines. They were also used to alert the artillery how far ...
11
votes
2answers
103 views
percentage of British and American troops involved in direct combat with enemy in World War II
How large a proportion of British and American troops were involved in direct combat with the enemy in World War II? What was the casualty rate among those men?
4
votes
1answer
43 views
Were members of Soviet Republican Communist Parties also members of the CPSU?
I know that each Soviet Republic X had its own Communist Party of X. Question is: were members of these parties also members of the CPSU?
I am interested here only in the formal side of things - I'd ...
7
votes
1answer
124 views
When did retailers stop wrapping purchases in paper and twine?
Listening to stories from relatives, it sounds like it was a near-universal practice (in the US, before the 1970s) to wrap retail purchases with brown paper and twine. Searching for information about ...
1
vote
2answers
306 views
Did the Nazis regard chemical warfare as inhumane and “Jewish”?
I sometimes encounter accounts that the main reason why chemical weapons were not used in WWII was because initially they were invented by a Jew Fritz Haber, and as such Hitler expressed opinion that ...
12
votes
1answer
104 views
Gazan attitudes to Egyptian rule 1948-1967
Was Egyptian rule viewed favourably by the population? Were there uprisings?
Another related question: were there travel restrictions of some form (i.e. could Gazans travel freely in Egypt)?
UPDT: ...
4
votes
1answer
317 views
Were Flappers Important in American History? If so, why?
Closing in on western history of cosmetics- more specifically, American history of cosmetics- I was guided to the Flapper image of the 1920s. However, I cannot piece together exactly how this change ...
1
vote
3answers
649 views
What is the oldest movie theater in the US that has been in continuous use as a movie theater?
It appears from Wikipedia that the oldest theater in continuous use is in Denmark, but since so much of the film industry is dominated by Hollywood, I was wondering what is the oldest movie theater in ...
