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What effect did the liberum veto in the Polish Sejm during the 16-18th century have in preventing Poland from being a major power?
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[
"The liberum veto was widely used to block any reforms during XVIIIth century, when it was clear that Poland is weak. It was a great problem to achieve any consensus while debating on army or taxes. Polish historians assume that many liberum vetoes in this period were inspired by Russia or Prussia. The 3rd May Constitution passed only because the opposition went home for holiday."
] |
[
"After the Holy Roman Empire fell apart the area of modern day Germany was home to a large collection of independent states in a confederation. By the 19th century Prussia had become the most prominent and militarily skilled of the german states, which lead to them forming a unified German state in 1871."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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How historically accurate is the show Vikings?
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[
"I'm not sure if this allowed but this IAmA by a historian touched on this at points _URL_0_"
] |
[
"To answer your embedded question... Last Week Tonight with John Oliver got going because the executives at HBO did focus group testing on the show and learned that it would be a potentially popular show. I'm an American and my opinion is that there is definitely a lot of garbage on TV. However, if you venture past basic programming you will find some quality TV. Check out the following shows: Breaking Bad, The Bridge, Mad Men, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about movie accuracy:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment about movie accuracy:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
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In "Collapse" Jared Diamond claims the Greenland Norse society collapsed in part due to their refusal to eat fish. Is this true? Is there any evidence how this dietary taboo might have developed?
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[
"None whatsoever; Icelanders and Norwegians, from whom the Greenlandic colonists were descended, consumed fish regularly, and there is no reason to believe that the Greenlanders would have developed a taboo about eating fish."
] |
[
"[The story of Norse colonization of Greenland](_URL_1_) seems to fit the bill nicely. They grew increasingly isolated from European civilization, and once they were finally cut off, all starved or were killed by the Inuit. In his book [Collapse](_URL_0_), Jared Diamond has an extensive discussion of the Greenland Norse, and concludes that clinging to European culture and social norms was a major factor in their eventual extinction. Your question also reminds me of the Ex-Confederates who fled the South to settle in the Amazon after the Civil War, but I only know the cursory details of that one."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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How did ancient civilizations build their roads? Did they lay out stones on the ground?
|
[
"The Romans, as I think everyone knows, were **really big** on roads. It should be noted that Roman roads were first and foremost *military installations* and were constructed by Roman legionaries. These roads were quite far from just stones on the ground (though that's what they looked like). First, the legionaries would dig to the bedrock and place a layer of dirt, followed by a layer of stone chips. On top of this, gravel, and on top of the gravel would be the large, flat stones, bordered by kerbstones. These roads (though it's hard to tell after a couple of millennia of wear) were surprisingly flat and offered quick and efficient travel."
] |
[
"There is a professional organization known as the Society of Automotive Engneers, them plus Dept of Transportation, and other insurance and government agencies determine all kinds of standards for vehicles. Before that, best thing I can tell you is a story. Many old roads in Europe, America, and perhaps the world follow this same story. Why does this particular old road follow this route? Because that's the route the old stage coaches followed. Why did the stage coaches follow that route? Because that's the route that the old caravans followed. Why did the caravans follow that route? Because that's the trail the native people followed. Why did the native people follow that trail? Because that's the animal trail that the game followed. The point being, when it came time to design cars, many roads were already built and wide enough for 2 horse carts to pass. So cars were built to fit in that same with. Eventually it became officially formalized when standards for roads were formalized as well."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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What were the scientific theories/beliefs regarding the origin and evolution of species prior to Darwin?
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[
"[as usual, the wiki has something for basic questions](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"It would be tantamount to what Thomas Kuhn termed a ‘paradigm shift.’ Basically, it would revolutionize the most basic conclusions scientists have had about the origins of life for hundreds of years."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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In games copper generally takes the place of pennies and 100 of them will make a silver coin. What were the actual conversion rates and how much was a copper coin worth?
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[
"I'm looking at 4th/5th century CE Rome. At this time the basic coin was called the nummus. It was a bronze coin rather than a copper coin. It was officially worth 1/7200 of a solidus (a gold coin of about 4.5g weight) but merchants more commonly valued it as 1/6000 of a solidus. There were 4 nummi to a follis, which was a bronze coin with a little silver coating. And 250 nummi to a siliqua, which was the main silver coin and worth 1/24 of a solidus. In terms of what you could get for these coins, you could buy enough wool to make a cheap cloak for yourself with 1200 nummi/4.8 siliquae or you could buy a cheap woven cloak for 2000 nummi/8 siliquae. 24 nummi would buy a pound of meat. One modius of grain (8.73 l) was worth 180 nummus, and this was the daily wage of a cavalryman."
] |
[
"They were each originally made of a different metal the nickel of nickel, the penny of copper, and the dime of silver. The silver in the dime was more valuable, pound for pound, and so less was needed to make more value."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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British soldiers aboard her majesties ships in the 28th century
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[
"The red coats you are referring to were British Royal Marines of His Majesties' Naval Service. They were organized much like their American counterparts at the time; Royal Marines were organized much like the Army personal wise, having Colonels and Generals instead of Captains (O-6) and Admirals. Their service was also under the Royal Navy just like the U.S. Marines Corps is under the Department of the Navy."
] |
[
"Catherine Merridales Ivans War. It describes the experiences of ordinary soldiers of the red army in the second world war."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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I've read online that Crassus is considered the richest man in history, is it true?
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[
"I would say he wasn't, basically he had 200 million sesterces and an income of around 12 million sesterces a year. The best way to compare fortunes across time is not tons of grain (since machinery means grain is relatively cheaper to produce now for example) or just adjusting for thousands of years of inflation; the best way is to simply see how many wages you could pay with your money. In that case we can calculate that Crassus' income was enough to hire 32000 romans for a year. To put it in perspective, to hire the same amount of people in the US today would cost around 1 billion dollars. Bill Gates' fortune generates 2.5 billion dollars a year in interest alone. [Source](_URL_0_) (I don't know how to highlight a specific paragraph on google books) Another interesting point, the richest man in history using this definition was not Bill Gates but Mexican millionaire Carlos Slim since wages in Mexico are lower."
] |
[
"Not to criticize the question because it is interesting and I would also like to know the answer but that show also ends by saying that Julius Caesar was killed on March 14th (it was the 15th). It also implies that there is only one consul of Rome (failing to mention there were two at a time). Probably best to not rely on facts drawn from the show."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence about Education:"
}
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The Republic of Turkey sent 15,000 men to fight in the Korean War, making up the third largest United Nation force after the US and UK. Why did Turkey send so many troops to such a distant war?
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[
"A reminder for everyone: We ask that answers in this subreddit be in-depth and comprehensive, and highly suggest that comments include citations for the information. In the future, please take the time to better familiarize yourself with [the rules](_URL_5_), and take these key points into account before crafting an answer: * Do I have the expertise needed to answer this question? * Have I done research on this question? * Can I cite my sources? * Can I answer follow-up questions? Thank you!"
] |
[
"Australia, India, and New Zealand played a vital role in the North African campaign, as well as, obviously, in the Pacific later on. Brazil sent an expeditionary force, which fought with some distinction in Italy, and was the only South American country to do so. On the other side, the Finns had their own (almost) separate war against the Soviet Union, and managed to hold them off until 1944. Hungary and Romania had large contingents on the Eastern Front, and Spain sent a division of 'volunteers' as well."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about history:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about history:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Why didn't the Glorious Revolution of 1688 lead to any kind of continued union between England and the Dutch Republic?
|
[
"Well, the line of Orange died with William III, and neither William nor Mary had children. So the two states went about their separate procedures to manage their respective succession. The Dutch *Republic* was a crowned republic, so succession wasn't even based on inheritance at all."
] |
[
"In what sense? The actual transition between ruling dynasties was bloody and very messy: the War of Spanish Succession was fought between the major powers of Europe over whether a Bourbon - and, more importantly, Louis XIV's grandson - should be allowed to ascend to the Spanish throne. But are you talking about that war, or institutional and societal changes as a result of the transition?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
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Why did European nations feel they had the right to colonize and controll large portions of the world in the late 1800s?
|
[
"During the reconquista in Iberia and the crusades the largest justification for taking this territory was for Christianity. The same thought process could be seen with European colonies in the Americas and Asia where missionaries were set up to convert the native population. That's the reason why Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines hold most of the world's Catholics. What we see here is an overbearing ideology that European or \"western\" culture is better than any other. This gave way to racist schools of thought that explained that Europeans had a responsibility to civilize the rest of the world. The U.S. used this same thought process of manifest destiny for most of the 1800s while taking land from the Hispanics and Natives that occupied most of the west. Even Charles Darwin wrote himself that the white man was more evolved than those of other races. This served as the catalyst for most of the colonial period plus access to new markets and resources was pretty good too."
] |
[
"Yes. Slavery in Rome was not tied to race/skin color like it was in the United States during the 1700-1800s"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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In War and Peace Tolstoy writes that in 1812 Napoleon bombarded Smolensk with grenades and cannon balls. What were the "grenades"?
|
[
"Might be a translation issue. There were grenades in 1812 much like the ones we think of today -- that is, hand-held bombs with an explosive charge. Grenades in the early 19th century had a fuse that would be lit before they were tossed. But it's unlikely that hand-tossed grenades were used in \"bombardment\" -- he may have written something like \"shells\" or \"mortar shells.\""
] |
[
"The use of independent army corps to move flexibly and quickly; the use of massed artillery; the ability to foresee what the enemy would do as at his masterpiece, Austerlitz. The lack of empathy when it came to casualties. However he got it wrong spectacularly too:,the Russian campaign."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
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In the Roman arenas in film there are lions and tigers, these animals are mentioned biblically too. Where were these animals moved from, how, and why?
|
[
"The exotic animals in the Rome were mostly bought from traders. Mostly traders from North Africa and the Middle East (for lions and tigers) and also from India and Persia (for elephents). The Alexandrian Tariff, a document issued between AD 176-180 lists commodoties subject to taxes in Alexandria on the way to Rome. The document mentions Lions, Lionesses, Maneless lions, Arabian Onyx, and Cheetahs. After the animals were shipped to Rome, they were delivered to the Beast-Master who trained them. Sources: * The Alexandrian Tariff * \"Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome\" by George Jennison"
] |
[
"Well, the national animals of Scotland and Wales are the Unicorn and the Welsh Dragon respectively and neither are common in the wild in those countries. There used to be lions in Europe, both cave lions in prehistoric times and Barbary lions in historic times, but by the time the lion became common in heraldry it had disappeared and to the people using it as a symbol it might as well have been a griffon or similar mythical animal. The reason why people used it was because they had knowledge of older texts where lions were mentioned, like the story of Heracles and the Nemean Lion or Aesop's fables and the idea of the lion being the king of the jungle had already been well established. When people started to come with animals to represent people and places in medieval times they built onto that already established symbology."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title about English iconography and heraldry:",
"pos": "Represent the document about English iconography and heraldry:",
"neg": "Represent the document about English iconography and heraldry:"
}
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Which, if any, companies benefited from the WWII internment of American-Japanese descendants?
|
[
"I feel terrible for forgetting the sources I read about the treatment of Japanese internment, but so far as I can remember, they were not all forced to work under their incarceration. However, there were a few cases where they were sent out to places with shortages in workers, such as farms, to make up the slump in labour. A mildly ironic situation arose where as the Japanese were being sent to these camps, there became a labour slump, which quite often, the people in the internment camps had to prop back up. This slump also allowed in more mexican migrant workers through the [Bracero Program](_URL_0_). So far as I personally know, no specific company benefited quite a lot, unlike in German prison camps. If anyone has any more information, please let me know."
] |
[
"Considering what happened to the Japanese Americans in World War II, I'm kinda curious what would happen to the Chinese Americans."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
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Have the Gestapo, the Evidenzbüro, the NKVD, etc. used the same literature to educate their operatives? Is it still used by their modern colleagues?
|
[
"Well, we need to know more of what you are looking for. Are you looking specifically at what is often considered \"Clandestine Service\" or \"Analyst\"? They are two very distinctively different jobs within the intelligence community. To clarify, \"Clandestine Services\" would be the classic image of \"the spy in the field\". This is your James Bond, field spy stuff. \"Analyst\" would be largely the people who analyse the data collected by Clandestine Services, signals intelligence, media observation, etc., and use it based upon their specialized field of expertise (everything from electronics, to physics, to medicine, to computers, to psychology, to anthropology), to produce actionable intelligence estimates and predictions. There is a wide gulf between the two."
] |
[
"The same thing that would happen to you in Nazi Germany, essentially. You would be arrested, possibly tortured/sent to a camp, and, if serious enough of an offense, executed. The Japanese military (which was the controlling force in Japan at the time when you exclude the emperor) had a special unit set up called the Kempeitai to deal with and quash internal rebellion, for lack of a better term. Their German equivalent was the notorious Gestapo."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
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Major differences between Clausewitz's On War and Sun Tzu's The Art of War?
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[
"I'm not going to write a long, definitive post, but I'll try and give off the top of my head some of the differences. Certainly, they were written in entirely different contexts, places, and styles. Often, they are used as an East-West compare-contrast motif (even if most of Sun Tzu's maxims have been universally adopted). As far as I know though (and I may be wrong) while Sun Tzu focuses a great deal on tactics and battle and the psychology of battlefield command, Clauswits makes a larger argument for the utility of war in international relations, marking it as \"politics by means of violence\"."
] |
[
"I actually just wrote a paper on this. Heavy industry in China actually underwent incredible growth during this period, with heavy industry output increasing by 230% from 1958-60. Global output of resources such as coal and steel increased, resulting in China becoming a global leader in those industries. The number of technicians, engineers, and machines in China also increased greatly. Another possible benefit, that Roderick MacFarquhar examines in *Origins of the Cultural Revolution, vol 2*, is that the Great Leap Forward sort of \"galvanized\" the Chinese masses, meaning it gave the Chinese the belief that they could take control of their destinies and \"leap forward\" instead of sitting under the yoke of nature. Source: MacFarquhar, Roderick. The Origins of the Cultural Revolution. Vol 2 Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Royal Institute of International Affairs, the East Asian Institute of Columbia University and the Research Institute on International Change of Columbia University, 1983. pg 300-340"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
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How historically accurate is the movie, "12 Years a Slave"?
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[
"In addition to what others have said: Patsey in the movie asks Solomon to kill her. But in reality, Mrs. Epps asked Solomon to kill Patsey. There's nothing in the book abut his first master giving him the violin as a gift. Solomon's family knew for almost the entire time he was gone that he had been kidnapped and enslaved--they didn't know where he was, though, and couldn't help. The brutality was greater in the book than in the movie. The movie leaves out the ways that the slaves were constantly under surveillance to keep them from escaping. But these are fairly small bits. They really tried to keep close to the exact events, with the language almost verbatim."
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
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How accurate is the movie "12 Years A Slave" in historical representation?
|
[
"Firstly, the Movie is based upon the memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, which was first published in 1855 and whose historicity is generally accepted (the edition edited by Sue Eakins - who researched the work in great detail - contains a lot of additional supporting information and documentation). Now the Movie follows the book fairly closely, certainly by Hollywood standards. But changes have been made - mainly for the usual reasons of narrative pacing, but there are one or two which maybe don't sit quite right: The killing on the boat springs to mind. It's not in the book and is, to my mind, unnecessary. Also, in the book the plantation owners, Ford and Epps (not to mention Epps' wife) are much more rounded and complex personalities than they are presented as in the film."
] |
[
"Don't consider this a full and proper answer, but it seems relevant to point out that the movie in question was largely based on a book about Lincoln's cabinet and political work during the Civil War, also touching on his election and position within the Republican Party. Check out Doris Kearns Goodwin's *Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln* if you're interested in further reading."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
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Did Attila have something to do with the origin of Hungary?
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[
"> _URL_0_ As /u/bemonk points out, there are barely any similarities between the magyars and huns, the latter which inhabitated the carpathians 600 years before the magyars even arrived and before the magyars were the Avars I believe there were hungarian kings that claimed descent from attila but claiming descent was a very common way to raise their own prestige (kinda like how the windsor family has a geonology tracing their ancestors back to odin) and hungarian nationalists also do it too"
] |
[
"Just the US as far as I know. To the rest of the world he was just another dictator. Possibly something to do with the proximity of communism to the US."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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Why was the Lebanese Space Program so advanced, and what happened to it?
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[
"I'd be interested to know whether, and to what extent, it would have been subsumed into French aerospace programs (and eventually the European Space Agency) and continued there."
] |
[
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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Book Recommendation: I'm looking for a good intro into Martin Luther
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[
"Short biographies of Luther that still are quite good are: Kolb, *Martin Luther: Confessor of the Faith*; Marius, *Martin Luther: The Christian Between God and Death*; and Oberman, *Luther: Man between God and the Devil*. There are some good sections in the *Cambridge Companion to Martin Luther* edited by McKim. You'd want chapters 1, 8, 9, 11, and maybe 14. There are several histories of the Reformation that have good sections on Luther: MacCulloch, *The Reformation* and Wandel, *The Reformation* are two good examples."
] |
[
"I'm not sure if it's a strictly history book, but I particularly enjoyed Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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"neg": "Represent the Reddit document about Literature:"
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In Nazi Germany, what would be a normal day for a German teenager who is a part of Hitler Youth?
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[
"Perhaps you might also be interested in the book \"German Youth in a Changing World\" - by several authors, it was published by the Terramare Office in 1936, and fleshes out several aspects of the ideal youth. Reading between the lines, it seems to me that just like scouts nowadays, you will have some kids that go full-on Eagle Scout, and others who just do it because dad (or his boss, or the gov't) told them to."
] |
[
"They knew. They all knew, but didn't want to admit it. If some of them did not know what happened exactly in those camps, they at least knew that it was horrible. Also every German in that time had a rough idea where all his Jewish neighbours went. It's easier to pretend not to know, than admitting that you didn't do anything to stop it. Source: I went to school in Germany, that's what we were taught. Edit: A word. English is my third language."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
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Has a city ever held the Lombardi Trophy, The Stanley Cup, the NBA Championship, and the World Series all at once?
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[
"No. In fact, only once has a city won three in a year- Detroit in 1935, who had the Lions, Red Wings, and Tigers all win, though this was quite a while before the Super Bowl and Lombardi Trophy. Boston came close in 2007, but the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl. My vote for best sports year for one city, though, is 1972 Los Angeles. The Lakers (ugh) won their first NBA title, UCLA basketball went 30-0 and won the title, and USC football went 12-0 with a Rose Bowl win, and were named national champions."
] |
[
"The best baseball has always been played in the USA. Baseball was invented in the USA, and while other countries play baseball, the highest level of play is in Major League Baseball - with 29 teams in the USA and one team in Canada (the Toronto Blue Jays) The World Series was first referred to as the \"The Championship of the United States\" and also the \"World's Championship Series,\" which later shortened to World Series. While the two teams contesting this year's World Series both represented American cities, they had players from the USA, Latin America, and even a couple of players from Japan (notably Yu Darvish and Kenta Maeda of the Dodgers)"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
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AMA - US Race Relations 1865-1965
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[
"I have a question concerning exclusively the Asian-American immigration, and their interaction with the African, Caucasian, Latino and Native crowd. What was the motivation of Asians to migrate to the Americas, and why especially did the bulk of migrants amass on the west coast? As a follow-up, did apocryphal tales such as Napoleon refering to the Chinese nation as a \"sleeping dragon, and for long may it lay in slumber\", or 'yellow scare' fiction such as Fu Manchu, have any impact on early perceptions of the Asian population?"
] |
[
"Part 1 _URL_0_ Part 2 _URL_1_ Part 3 _URL_2_"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
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When building, how did the Romans maintain and measure the aqueduct water gradients?
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[
"Fairly certain there is something here in De architectura _URL_0_ Searched for you, page 244 \"let the bed of the channel have a gradient of not less than a quarter of an inch for every hundred feet\" The next question is 'why,' and in this Vitruvius has always be a little light in the details. He was a pragmatist and it was because it was what worked. Chapter 4 explains how they found the gradient. Interesting enough, Vitruvius also advised to not use lead pipes for drinking water (ahem... Flint; 2,000 years later) \"Hence, water ought by no means to be conducted in lead pipes, if we want to have it wholesome.\""
] |
[
"Many times they dig the tunnel through the dirt below the water, rather than building a tunnel through the water itself. Sophisticated engineering rules govern how the tunnel is reinforced (strengthened), how it is drained, how it is lit, it's maintenance schedule and other safety concerns."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
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What impact did the Revolutionary War have on the colonisation of Australia?
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[
"The Revolutionary War **directly caused** the British colonisation of Australia. For about 150 years prior to the Revolutionary War, Britain had been transporting convicts to its colonies in North America. The Revolutionary War stopped that practice immediately. And, with the large number of criminal offences in the British legal code, and the various social upheavals in Britain at the time, this meant there was an ever-increasing number of convicts to be housed in Britain, instead of sending them away. The British government therefore started casting about for a new place to send its convicts. After considering various options, they settled on the recently explored east coast of “New Holland”. So, only about a decade after the Revolutionary War in 1776, Britain sent its First Fleet of convicts to Australia in 1787 (they arrived in 1788) – *because of* that war."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
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Alvin York: an obvious fabrication?
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[
"/u/mormengil wrote a pretty good response on this some time back _URL_0_ not to discourage any additional responses of course."
] |
[
"Co. Aytch: A Confederate Memoir of the Civil War remains one of my favorites. Informative, and a damn good read."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
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Suggestions for a great book on Early Modern Spain?
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[
"J. H. Elliot's *Imperial Spain: 1469-1716* is quite good. Henry Kamen has some good work too, but he is probably more dense than you would like. I have not read D Coleman's *Creating Christian Grenada*, but I have heard good things."
] |
[
"Are there any good introduction books to historiography in general? JFK in particular? Thank you"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
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}
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Were there ever a Wall Street-like stock exchange/marketing street/place/city with such power in the medieval/ancient Rome or Greek times?
|
[
"Such trading, particularly futures trading, date far later than the period you're asking about. Futures trading is, I believe, often dated pretty specifically to the tulip mania in the Dutch Golden Age. It's not my period, so I'm afraid I can't go into great detail about the evolution of trade as we know it, but my understanding is that it dates from the 1600s. Hopefully someone can come in and provide more detail and correct any errors in what I'm saying."
] |
[
"Follow up question: was the sacking/genocide/mass murder of Carthage an unusual occurrence or where there any other such gigantic mass killings of entire populations in pre-modern times?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
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Why did European technology surpass China's when China had things like gunpowder, cannons, and bombs at least a century before Europe?
|
[
"There are many theories, and my books worth of theories on the subject, none of which are conclusive as this is one of THE questions of comparative history. However one of the most commonly touted theories is the [high-level equilibrium trap](_URL_0_), which proposes that China operated at such a high level of efficiency in utilizing its manpower labor that there was no incentive to develop machinery technology to makeup for any shortage of manpower, which has been argued as one of the drivers of western european industrialism. Keeping in mind, in a region as large and as diverse as China, \"efficiency\" may not be the number one thing on the minds of leaders in the country so much as perceptions of \"stability.\" As an example, why invent a car when you can hire (and thus offer employment) to four people to carry you in a sedan chair? Especially if otherwise with a car, those four unemployed people may start rebelling."
] |
[
"Actually, in 1400, Europe was just coming out of the Dark Ages, so the changes from 1400 to 1500 are pretty significant. Navigation improved, gunpowder started change the face of warfare, trade routes to the East were established, and the New World was discovered. What followed was the Age of Enlightenment. Quantum leaps in philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicine laid the groundwork for the modern industrial world. Steam power alone changes the face of the world. Add to that greatly improved steel, clocks that works on board ships, telescopes, microscopes, electricity, calculus, the cotton gin, vaccination, powered looms, the fall of monarchies and the rise of democracy, one could argue the changes from 1600 to 1800 were every bit as significant as the last 200 years."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
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If the Soviet Union had veto power in the United Nations, how was the UN allowed to intervene in the Korean War on the side of the South?
|
[
"The USSR did not vote in the resolution to launch a military expedition to relieve the South Koreans because they had chosen to [boycott the UN earlier in the year](_URL_0_) as a result of their anger in the Security Council's refusal to hand over the Republic of China's (Taiwan) permanent seat over to the People's Republic of China. Consequently, the UN Security Council Resolutions of 82/84/85 which precipitated the American-led UN force in Korea were not vetoed by the USSR."
] |
[
"After WW2, North Korea was split into two different zones between the USSR and the US, just like Berlin was. Eventually the government of North Korea invaded South Korea, and the US stepped in and fought with North Korea, preventing them from annexing the South."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph:"
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In the Peaky Blinders, why are the victim's names called out before they are shot? Is this a English culture thing?
|
[
"It seems that while we may think that the person shooting knows who their intended victim is, that may not be true. This was early on in the 20th century and while photo's weren't uncommon, it wasn't that common. The police in Camden town stated they had Tommy's file from the war, which he probably looked significantly different than in his peaky garb. Besides the obvious dramatic effect of calling out their name and then bam, I believe they truly want to make sure they hit the right individual."
] |
[
"If you mean the police showing up, it's the same police who showed up at the corpse of a man one of the main characters killed. If you're talking about the organ music in place of the end credits, no idea."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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}
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Exactly how much did the Byzantine military use cataphracts as their heavy cavalry arm?
|
[
"The thing that you might be getting confused by is that the actual unit named the \"*Kataphraktoi*\" was only used during certain periods. There were many other units of heavily armored tagmata cavalry that went by different names, for example, the *Athanatoi* of John I Tzimiskes or Alexios I Komnenos, or the powerful *Klibanophoroi* of Nikephoros II Phokas. The names often changed from Emperor to Emperor, but I would argue that these super-heavy cavalry were by-and-large equipped in much the same way. The names were chosen by the Emperor to support the tradition of the historical unit, which thereby increased his own authority by tying himself to the elder days of the Empire."
] |
[
"I think the answer here may be more simple than you think. The Tercio is a square formation with a mobile core of ranged support. A square formation is inherently strong versus flanking attacks and encirclement but weak against a concentrated attack aimed at breaking one side of it. The phalanx is a line formation, strong versus frontal attacks but vulnerable to flanking attacks. Battle tactics always evolve to counter something, roman legions with cavalry support could flank and destroy a phalanx, square formations rose to prominence to counter flanking by cavalry, the square formation was in turn rendered obsolete by line formations with greater forward firepower (reintroduced with success by Maurice of Nassau and Gustavus Adolphus). It's kind of like rocks, papers, scissors. Cavalry beats line, square beats cavalry, line beats square. :)"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
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}
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Why is there so much disagreement regarding the invention of the first computer?
|
[
"You explain it pretty well. There are ancient 'computers' like the [antikythera mechanism](_URL_11_) but it's very different from what we normally consider to be a computer. Then you have the earliest digital computers, but they're still not desktop PCs, the device you normally think of when you hear 'computer'. It's a very gradual process from those 'ancient computers' to our modern PCs and many people, nations and corporations like to claim the milestone of the 'first computer'. Or, in images, try to draw a clear line between 'computer' and 'non-computer': [1](_URL_13_) [2](_URL_15_) [3](_URL_14_) [4](_URL_9_) [5](_URL_12_) [6](_URL_10_) [7](_URL_8_)"
] |
[
"Welcome to the one of the strongest arguments against the prohibition of firearms."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
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}
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What is the most devastating fire in history?
|
[
"I'm sorry to have removed this question, but this falls under a poll-type question and is prohibited according to our rules. The problem with questions like these is that they invite speculative answers and the risk is that the thread is going to end up more like an /r/AskReddit thread than a thread we want here."
] |
[
"Welcome to the one of the strongest arguments against the prohibition of firearms."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
|
Examples of empires that fell without military conquest?
|
[
"United States of Central America, Gran Columbia, The British Empire( for that matter all of the imperial empires after the second world war), the Soviet Union to name a few that immediately come to mind. An argument could be made that the Western Roman Empire never really \"fell\" but experienced a transformation. Edit- Austria-Hungary, Russian empire. The Ottoman Empire ( contrary to popular opinion the Ottoman Empire continued past the first world war abit with much less territory). 19th Century Spanish Empire. External conflicts all contributed to the fall of these empires to a certain degree, but the breakups occurred from within"
] |
[
"This is an intriguing question in the anthropological sub-field of state formation. Usually you have three types of violence involving states: 1. Violence involving external states or empires 2. Violence involving internal entities (e.g., a civil war, usually the result of contention over the succession of a ruler) 3. Attacks from nomadic types Elman R. Service suggests that violence does not *produce* the state--and one can look to examples like Shaka Zulu in Africa or the rise of Akkad in Mesopotamia (*The Origin of the State and Civilization*). So, the answer is most likely yes. For a more specific example, you can look at the rise of the Egyptian empire, as it was basically isolated on all sides, leading to minimum levels of defensive infrastructure and very few external attackers (until the Hyksos, of course, in the 19th century BCE). EDIT: Forgot to add book title for reference."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit sentence:"
}
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In the Count of Monte Cristo the characters often 'salute' each other. What type of salute would 19th Century French aristocrats use?
|
[
"Since context is highly important for these kinds of question, could you provide an example, like a transcript of one of the places where this saluting occurs?"
] |
[
"It shows empty hands; no weapons, no tricks. I'm vulnerable and harmless, don't hurt me. Military salutes, handshakes, etc. all supposedly originate from the same concept."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
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People say that Pirates would "rape and pillage", but how much rape did they actually commit? If I was on a ship crossing the Atlantic in those days, should I, as a woman, need to worry about my virtue in the event of a Pirate raid?
|
[
"Follow up question. How would the bastard of such an event be treated? Would they be ostracized? Treated as another member of the family?"
] |
[
"Pirates wore eyepatches for a similar reason. Outside on the deck it was often bright (what with the sun and all) while the inside of the ship was often dark. Pirates would cover one eye with a patch, so if they had to go below deck to check something, they could swap what eye the patch was on. That way that could still see after going below deck. It doesn't answer your question, but goddamn how often do I get the chance to tell people about that without sounding crazy??"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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When was the threaded screw invented, and what was initial reasoning/usage?
|
[
"Are you asking about the screw as a simple machine? (e.g. olive presses and C-clamps?) Or the screw as a fastener?"
] |
[
"Follow-up question: If it is purely a modern idea, where did this idea come from, and how much validity is there to it?"
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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What foods are no longer eaten?
|
[
"This differs from the examples you gave in that it's a finished product rather than a raw material, as it were, but [garum](_URL_1_) was a fermented fish sauce that was utterly ubiquitous as a condiment in Ancient Rome and has no significant equivalents in modern Europe."
] |
[
"You need at least some Vitamin A and Vitamin C, and you won't get it without some vegetables. That aside, it is precisely because they have almost no calories that they're healthy. The biggest food risk for 1st worlders is overeating calories."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
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Thursday Reading & Recommendations | November 15, 2018
|
[
"Hi guys! Apologies if this isn't the right place to post this. If so, mods - please delete! I'm a circus performer who went to grad school, and I'm in the final stages of publishing a book about the history of juggling. \"Juggling - From Antiquity to the Middle Ages: the forgotten history of throwing and catching\". I'm hoping to have some non-circus history (and social anthro) people take a look at it and give me their honest feedback. It's about 130 pages long - an entertaining read without sacrificing academic scrutiny. If any of you might be interested and taking a look at an advance copy, please drop me a line! I'm curious to hear thoughts from folks with different academic backgrounds, so if you could include a line or two about yourself, that would be a huge plus. Thanks a million! Thom"
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question about Literature:",
"pos": "Represent the answer about Literature:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
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Is it true that the Naval War College could not reproduce the Midway Battle victory in war games?
|
[
"I don't know about the Naval War College not being able to replicate the \"miracile at Midway\". I do know that the Japanese Navy wargamed their Midway operation in the middle of May, 1942. Nagumo launched half of his planes to attack Midway, but then got attacked by by a swarm of US Navy planes, which came from an unknown location. He lost two carriers to that strike, but complained to the umpires, who overturned the results of that attack. Nagumo then proceded to win the game, and he may have convinced himself about the upcoming operation. Tamon Yamaguchi was less convinced by Nagumo's hollow, paper victory and wrote in his last letter to his wife, \"We are going where the enemy is expecting us, I fear I will not return.\" Source, Walter Lord \"Incredible Victory\""
] |
[
"Followup Question, were the allies doing the same thing?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Did medieval (or other time period) castles actually have secret passageways?
|
[
"It depends on what you mean by secret passageways. It was very common indeed for castles to feature one or more postern gates. These were small, highly defensible reinforced doors, basically, set in an out-of-the-way or difficult to attack location, and used for slipping out messengers or counterattacking sallies. If we look at Chateau Gaillard, for instance, we see a postern gate at the end of the castle overlooking the river, an area largely invulnerable to attack but ideal for slipping people out, especially at night."
] |
[
"The walls you can see in the ground actually used to be underground. The arena floor was build above them, with a complicated system of tunnels and cells under it. These cells would hold gladiators, animals etc etc. Hence you're basically looking at the walls of the basement."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
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the Chinese Intervention in the Korean Conflict
|
[
"I'm not really getting at what you're asking here - by 'owing its existence' do you mean responsible for creating, or responsible for perpetuating? Because if it is the former, that seems pretty much impossible, considering China became a communist country after North Korea."
] |
[
"The Chinese were equipped with Soviet made MiG-15 fighters. They outclassed everything that the UN could put into the air and it stayed that way largely until the introduction of the North American Sabre. While the Sabre closed the performance gap, it was by no means a superior aircraft. Source: Xiaoming Zhang, \"China and the Air War in Korea, 1950-1953,\" The Journal of Military History 62, no. 2 (1998). pp. 349"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
}
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How/why where the Dutch in the 1600's so succesful? And why did it end?
|
[
"The Dutch were partly left behind by the growth of Britain as a seafaring nation. Both were competing for similar trade routes and so they would of course clash. There were a series of wars in the Netherlands in the mid to late 17th century which weakened the Dutch and which were taken advantage of by British privateers. British conquests in the New World and their dominance in the North Atlantic also caused a drastic drop in Dutch trade revenue from those areas. Sorry for a slightly lacking answer but this is technically my procrastination and I should really be getting back to doing an actual essay! See: Glen O'Hara, Britain and the Sea Since 1600. (2010)"
] |
[
"They werent in the 18th century, US has only been the leader since ~WWI but was tied with a lot of other groups like Japan the UK and France until WWII, the UK lost most of their power after WWI ~1920 as their economy got surpassed, new independence movements and their military shrinks. France was the world power until Napoleon ~1812 after Napoleon it went to the UK, before that Spain until their Armada's defeat in 1588 after that it was France. Before Spain it was the Ottoman empire, Mongol Empire, Byzantine empire, Abbasid Caliphate etc. etc. I left some out and the dates go backwards."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
}
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Where does the name Ozymandias originate from?
|
[
"Ozymandias was the Greek moniker of the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramesses II. It was a translation of his throne name, *Usermaatre Setepenre*, meaning \"Ra's Chosen Truth, Chosen of Ra.\""
] |
[
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the passage:",
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Corporations are permitted, and often encouraged, to openly manipulate US politics and laws to their advantage. Why is this practice socially acceptable in the United States?
|
[
"It's legally acceptable (see Citizens United Supreme Court case), but I wouldn't say it's socially acceptable. Some are ok with it but it is far from being accepted by American society. A lot of people are against it."
] |
[
"The problem is not that lobbyists attempt to control powerful politicians, the problem is that politicians are so powerful in the first place."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query about Social Sciences:",
"pos": "Represent the document about Social Sciences:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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What was the culture of the Secluded Empire?
|
[
"I'm not going to remove this question as it doesn't technically violate our rules; however, I should warn you that \"Eastern\" is not a category that historians use. It's orientalist, in that it takes an immense, diverse, and ever-changing collection to peoples and places and reduces them to some essential element. That was seen as true in the nineteenth century, but that idea has long since been rejected on empirical and theoretical grounds. Hell, the whole point of coming up with an \"East\" was to define the \"West\"; historians rejected ideas of East decades ago, and for at least the last generation the idea of the West has also been rejected on empirical and theoretical grounds. So, I strongly recommend that you rephrase the question and take out the \"Eastern\" stuff. You're much more likely to get a solid answer then."
] |
[
"\"ancient times\" is very broad. Are there any specific cultures you're interested in (e.g., Republican Rome, Old Kingdom Egypt, etc.)?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
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When did militaries start teaching soldiers strict gun safety? Esp. trigger discipline.
|
[
"No idea about specifics like trigger discipline, but general firearms discipline should have evolved parallel to the tactics of firearm usage on the battlefield (as opposed to in siege warfare. Arquebus and musket, both handguns fired with actual triggers instead of a fuse, gained prominence because of its ease of use, and its effect when used in salvoes - see [skirmish line](_URL_1_) and [Line-formation](_URL_0_)."
] |
[
"Followup Question, were the allies doing the same thing?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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How did the Soviets dissapear people?
|
[
"Before computers, photomanipulation was done primarily with airbrushes. [The Commissar Vanishes: The Falsification of Photographs and Art in Stalin's Russia](_URL_0_) is right up your alley; it's all about how artists \"disappeared\" people that were disposed of by the regime, or had otherwise fallen out of political favor."
] |
[
"North Korea is on a whole 'nother level compared to Saudi Arabia and Qatar."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
}
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In 14th century Europe, could one differentiate between an English and a Polish nobleman by looking at them?
|
[
"Your time scale leaves this a bit of an open question. By the 17th century and the rise of Sarmatism in Poland, the difference would likely have been obvious, with the Poles wearing \"oriental\" style clothes and likely having the notable Polish noble hairstyle (basically a shaved mullet) and impressive mustache. (See Theorem Egregium's image 1, which gives a hint of that style on the second fellow from the right.)"
] |
[
"The Middle Ages is a pretty huge period that spanned centuries, so you might want to refine your question. The daily life of a monarch in the 8th century was incomparably different from that of a 16th century one."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
}
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Today I learned that my grandfather was a "technical staff sargeant" in the US Army during WW2. He served aboard Navy's USS Hope hospital ship. What might his duties have been?
|
[
"I will address few of your questions: Your grand father was a technical sergeant. There was no technical staff sergeant. _URL_0_ It looks like he served at least 18 months overseas (_URL_1_) and at least three years in the army (_URL_6_). He served in five different campaigns (battles) in the Pacific Theater to include the liberation of the Philippines. He was also award an Army Good Conduct Medal and an American Campaign Medal, and WWII Victory Medal _URL_4_ _URL_3_ _URL_2_ _URL_5_ NB: The last one was issued by the Philippine government, not US."
] |
[
"To the best of my knowledge, though the 101st did technically have glider borne units, the only American troops to actually use gliders during the invasion of Normandy were part of the 82nd Airborne. That said, there is still a lot that we would need to reconstruct what life would have been like for your grandfather outside of cursory details which wouldn't distinguish him much from GI Joe. A few things would help, * Was he actually in the invasion of Normandy? * Can you find out what part of the 101st he was in? * Was he an enlisted man or an officer? * Did he serve with the 101st through the end of the war?"
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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How would opposing armies use captured airframes during WWII? Would they actively use them in combat, or just attempt to reverse engineer the technology?
|
[
"A great example of this is the \"[Akutan Zero](_URL_7_).\" It was a type 0 model 21 Mitsubishi A6M Zero Japanese fighter plane that crashed on Akutan island in Alaska in June 1942. The Americans managed to repair the wreck and used it to glean vital information about the performance capabilities of the dreaded aircraft. It was never used in combat -- in fact, for any nation to use a downed enemy aircraft would not be feasible. Combat is hard on equipment, and it breaks often. Fixing a enemy's aircraft routinely would have been expensive and time-consuming [edit: ...because the replacement parts are not on-hand, and/or the broken parts are not compatible with your equipment]. There is [a thread](_URL_6_) about the Akutan Zero with lots of information and pictures."
] |
[
"The limousines are basically luxury tanks, and they contain a lot of secret technology and defensive measures. Letting them be sold to museums puts that information at risk. How large and fast a projectile can they stop? How much fuel do they hold, and how quickly can they accelerate and corner? Do they have concealed heavy weaponry, and what kind? What is the weakest point in its armor? What is required to cut off its ability to communicate at long range? There is a legitimate security threat to letting them be examined by potential enemies, so it makes sense just to not let anyone see them."
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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}
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Why did early attempts to promote democracy in Latin America fail proir to the implementation of the Good Neighbor Policy?
|
[
"Actually, the United States had a habit of overthrowing left leaning democratically elected leaders in Latin America for decades and replacing them with horrible dictators. \"Implementing democracy\" was just a guise for the United States to exploit Latin America for its personal economic benefit."
] |
[
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
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Is there anyone who can tell me a little about Poland when it was in it's prime?
|
[
"I would say now is the golden age of Poland, but I assume you are referring to Poland-Lithuania?"
] |
[
"What do you mean? Do you mean why Germany is where it is and not where China is?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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}
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When did the conception that other intelligent "beings" could exist other than humanity?
|
[
"hi! assuming you're referring to aliens (vs. spiritual entities like gods or angels, or intelligence in other animals), but if so... there's always room for more input, but you can get started with this section of the FAQ* [Early ideas about aliens and UFOs](_URL_0_) *see the link on the sidebar or the wiki tab"
] |
[
"Most don't believe their deity is an extraterrestrial. Plus, I believe it is possible there are other beings out there, but that doesn't mean I have to believe people who say they are visiting. An actual visiting alien is going to need some proof"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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}
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How did Brutus and Cassius finance the war against the Second Triumvirate?
|
[
"They went east as governors of the state with Antony's blessing, as part of the amnesty and ratification of Caesar's acts after his assassination. Once there they raised money from the very rich cities of the eastern provinces. Plutarch says Brutus talked a commander of a tribute fleet to defect to him, and Cassius was gathering money in Syria and campaigning in Egypt. Brutus also commandeered the preparations Caesar had made for his Parthian campaign, and collected the survivors of Pompey's armies. Plutarch says they were quite effective at gathering these > They therefore derived great pleasure and courage from the forces which each now had. For they had set out from Italy like the most wretched of exiles, without money, without arms, having not a ship equipped with oars, not a single soldier, not a city; but before very long they had met, having a fleet, an army of foot and horse, and money, which made them worthy antagonists in the struggle for supremacy at Rome."
] |
[
"How aware was the Roman citizen of the political intrigues going on at the time? Did they know anything about Ricimer and his control of the emperors of that era?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
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Is there any evidence of anyone calling the American War of Independence a "revolution" before the French Revolution of 1789?
|
[
"In 1781, before the war was even over, a translation of the French book \"The Revolution of America\" was published in London. Here's the [free Google Book scan](_URL_0_) of the original piece. In 1785, there was a book published in Dublin entitled \"Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution, and the Means of Making it a Benefit to the World.\" Again, [Google Books scan here.](_URL_1_) These are but a pair of many, many other examples."
] |
[
"Well, a worldwide war requires a certain level of globalization. Still, Winston Churchill argued that the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763) should be counted as the first world war."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about history:"
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For the last couple centuries, people have been picturing a future full of things like robots, lasers, lots of space travel, etc. How did people in ancient times and the middle ages picture the future?
|
[
"I have a couple of earlier answers that might interest you! * [Before 1700, where there any books or plays with a definite setting in the future? How did they present future society, and what where their predictions?](_URL_1_) * [What did medieval people think about the distant future?](_URL_0_) Hope this helps!"
] |
[
"I honestly don't think that society's fascination with the future has disappeared. It's mostly just not as in your face because the things that we imagine about the future look a whole lot like the technologies we use currently. Which is the same reason all of the past projections of the future look so retro to begin with."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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When king Henry IV said "Paris is worth a Mass" during his affirmation of faith concerning Catholicism, did "mass" have the same double connotation to him as it does to us?
|
[
"By *mass* do you mean a *crowd*, a *group of individuals*? If so, then no it does not have the same double connotation as the original phrase attributed to Henri IV. In French, the phrase is \"*Paris vaut bien une messe*\". *Messe* in French is not a synonym of *masse* which means *crowd*, *large amount of people* in a quite negative way. *Messe* only refers to the religious ceremony or the music composed for the ceremony. It is a coincidence due to the translation."
] |
[
"There is no clear definition of 'born again,' but it's often colloquially used to describe those who converted to Christianity. The term comes from the story in John 3 about Nicodemus but to be honest the term is taken way out of context most times you hear it."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the comment:",
"neg": "Represent the comment:"
}
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My state recognizes Confederates Heroes Day. Does your state have something similar? How do you feel about it?
|
[
"As a lifelong resident of Virginia I figure I can give my two cents. I have always thought of two things when seeing the Confederate flag flown around my state: slavery and disunion. I cannot see why anyone would want to promote either of those. Keep the Confederate flag in museums lest we forget, but fly the flag of the states united. I think the last question you ask is spot on. Remember those who died on both sides on Memorial Day, we don't need to have a separate day for them."
] |
[
"A federal holiday is just a day when federal employees get a day off. The government couldn't mandate private employers to grant their workers a holiday. There's been some talk about moving election day to the weekend instead of Tuesday, but that probably won't happen anytime soon."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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How the Romans distribute the water brought into the city by their aqueducts?
|
[
"The Aqueducts were public works, and most of them ended either in public baths or in [public fountains](_URL_0_). Thus, there was no problem of people trying to illegally acquiring water. Just go and get it. Some (rich) people also had their own, direct connection. > Ancient Rome was a city of fountains. According to Sextus Julius Frontinus, the Roman consul who was named curator aquarum or guardian of the water of Rome in 98 AD, Rome had nine aqueducts which fed 39 monumental fountains and 591 public basins, not counting the water supplied to the Imperial household, baths and owners of private villas. Each of the major fountains was connected to two different aqueducts, in case one was shut down for service"
] |
[
"There are two types of salt. Sea salt is produced by evaporating brine. Rock salt is extracted from salt mines. Despite the misconception, salt wasn't highly precious in Rome. Ostia's large salt marshes were readily exploited, and the Via Salaria was a very busy trade route because of it. Salt was more precious inland."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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I've heard it said that the American Declaration of Independence was very much influenced by the Dutch Plakkaat van Verlatinghe. Is there any truth to this?
|
[
"It's not an unreasonable assertion. I don't know too much about the US Founding Fathers, but a comparison between the Declaration of Independence and the Act of Abjuration certainly holds up. It's the same basic legal argument that the rule of what was considered the legal Monarch has become invalidated by a structural violation of liberties and unwillingness to address grievances. At any rate, if the Americans were to scour history for possibly the best example of what they were trying to achieve, it'd be this."
] |
[
"It was the convention held in the United States which lead to the drafting of the Constitution. Do you have a more specific question?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title about history:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument about history:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument:"
}
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In QI Stephen Fry claims that all Western Europeans are the descendants of Charlesmagne, is this true?
|
[
"In [this paper](_URL_1_) in Nature, the authors argue that all human beings share the same set of common ancestors as recently as three thousand years ago, and that all Europeans likely share the same set of ancestors from only 1500 years ago. So in other words, if a European from the year 500 AD has any surviving descendants today, then it is highly likely that all Europeans alive today are among his descendants. This is based on a statistical model of interbreeding and average time between generations and so forth, and not based on tracing actual lineages back 1500 years. Charlemagne lived about 1200 years ago, but he had 20 children, so I do not think Fry's claim is at all far-fetched. An explanation of the findings by the authors for popular audiences is [here.](_URL_0_)"
] |
[
"As a Brit, I've certainly not come across the idea that it was accidental. Quite the opposite. Where is that interpretation taught?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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When did Oxford and Cambridge Universities begin charging tuition? How were the first tuition payments structured and how affordable would they have been to the general public?
|
[
"My answer about [medieval university tuition](_URL_0_) from 2013 will answer some of your question."
] |
[
"Because higher education is not compulsory. It is fully optional. It is also much more expensive. Now public Universities do get some tax money to lower their costs, but it is not enough to make it free and the discount only applies if you are a resident of the State you are attending college in."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
}
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Roman Historians - I'm having trouble wrapping my head around the crisis of the third century, any good book recommendations?
|
[
"Adrian Goldsworthy's *How Rome Fell* does a pretty good job of it, but to be perfectly honest it pretty much stays confusing."
] |
[
"I have an interest in Greco-Roman philosophy, and before I started reading primary sources I wanted to know more about who the Greeks and Romans were: their lives, their culture, the views on themselves and the world around them, and the major events that happened around them (ie, the Peloponnesian war). I've been thinking that for atleast some of that primary sources (ie, *The Histories* by Herodotus) are probably my best bet. But, that raises two questions: 1. How right am I that primary sources are probably one of the best sources for major events in Greco-Roman life and the world views of these people? 2. Is there some kind of consensus on the historical accuracy of these texts? And I guess there's a third, implicit question: if not primary sources, where should I look?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query about Education:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit post about Education:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit post:"
}
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How important was Cortes in the conquest of Mexico?
|
[
"He kind of orchestrated and led the native coalition and Spanish troops that defeated the Aztecs, who were the most powerful state in Mexico at the time. I'm not sure what you are going for here."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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Did Jacqueline Kennedy ever comment, in public or private, on her feelings about her husbands infielidity?
|
[
"Is the infidelity 100% proven or just hearsay?"
] |
[
"The truth is only the two of them know the absolute truth. Speculation says they do love each other but Hillary was always aware of Bill's indiscretions and allowed it as long as he let her contribute politically. There's a much deeper history than just Lewinsky."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit answer:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit answer:"
}
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What Was Napoleon's Actual End Goals?
|
[
"I asked this question sometime back. u/kieslowskifan gave a detailed answer. Hope it answers your question! _URL_0_"
] |
[
"1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman 2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown 3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote 4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner 5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman 6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch 7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis 8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro 9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan 10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn 11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
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Why is misogyny so ubiquitous across so many cultures?
|
[
"Hi! There's a section in the FAQ that may be of interest: it has a couple of posts that look pretty closely related to your question: [Matriarchy, Patriarchy, & Women's Rights](_URL_1_) There's also a similar question over in /r/askanthropology: [Why does gender inequality exist? Where did it originate from and why has it continued?](_URL_0_) Plus that sub has a few others that may be of interest; a quick search for \"gender\", \"women\", \"female\" will turn them up."
] |
[
"Because anything \"feminine\" is considered degrading to men. Sexism hurts men too."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Could a modern 9mm bullet penetrate a medieval shield?
|
[
"I'm sorry, this sort of contrafactual speculation is not appropriate for this subreddit. Try cross-posting to /r/HistoricalWhatIf."
] |
[
"This is one of those REALLY tricky questions. First of all, are we talking about only a Klivanion OR a double mail or are we talking the cumulative protection from both? Mail armor typically offers little protection from piercing attacks, it's easy for narrow spear, dagger or arrow to punch through since all it takes is one ring breaking. The larger the area, the better the protection. This is why a ring mail offers excellent protection against slashing attacks. To answer your question, up close, it would probably not be very effective. A Kilvanion MIGHT stop a bullet at range if it strikes at an angle. Metal has that effect. A double mail could also stop a bullet at range. Both are pointless against modern weapons."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
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Recommended reading on pre-Revolution Russia?
|
[
"Keep in mind that \"before the Revolution\" and the empire's founding covers a period of several centuries. As such, it can be difficult to find a single book that covers this ground in a systematic and thorough manner. With that proviso in mind, here are a few recommendations. Geoffrey Hosking's *Russia: People and Empire, 1552-1917* is a good introductory survey into the formation of the Russian empire and its long-term problems. Richard Wortman's *Scenarios of Power: Myth and Ceremony in Russian Monarchy from Peter the Great to the Abdication of Nicholas II* is one of the best summaries of the Romanovs. It is a commonplace observation that Russia is a heterogeneous, multiethnic entity and Andreas Kappeler's *The Russian Empire: A Multi-ethnic History* seeks to place the national question back into the narrative of Russian history."
] |
[
"Are there any good introduction books to historiography in general? JFK in particular? Thank you"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the argument:",
"neg": "Represent the argument:"
}
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Why did it take so long for humans to develop?
|
[
"We were hunter-gatherers for most of history. It wasn't until the agricultural revolution in the neolithic period that we had access to stable supplies of food and no longer had to follow animal herds around. After we could farm we could make settlements. Humans settled down and their small cities grew. Eventually the cities grew to be so large a system was needed to keep track of everyday affairs so the Sumerians invented writing. With agriculture and writing we began to develop at a breakneck pace, beginning mainly in Sumer but eventually other areas developed too."
] |
[
"Actually, when it comes to covering long distances quickly, humans are second only to horses believe it or not. So we got that going for us."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the paragraph about biology:"
}
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How much did the average soldier in the Triple Entente know about the reasons why the Great Powers went to war in 1914?
|
[
"British soldiers would have been aware of the German invasion of Belgium; they probably wouldn't have known too much about the political details, but were probably shocked at the German atrocities. The big surge in volunteering, which overwhelmed the recruiting system, came after the Mons Despatch, which made clear that the BEF was in crisis, and desperately in need of Man power. I'd highly recommend *The Last Great War* and *A Kingdom United*, which put paid to the Myth of War Enthusiasm. French soldier would have been aware of a GERMAN INVASION OF THEIR COUNTRY, and probably would have enlisted to defeat the invaders. I'm less sure about the Russians; I figure some might have been aware of Serbia being attacked by Austria-Hungary, and of the need to protect their fellow Slavs."
] |
[
"Basically, before the Great War, all of Europe was connected in one giant tangle of alliances and treaties promising help when their allies got in a fight. When the archduke of Austria was killed by a Serbian assassin, all of the treaties pulled every single nation into the fight. That's how it started, at any rate."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the title:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about history:"
}
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Before the rise of the nation state, is it wrong to say country/empire x attacked country/empire y?
|
[
"I think your standards of what constitutes a war between two parties may be too high:just because the political entity of medieval France was not ideologically organized along the same lines add it is today doesn't mean it didn't exist, and those at the time certainly saw such wars as between England and France. Furthermore, disunity within a political entity does not preclude that entity from being considered to be in a state of war--the existence of Osmund Murrey does not mean that Britain was not at war with Nazi Germany. I understand where you are coming from, but I feel you may be setting the bar too high."
] |
[
"A country is being imperialistic when it's asserting power over other countries through militaristic or political (usually militaristic) means. \"Imperialism\" comes from the world \"Imperial,\" which is a word used to describe any collection of states/territories ran by an emperor or other sovereign figure, also known as an empire (think Star Wars). What really makes a government imperialistic is when it is trying to control/take over other territories. Hope that helps!"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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What was John Adams' role in the American Revolution?
|
[
"Interesting essay idea! I'm wary about giving you answers to a paper you're writing but I'll gladly give you a place to look! [The Adams Family Papers](_URL_0_) are all digitally available through Mass Historical Society; simply look through some of his letters during the revolution to his wife and I'm sure you'll find some interesting pieces to include in your paper."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
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How was fresh water obtained on long voyages when discovering the new world?
|
[
"In addition to Hussard's comment, stagnant water sitting in barrels would often spoil fairly quickly (bacteria and other nasty stuff would start to grow) so alcoholic drinks were very useful for these long journeys. The pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock were aiming for Virginia (which had a much broader definition back then) but ran out of beer so they went ashore otherwise they would die of thirst."
] |
[
"There has been trade between Europe and Africa, directly or indirectly, for thousands of years. Africa, Europe, and Asia are all connected by land or very short ocean distances. Diseases had already been shared between Europe and Africa long before Europeans began colonizing Africa. Africa was not 'discovered' in the same way that America is said to have been discovered. Heads of state and scholars in Africa knew about Europe a long, long time ago."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit argument:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit argument about History:"
}
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I'm reading a history of the Plantagenets, and I was wondering - was the kingship of England seen as sort of a cash cow to retain their French holdings?
|
[
"There may be some truth in that... For example, it was English taxes that largely paid for Richard I's Holy Land adventure, as well as his later ransom. However, due to the turmoil of the Stephen/Matilda conflict the revenues from England fluctuated quite a bit during the 12th century. Moreover, the Aquitaine was an extremely rich and valuable territory, and the other Angevin lands in modern-day France weren't bad either. I was always given to understand that the kingship of England was just as valuable for the title itself as for the financial benefits - simply to be the king of somewhere. One of the issues with their lands in France was that, while the actual Kingdom of France was weak and tiny compared to the Duchies of Normandy, Brittany, and Aquitaine, they were still feudal vassals of the King of France. As Kings of England, the Plantagenets had an equal claim not only to power and wealth, but also to dignity and status."
] |
[
"Question is a bit broad. Ultimately, the repercussions involve the Tudors (Henry VII) gaining the throne as the Lancastrian claimant, but then he married Elizabeth of York and the two houses were reunited anyway. However, this paralleled the rise of a merchant class and steady erosion of royal power. The War of the Roses basically marked a big dip in royal influence and especially under Henry VI, there were acres of private wars and general lawlessness about the nation. The end result, of course, is that the monarchy restored under Henry VII and continued, (in)famously under Henry VIII, was much stronger, much more centralized, and much less dependent on the noble families that were previously influential. Sort of a head start to the renaissance in England, although to be honest, that's mostly the work of Henry VIII and monarchs after him like Elizabeth I. It also gave us some great literature. Shakespeare's Richard III, anyone?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
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How peaceful/violent is modern day by historical standards?
|
[
"[War Before Civilization](_URL_2_) lays out a persuasive case that the premodern era was a very bad place to be - violence and war were endemic problems. [This is a PDF of a TED talk by Steven Pinker](_URL_0_) showing that warfare and violence are declining. [Audio here](_URL_1_)."
] |
[
"more like ELI5 why is there so much tension between ethnic groups all over the world"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
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How real are the family crest sites?
|
[
"Hi, it would be worth x-posting to /r/heraldry (or possibly /r/genealogy) for their thoughts, but there have been a few similar questions in this sub, so check out previous responses here * [Does anyone know more about this?](_URL_4_) - /u/Gadarn has bad news for you, if it's for an English surname * [Historians of Reddit: How can I find my families' coat of arms?](_URL_1_) - /u/TasfromTAS echos above * [Coat of arms origins and usage?](_URL_2_) /u/Cenodoxus explains further * [Did noble families in the middle ages have a family sigil and/or motto like in Game of Thrones?](_URL_0_) - and more on same from /u/QuickSpore. But also note /u/Premislaus' comment re Polish heraldry * [Irish family crests/coats of arms](_URL_3_) - /u/The_Chieftain_WG addresses Irish heraldry"
] |
[
"Why do you have so many lips and chins?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document about Biology:"
}
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What were the benefits and detriments of Ronald Reagan's Presidency?
|
[
"hi! there have been several questions about the Reagan presidency; I rounded them up in the FAQ* not long ago, so check it out to catch up on previous discussions: [Assessment of Ronald Reagan's presidency](_URL_0_) *see the \"popular questions\" link on the sidebar, or the \"wiki\" tab above"
] |
[
"Could the rebuilding of Japan after WWII be considered a partial colonization by the United States?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the post:",
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}
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How did the average population in antiquity respond to being taken over by a foreign power?
|
[
"Side question,for the roman conquest, is there any comtenporary sources coming from the losing side?"
] |
[
"There were some pocket holdouts of polytheism in Greece into the ninth Century, but any that survived after that would be very scattered. During the days of the Roman empire in the second Century, Christianity took hold in a major way and eventually, it was written into the law that polytheistic worship was illegal. After that, it was a steady slide into obscurity. To answer your second bit, Islam and Christianity will become mythology a few centuries after a new civilization rises to become dominant over the West and East. It's going to be decidedly more difficult to do now that you can't simply conquer the known world with 20,000 troops and a supply of steel swords, however."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
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Which weapons, in use at the time of the Gulf War, had been in service since at least WW2 and why?
|
[
"*USS Missouri* and *Wisconsin* served in Desert Storm. At the time they were armed with their 16in guns, and what was left of their dual purpose 5in gun batteries after being retrofitted with tomahawk missiles. Other than that, lots of small arms. South American militaries tended to operate WWII surplus during the early Cold war. Not sure how long they kept most of the gear in use though."
] |
[
"Follow up question: What other types of bootcamp training strategies would drill instructors use? Also what were training structures like when there was a massive influx of troops who needed to be trained quickly, such as when the US joined WWII after Pearl Harbor?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
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How far back, in theory, can we trace current family trees?
|
[
"While I only really touch on this specific topic tangentially, [this answer I wrote awhile back does address your question.](_URL_0_) The sum of it is that we can trace back with pretty good reliability over 1000 years into the past (assuming of course, that declared paternity is the true paternity...) and there are many, many people who can show you the paper records that connect them back to Charlemagne (and just about anyone of European descent can claim him as an ancestor even if they lack documentation). When you go further back though, records get sketchy, and aside from the fact that you start getting into some pretty funky Norse mythology, attempts to get all the way back two whole milleniums starts to get bogged down in the late Roman Empire period."
] |
[
"In short because they appear more biologically similar than they are. Do you have a specific case in mind?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit comment:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit comment:"
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Day of Reflection | August 11, 2014 - August 17, 2014
|
[
"There were good answers from both [davidAOP](_URL_6_) and [ETFox](_URL_4_) on the question of [Pirate Curses](_URL_4_). /u/ETFox popped up again to give an [excellent comment](_URL_1_cjrc9vq) on Pirate Articles which came up on the latest [AskHistorians Podcast episode](_URL_1_). I enjoyed [this comment](_URL_0_cjqf5nm) from /u/kohatsootsich regarding the [prestige of the Field's Medal and France's dominance](_URL_0_). /u/rosemary85 gave yet another [superb answer](_URL_3_) to the question of precursors to the *Iliad* and *Odyssey*. Finally, a question a think should have gotten a more attention, yet went sadly unanswered: [Did the Vietnam War improve race-relations in the USA in some way?](_URL_2_)"
] |
[
"It's a bit unclear what you're interested in. (Early US education? Mann? Cremin's perspective?) But here are some resources that may help: > Binder, Frederick M. The Age of the Common School: 1830-1865. New York: Wiley, 1974. > > Glenn, Jr., Charles Leslie. The Myth of the Common School. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988. > > Howe, Daniel Walker. “Church, State, and Education in the Young American Republic.” Journal of the Early Republic 22, no. 1 (April 1, 2002): 1–24. > > Kaestle, Carl. Pillars of the Republic: Common Schools and American Society, 1780-1860. 1st ed. Hill and Wang, 1983. > > Spring, Joel. The American School: From the Puritans to No Child Left Behind. 7th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008. > > Katz, Michael B. “Horace Mann: What Went Wrong?” Reviews in American History 1, no. 2 (June 1, 1973): 218–223. > > Messerli, Jonathan. Horace Mann: A Biography. New York: Knopf, 1972."
] |
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
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I live in the USA in 1970 and I want to buy some beer. How much selection is there? What brands are the most popular?
|
[
"To follow up on OP's question: was there much regional variation in selection?"
] |
[
"Some of it is the \"Coors Beer\" effect: when you couldn't get Coors Beer in the eastern US it was the best beer in the world. Now that it's everywhere it's just another beer. Cuban cigars were always available in the US by buying them in Canada. They are good cigars but Honduran cigars can be every bit as good or better. Once Cubans are common they will lose a lot of their mystique"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit sentence:",
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A professor of mine told me that every instance of the word "demon", "wind", "spirit", or "illness" in the New Testament is the Greek word "pneuma", which was considered to be an invisible, fine substance. How true is this? How did Roman-era Greeks view pneuma?
|
[
"Not remotely true. Matthew 4:1 devil is the Greek diabolos. James 2:19 demons is the Greek daimonion. Matthew 9:35 sickness is the Greek nosos. Matthew 14:24 wind is the Greek anemos. However it is true that pneuma means spirit, as in a human being's eternal spirit (or soul) but also the Holy Spirit, and also can mean wind. Indeed, as far as I know, the meaning for wind came first, and is applied symbolically to refer to a person's spirit. The Hebrew Alma (soul, breath) is similar. In Genesis 1 God creates Adam and breathes into his nostrils the \"breath of life.\" So it's all related."
] |
[
"In the Christian Bible the two are used multiple times and refer to different things depending on the translation. The word spirit refers to the immaterial facet of humanity. Humans have spirits, but are not spirits. In scripture, only believers are said to be spiritually alive. The spirit is the element of humanity that allows to have a relationship with God. The soul refers both to the immaterial and material aspects of humanity. Humans are souls. In the most basic sense, the word soul means life, the Bible does speak about the word soul in multiple context, the most important of which is how humanities soul is tainted with sin. The soul is removed at death The take away is this. The soul is the essences of human beings. The spirit is what allows us to communicate with god. Now, I questioned religion and turned atheist over 20 years ago, so someone else may be able to give a more precise answer than this. But this is what I was taught coming up in the church."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit title:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
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Downton Abbey question: Did English manor houses ever get used as convalescent hospitals during World War 1?
|
[
"Yes, while I cannot cite specific examples, many landowners were hit hard by the raising of the land tax from 2% in 1914 to 57% in 1920. Leasing their houses as convalescent homes during the war helped them to fund their estates and the practice could still be seen as honourably \"doing one's bit\"."
] |
[
"In the 19th and 20th centuries, many single young men who moved to the cities to work lived in boarding houses, where they rented a bed or a room, and shared washing and dining facilities with the other tenants. The landlady might have provided some sort of simple meal (bread, stew, etc) or at least access to cooking facilities. The 1962 movie *The L-Shaped Room*, while being salacious and dramatic, provides a decent look at what it was like to live in a boarding house in England in the early 1960s."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
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Are eyes worse now than they used to be historically?
|
[
"Recent studies have shown that a lack of outdoor time dramatically increases myopia (nearsightedness) _URL_0_ The study was prompted by doctors noticing that our eyes are way worse today than in the past, and the rate at which they're going bad is speeding up."
] |
[
"Are you sure you're not just falling asleep 30 minutes earlier than you think you are?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the query:",
"pos": "Represent the answer:",
"neg": "Represent the answer:"
}
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did having absolute power have an effect on the mental states of kings?
|
[
"If you are a psychiatrist and diagnosing a patient, you will never be allowed to write out a prescription or institutionalize someone without ever meeting them. You would certainly never be allowed to do so if you only have what other people have written about them, *especially* if none of these people actually met your patient. My point is that you will never be able to make a scientifically rigorous analysis on someone dead for several hundred years. It might be fun to speculate that, say, Henry Cavendish had autism, but it can never go beyond fun speculation. When dealing with the general issue of how rulers are affected by power rather than specific disorders, the problem is that there are always multiple ways to interpret a given action. When Nero built the Golden House, was it a stunning act of monumental meglomania, the creation of a private pleasure garden in the middle of the largest, most crowded city in the world? Or was it a public park?"
] |
[
"In all honesty it all comes based to the victor, I'm not going to help you write your essay but as you could tell the germans got the raw end of the deal and in turn. The treaty of Versailles became a cause of WWII"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Were the views of James Connolly (and other early Irish/Scottish socialists for independence) patriotic and did he refer to internationalism?
|
[
"Connolly shifted from international socialism to republican socialism because he believed British capitalism was too strong to allow a socialist revolution unless the Empire was broken up. He was not a conventional Irish nationalist in that independence was just a precondition for true revolution not an end in itself. Sources: Austen Morgan, *James Connolly, a political life*"
] |
[
"They would have been classified by their contemporaries as ultra-right, not left. They were very hostile to left wing parties, they allied with right wing parties, and espoused traditionally right-wing ideals like extreme nationalism and anti-immigration and anti-international stances, and economic and social conservatism. That being said, some of their positions certainly differed with traditional right-wing positions"
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the post:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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Is the severe decline of New York City in the 1970's as presented in the film "Taxi Driver" actually based on fact or were the filmmakers looking through rose-tinted glasses?
|
[
"hi! not discouraging NYC historians from contributing here, but fyi there have been a few threads on this topic that you might find interesting * [Why did New York City deteriorate in the late 1960s and 70s only to recover in the late 70's and 80's](_URL_3_) - featuring NYC flair /u/Yearsnowlost * [Was New York of the 1970s the shithole movies make it out to be?](_URL_1_) - more from /u/Yearsnowlost * [How did non-Americans regard New York City in the 1980s and early 1990s?](_URL_4_) - more from /u/Yearsnowlost * [What caused the economic decline of New York City between the late 1960s and the early 1980s? What caused its return?](_URL_0_) * [Why were the Late 70's/Early 80's a low point for many American cities?](_URL_2_) if you have followup questions on locked threads, ask them here & include the relevant user's username so they'll be auto-notified p.s. the expression \"seeing through rose-tinted glasses\" means seeing something *better* than it actually is, being oblivious of the defects"
] |
[
"What information do you have that leads you to believe that their depictions are accurate, and not merely full of fictional details?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
Historian consensus about the diplomatic run-up to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait [REPOST]
|
[
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't most of the information that would give concrete answers still be \"classified\" for another 30 years or so?"
] |
[
"No. There was an attempt to do so in the first year of the war though. According to my book *The Iran-Iraq War* by Efraim Karsh, Iraq offered Iran a Ramadan ceasefire in 1981, but Iran rejected it. Karsh doesn't go into any details as to why the Iranians did so, and poking around the web hasn't turned up anything that explains why either, although [a site does make mention of an offer that was also rejected in 1987.](_URL_0_) The next year, no offer was made, and Iran actually launched a major offensive during Ramadan (giving it the name Operation Ramadan)."
] |
eli5_question_answer
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{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the document:",
"neg": "Represent the document:"
}
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I see very little consensus about the ramifications, causes, and import of current events. Why should I trust a historical analysis of past events to be any better?
|
[
"To offer an alternate perspective to the simple \"You Shouldn't\", there is a a significant difference between analysis of current events and historical events: you can trace not only the contributory causes of historical events, you can trace their consequences. People make all sorts of claims about the consequences of current events, but until they come to pass they are pure speculation. Historians make arguments based on what happened, and what happened before that and after that. By all means I agree with /u/LordKettering on the importance of critical reading, but this is the kind of thing we look at. Current event analysis is like one half of a historical analysis, and speculation about the other side."
] |
[
"Well, for one, academics don't always agree. But more importantly: because they're running to be elected by people who neither know statistics nor care about it and who would like to hear that a simple, intuitive solution will solve giant complex problems."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
|
Info about 1812's Anglo-american war
|
[
"For a movie, check out *Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World*. It gets pretty much everything right, with a few minor exceptions (who owned Valparaiso at the time, etc). Also look into Dean King's *A Sea of Words*, which is a naval-focused dictionary that plays off the book series that movie is based off of, and *Harbors and High Seas* by the same author, which is the maps for the series. You'll also want to head over to *Six Frigates* by Ian Toll, which hits the American side of the naval life, and *The War of 1812: A Forgotten Conflict* by Donald Hickey, for a broader look. From these, you should be able to source backwards to answer all of your questions, and they should give you a decent overview for each of the things you've asked here. Also, if you feel like purchasing a big book for just one or two chapters, *For the Common Defense* is an outstanding overview of the history of the US Military. Finally, don't forget to check out the AskHistorians booklist!"
] |
[
"British Empire -- > Post-WW2 / Cold War America -- > British and American pop culture -- > Silicon Valley."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit text:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit text:"
}
|
Question about small slave holders in the American South
|
[
"While this is a fascinating question, I do believe that /u/rittermeister would be most capable of handling it, for he works both in small slavery and North Carolina. Cheers"
] |
[
"Follow up question (please don't delete) how influential were nobility titles on economic upward mobility in the Europe of that same time?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the question:",
"pos": "Represent the text:",
"neg": "Represent the text:"
}
|
What happened in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, if you were a genuine citizen who had simply forgotten your papers the day you were asked for them?
|
[
"Answers applies to Germany only. Most people would not have an ID with them. There was a *Kennkarte* (ID card), but you'd only have to carry it with you if you were a jew. So if you had no ID and police were suspicious about you, they'd do the same as they'd do today: they'd check up on you. Back then, they'd ask your neighbours or the *Blockleiter* (block warden, the party liaison of your neighbourhood) to confirm your identity. Or they would just accompany you home to get your ID card."
] |
[
"They did. And some got away with it. The problem with this working for everybody was very simple: documentation. When Poland was annexed by Germany, that included government census records. Jewish families were fairly easy to pick out due to traditional surnames. All Nazis had to do was go over the records of everyone in the country and find the ones that were recorded as being of Jewish origin or simply had Jewish surnames. Some were arrested simply for being suspected of being Jewish because their ancestors were Jewish. Some were arrested for simple things like having Jewish sounding last names or Jewish features (large nose, dark curly hair, etc.). It was a literal witch hunt in the modern era. Some families that weren't recorded or had spotty records could get away with changing their names but it wasn't something everyone was lucky enough to get away with."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph about History:"
}
|
Just how strong were ancient weightlifters?
|
[
"That story about Milo and the Cow is a great myth. Long story short, elite powerlifters need to constantly cycle back their training with a deloading week in order to not burn themselves out. edit: it's quite a big topic. Here's one source: _URL_0_"
] |
[
"So when and where did playing cards as we know them come into being anyways?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit question:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit paragraph:"
}
|
Did ancient weapons (Bows and Arrows, Swords, Maces, etc.) that appear worldwide come from the same single origin, or were they developed separately multiple times?
|
[
"Not addressing \"swords, maces, etc.\", but with regard to bows and arrows, there have been several good threads: check out this FAQ section: * [Origins and dispersal of bow & arrow technology](_URL_0_) The posts have been archived by now, so if you have followup questions for any of the users, ask here & mention their username to notify them"
] |
[
"The wheeled vehicle is not as intuitive an invention as most people seem to think. In fact, as /u/Daeres explains in [this submission](_URL_0_), it was only ever invented twice and possibly even only once, in the entire history of mankind. The reason the wheeled vehicle did not reach the Americas before Columbus is that they were cut off from the rest of the world where this technology had spread from its original point of origin in the 4th millennium BCE."
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit post about History:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit document about History:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit document:"
}
|
What did Winston Churchill's ideal post-war Europe look like?
|
[
"\"Killing Patton\" is hardly an academic source. For what it's worth, Churchill encouraged the continent to develop into a federated European Union, a literal United States of Europe, though sans the UK. This was at the Conference at The Hague in 1948."
] |
[
"Was any Asian country capable of helping the United States during the revolutionary war?"
] |
eli5_question_answer
|
{
"query": "Represent the Reddit query:",
"pos": "Represent the Reddit passage:",
"neg": "Represent the Reddit passage:"
}
|
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