History questions not worth their own thread III

[Leoreth]

today's garbage says the German attack from the Meuse was known before it took place and it was not cowardly Petain who failed . Writing such things in full clearity are certainly beyond me , English being a second language and all

It's actually not your English, but rather your formatting and punctuation, which I suppose could be easily improved with a little extra effort.

No, George III was extremely popular because he was perceived as an ordinary Englishman. He was nicknamed "Farmer George" because he was in the habit of walking around and going up to ordinary people for a chat. Of course later on he spent more time talking to trees, but that's another matter. It would make no more sense to dislike George III for being unEnglish than it would to dislike Elizabeth II for the same reason.

I guess I mixed up the Georges then.

Why did the Hapsburgs inbreed so much compared to other royal houses?

I've also read that due to the Reformation and their usual enemies, they were short of eligible candidates. Especially the Spanish Habsburgs were hit by this (and it turned out badly for them). France was the Habsburgs' major enemy, England an antagonist as well (at least after Henry VIII) and Portugal its ally. The Scandinavian kingdoms were all protestant, which basically only left their Austrian cousins or the middle and small principalities of Italy and Germany, who were of little geopolitical relevance to them.

 

[madviking]

Pedigree of Carlos II

YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!!

 

[Linkman226]

It's never been clear. But then again, there's never been a particularly good answer for why certain religions spread and others don't.

This is somewhat controversial; I don't believe there's an acceptable answer, other than to cautiously say 'it varied', and leave it at that.

This, perhaps? What do you guys think of it?

 

[LightSpectra]

So blame Charles I/V for splitting his empire.

That wasn't quite his fault. The Reichstag elected his brother Ferdinand as Kaiser, and everything else went to his son Felipe.

 

[LightSpectra]

This, perhaps? What do you guys think of it?

Ridiculous. I happen to think the word "religion" itself is badly misused because the huge compilation of cultural practices, metaphysical beliefs and ethical compulsions that make "Hinduism" or "Christianity" or "Taoism" have so little in common that it's only by very loose categorization that the word barely means anything at all. And then, you have very incompetent pseudo-sociologists trying to think of things that all "religions" have in common, which is where you get horrendously stupid statements like "religion just exists to explain things that primitive people didn't understand" even though it's fallacious to the core because that can really only apply to a handful of "religions."

 

[xchen08]

That wasn't quite his fault. The Reichstag elected his brother Ferdinand as Kaiser, and everything else went to his son Felipe.

Maybe he could have given everything within the Empire to Ferdinand if there was nothing he could do about the Imperial title. That way, the Spanish Hapsburgs would not be natural enemies of the French, while the Austrians would neither need, nor benefit greatly from Spanish interference in the Empire. Encourage a bit more exogamy, if the 2 branches weren't so codependent.

 

[Dachs]

It's not as though the interbreeding impeded the Habsburgs of both Spain and Austria in managing their territories, though...

 

[LightSpectra]

Maybe he could have given everything within the Empire to Ferdinand if there was nothing he could do about the Imperial title. That way, the Spanish Hapsburgs would not be natural enemies of the French, while the Austrians would neither need, nor benefit greatly from Spanish interference in the Empire. Encourage a bit more exogamy, if the 2 branches weren't so codependent.

That's not how the Aragonese or Castillian succession worked. Also, they'd be allied either way, so that's not a critical item of business.

 

[xchen08]

That's not how the Aragonese or Castillian succession worked. Also, they'd be allied either way, so that's not a critical item of business.

Eh? What does Aragonese or Castilian succession, ie not in the Empire, have to do with the Burgundian inheritance and the other Hapsburg Imperial holdings that went to Philip? And sure, they'd be allied, but whether they'd go to the same extent to make the alliance unbreakable is the question.

 

[LightSpectra]

What makes you think that would've changed anything?

 

[r16]

actually my recent effort says De Gaulle had an epic fail , but he was only one among many French commanders , for this reason Petain was called in and he actually did quite a good job of keeping France afloat .

 

[Lord Baal]

actually my recent effort says De Gaulle had an epic fail , but he was only one among many French commanders , for this reason Petain was called in and he actually did quite a good job of keeping France afloat .

What do you mean, "De Gaulle had an epic fail?" Are you aware of the fact that he was the only French commander to successfully counterattack the Germans? That victory - in the face of a numerically superior enemy - is what got him both his promotion to General and his place on the Cabinet.

 

[r16]

that counterattack was supposed to cut the entire German armoured spearhead off . And De Gaulle could have numbers on his side too , for he was eye to eye with the German staff oficers and assumed Meuse would have been crossed on around D+8 or 9 .

 

[Lord Baal]

that counterattack was supposed to cut the entire German armoured spearhead off . And De Gaulle could have numbers on his side too , for he was eye to eye with the German staff oficers and assumed Meuse would have been crossed on around D+8 or 9 .

De Gaulle didn't have enough forces to cut off the armoured spearhead. I believe you are confusing De Gaulle's actual intentions with what the Germans feared were his intentions.

 

[Quackers]

How did a miserable little island off the north west coast of Europe transform itself into the largest and greatest Empire the world has ever seen? The more pro-British patrotism the better

 

[Leoreth]

How did a miserable little island off the north west coast of Europe transform itself into the largest and greatest Empire the world has ever seen? The more pro-British patrotism the better

Because Englishmen are obviously the superior people. Enough?

Being on that miserable little island on the fringe of Europe did actually help. And being kicked out of the continent by France. France with their superior army was their only direct European neighbour, which encouraged them not to engange in too many European wars, and being on an island helped staying out of them. Plus, the geographic location made it easy to sail to North America.

 

[Tee Kay]

How did a miserable little island off the north west coast of Europe transform itself into the largest and greatest Empire the world has ever seen?

Rape and pillage. And luck.

 

[Lord Baal]

How did a miserable little island off the north west coast of Europe transform itself into the largest and greatest Empire the world has ever seen? The more pro-British patrotism the better

Stealing everyone else's colonies during the Napoleonic Wars helped greatly.

 

[Linkman226]

Coal, iron, wood (at least before it was all cut down) and some nice ports probably helped too.

 

[say1988]

Granted that Britain was the pre-eminent naval power at the time before taking any colonies (though yes, they ran their main competitors into the ground and gained lucrative overseas markets in the newly independent Spanish Colonies
And I didn't think the British ended up taking that many territories during the Napoleonic Wars. They took most of the French ones before that. And the Dutch and others had theirs returned. There were significant gains fron French Allies in India, but those probably would have occurred anyways, and French involvement itself was pretty much a part of the European wars.

The main thing was probably that they were a resource rich island with a large enough population to succeed. The could never have stood against the continent without the channel in the way. But as such they only needed a strong navy to defend Britain, which was a major advantage in colonization and colonial wars, which turned Britian into such a major power. And they could invest a far greater portion of their defence budget into the Navy than the continental powers since it was their primary defence, whereas those on the Continent needed armies to defend themselves against each other as their primary defences.
There are political factors that could be considered, but geography was a huge andvantage for the British.