History questions not worth their own thread II

[Karalysia]

I haven't studied the battle itself in detail, the tactical stuff doesn't particularly interest me, but even if the Ottomans had somehow managed to take Vienna they would likely still have ended up fairly badly off from the whole affair.

 

[LightSpectra]

I haven't studied the battle itself in detail, the tactical stuff doesn't particularly interest me, but even if the Ottomans had somehow managed to take Vienna they would likely still have ended up fairly badly off from the whole affair.

How do you come to this conclusion?

 

[Aquila SPQR]

Uh, no, we couldn't. Nazi Germany was fighting basically every other country in the world. It was numerically dwarfed on both fronts.

It was a very simple comparison. Weak country cannot achieve anything important.

The Ottoman Empire in the late 1680s was in the midst of several revolutions, with military command and control rapidly changing from year to year, and with a colossal rivalry between Anatolian and Syrian commanders on the one side (in general) against the more prominent European generals. If the Polish military was "so awesome" that it "saved" Vienna in 1683, how come the Austrians beat the living crap out of the Ottoman military in the 1680s and 1690s while the Poles made exactly zero headway against the Turks in the same period?

Can you show me where I wrote that Polish forces were "awesome" then and "saved" Vienna? They played a major role in that events and that's all. The outcome is clear - the city was saved. All who fought there (from all countries) forged this victory.

 

[spryllino]

The Poles only saved Vienna at all because the Sejm was terrified enough of the Turks to give the King the army, and the King wanted the Danubian principalities, IIRC, as personal fiefs to give him a base to ensure his dynasty's succession to the Polish throne.

Once the Turks appeared to have been turned back, the Polish gentry had no interest whatsoever in perpetuating the war.

 

[Mad Man]

Who was Americas first ambassador to China?

 

[Dachs]

It was a very simple comparison. Weak country cannot achieve anything important.

So Poland-Lithuania in 1683 was a weak country? I mean, I totally agree with you, but just as long as we're clear...

Can you show me where I wrote that Polish forces were "awesome" then and "saved" Vienna? They played a major role in that events and that's all. The outcome is clear - the city was saved. All who fought there (from all countries) forged this victory.

I obviously wasn't quoting you!

 

[Aquila SPQR]

So Poland-Lithuania in 1683 was a weak country?

In my opinion - yes, it was. Times of its strength passed long time ago.

I obviously wasn't quoting you!

Possibly, if so - I'm sorry. You put "saved" and "awesome" in quotation marks - in my opinion you was alluding to Poles who tend to be... too much patriotic. To be clear - I'm not one of them.

 

[spryllino]

I was reading about Free Silver. Wouldn't letting people coin silver freely just make the price of silver rise exponentially until it was equal to the face value of the coin? If so, what was the point meant to be?

 

[Masada]

Basically, yes. You would expect to see silver flowing from less productive uses into coins if coins were valued higher than silver in other uses. You would correspondingly also expect to see serious inflation as you expanded the money supply which I gather was the whole purpose.

 

[LightSpectra]

I'm looking for a list of prime ministers to the monarchs of Spain and the Habsburg territories. Anybody know where I can find one?

 

[spryllino]

When did Dragoons stop being mounted footsoldiers and become proper cavalry?

 

[Harvin87]

Was the Altmark boarding a correct strategic decision performed by Britain? considering the series of events that triggered?

 

[Mad Man]

What was the last battle to see a significant use of crossbows?

 

[Yeekim]

What was the last battle to see a significant use of crossbows?

The repeating crossbow saw its last serious action in the China-Japan war of 1894-1895, where photographs show repeating crossbows as common weapons among Manchurian troops. The basic construction of this weapon has remained very much unchanged since its invention, making it one of the longest-lived mechanical weapons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeating_crossbow

 

[Cynovolans]

Did the Arabs colonize the lands they conquered, or was the spread of Islam and Arabic just a cultural switch for native populations?

 

[LightSpectra]

Did the Arabs colonize the lands they conquered, or was the spread of Islam and Arabic just a cultural switch for native populations?

The word "colonization" is iffy in this context. It means wildly different things depending on the context, so I would ask for a clarification in diction.

 

[Cynovolans]

The word "colonization" is iffy in this context. It means wildly different things depending on the context, so I would ask for a clarification in diction.

Arabs(not just men, women and children to) intentionally settled into the region by the Caliph,or any figure of power, for purposes beneficial to said Caliph or figure of power?

 

[Masada]

Sure, military settlements were ubiquitous in the early Islamic Empire: Cairo and Baghdad are the most obvious contenders. But I don't think you can call that colonisation per say. It certainly put an Arabic-Islamic quotient in the population. But on the whole the local populations converted eventually (and it could take centuries to achieve: Egypt is only semi-finished even now) largely independent of these.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

The original intent of the military cities was to keep Arab soldiers and their families away from the rest of the conquered population.

 

[Perfectionist]

Sure, military settlements were ubiquitous in the early Islamic Empire: Cairo and Baghdad are the most obvious contenders.

Neither Cairo nor Baghdad were founded as garrison cities; you're thinking of Kufa and Fustat.