History questions not worth their own thread III

[aronnax]

How about the Battle of Grand Port during the Napoleonic Wars?

A grand loss of four ships for the Brits? Hardly something to brag about...
I suppose that's one though.

ha - good luck !
Just kidding: Tourville enjoyed small successes and came really close to a decisive victory at Beachy Head in 1690, but let the Angleterres get away. They combined with the Dutch at La Hogue-Barfleur to end France's naval 'supremacy', but not Tourville's career, who was at Lagos 1693.
Other than that; Suffren enjoyed several indecisive naval successes off India in the Seven Years War, often with a near mutinous crew, and there was De Grasse at Chesapeake Capes, which was decisive for the American Revolution

Edit; crosspost, was responding to Aronnax.

Beachy Head... wasn't very decisive really... They didn't really annihilate the Dutch-British fleet. Lagos seems pretty decisive and big as well...

So in the entire history of the French Navy, there were only three tactically French victories.

Once in 1638. Once at Lagos, in 1693 and the last time in 1810.
Which brings about my second question. What is the difference between the French fleet and a pile of wood and metal?

 

[Dachs]

A grand loss of four ships for the Brits? Hardly something to brag about...
I suppose that's one though.

It's a naval battle. A four ship margin isn't half bad, especially for an engagement that small.

So in the entire history of the French Navy, there were only three tactically French victories.

Tactically decisive, maybe. And this is far from an exhaustive list; a naval historian would be a better person to ask.

Which brings about my second question. What is the difference between the French fleet and a pile of wood and metal?

Humongous. Navies don't even primarily exist to fight decisive engagements with an enemy fleet.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Decisive naval engagements are difficult to come by in history, since navies seem to be very effective at choosing the time of engagement and quite often will refuse to do so (good examples can be found in the Naval part of the War of 1812).

 

[Tee Kay]

What's the difference between state capitalism and state socialism?

10 letters

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Which brings about my second question. What is the difference between the French fleet and a pile of wood and metal?

The First of June.

 

[Tee Kay]

Are Sluys, Trafalgar and Mers-el-Kebir also acceptable answers?

 

[vogtmurr]

A grand loss of four ships for the Brits? Hardly something to brag about...
I suppose that's one though.



Beachy Head... wasn't very decisive really... They didn't really annihilate the Dutch-British fleet. Lagos seems pretty decisive and big as well...

So in the entire history of the French Navy, there were only three tactically French victories.

Once in 1638. Once at Lagos, in 1693 and the last time in 1810.
Which brings about my second question. What is the difference between the French fleet and a pile of wood and metal?

Beachy Head should count as one. Annihilation victories - there aren't too many in the age of fighting sail. Even England's big naval victories at Les Saintes, Quiberon Bay and Cape St. Vincent weren't that decisive; La Hogue, and Trafalgar were the exception. But France had its share of tactical victories. By the way, you should include Adm. Courbet

Spoiler :

 

[Huayna Capac357]

Which islands chains or regions of Polynesia were closest to being states in the traditional sense (organized government, public buildings, etc.) earliest?

 

[Tee Kay]

Which islands chains or regions of Polynesia were closest to being states in the traditional sense (organized government, public buildings, etc.) earliest?

Tonga, apparently.

 

[BuckyRea]

I've been told that it is the opposite of what popular culture says it was: thumbs up meant to kill him (since Gladiators ostensibly wanted to do this?) and thumbs down meant to let him live.

I'm sure a variety of hand signals were used. But from what I understand (I think this came from Straight Dope or one of those "Little known facts from history" books they give kids to read in middle school) there were two signs made.

The first was thumbs down, indicating that the gladiator should stick his sword in the ground to indicate the fight was finished (thereby allowing his opponent to live).
The opposite sign was the thumb turned sideways and drawn across the throat, indicating that the victor should finish off his opponent.

Again, this is just something I read years ago--I can't vouch for it one way or another.

 

[say1988]

It is one speculation that I see quite often, but pretty sure it is just that nobody really knows.

The onlything I have seen reasonably claimed authoritatively is the signal was called "pollice verso" meaning "with turned thumb" from Satires. But I can't comment on whether it is true or the accuracy of the work.

 

[Louis XXIV]

Tonga, apparently.

Hawaii had a very centralized government and bureaucracy as well. Tonga had apparently had an empire in the past (I would imagine roughly in the style of the Aztecs of tributary islands). Certainly, they were the dominant political force in the region.

 

[Tee Kay]

What can I use as flags for the Kingdom of Sunda and the Sultanates of Demak, Cirebon and Surabaya? This is for an EU3 mod.

 

[Dachs]

Masada has allegedly quit the site, so you're probably the next most knowledgeable person on those places that is regularly available.

 

[Kraznaya]

"allegedly"

He was on #nes very briefly yesterday

 

[Tee Kay]

Masada has allegedly quit the site, so you're probably the next most knowledgeable person on those places that is regularly available.

No.

I figured I can use the modern seal of Surabaya (EU3 flags are very anachronistic in any case), but I've nothing on Sunda, Demak and Cirebon. Or I'll just have to make them up.

 

[Japanrocks12]

Do people still take Spengler's Decline of the West seriously? What about Huntington's The Clash of Civilizations? Given the general disregard by esteemed members of this community for aggregating disparate ethnic and political groups into monolithic polities, how could either of these works by regarded seriously?

 

[Dachs]

Define "people".

As works of analysis in and of themselves, nobody of which I am aware in history regards them to be of any real merit; political scientists may (?) employ Huntington more seriously, and I suppose he has more interesting and semi-relevant things to say than does Spengler even for a historian. Aside from Huntington, the categorization of "civilizations" and their use as meaningful historical entities for analysis has gotten quite out of vogue in Western academic history since, oh, the early 1970s.

The books are, of course, incredibly useful to the historiographer. The Decline of the West is very poor at describing overall historical phenomena, but it is excellent at showing us the viewpoint of Spengler and those like him during the First World War and the Weimar Republic. You will not often find Spengler cited in a book on civilizations or something, but you will see Spengler cited in books on twentieth-century German history that try to explain certain opinions held during the Weimar Republic. I imagine Huntington's book will be used in a similar vein.

 

[civver_764]

For how after the civil war did people still advocate for slavery in America?

 

[Ajidica]

for how after the civil war did people still advocate for slavery in america?

2011.