History questions not worth their own thread

[LightSpectra]

Should Charles William Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick be blamed for many of the sufferings during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (Brunswick Manifesto, retreat at the Battle of Valmy, utter defeat at the Battle of Auerstedt, etc.), or was he just gravely unlucky and consistently given no-win situations?

 

[Dachs]

No. Von Braunschweig wasn't about to take Paris even before Valmy, and it's unclear what he would have actually done were he to get there anyway. And as far as I am aware, the critical failure at Jena-Auerstädt was made after the duke had managed to get himself killed.

Plus, the blame game is pretty stupid

 

[LightSpectra]

I'm asking for an assessment of his competency, not the blame game.

 

[Dachs]

If you wanted to know whether he was competent, you wouldn't have asked if he could be blamed for much of the suffering yada yada yada. That is an entirely different proposition. I would say that calling him a competent military leader of the European school of the day would be slightly charitable.

 

[Harvin87]

why was Nuremberg the place where the trails against the nazis took place? .. the city was almost rubbish ... why particularly there?

 

[say1988]

IIRC there were two reasons:

a) The courthouse and prison complex was relatively lightly damaged and large enough to contain the proceedings.

b) The propaganda value. Just rubbing salt in the wound by holding it at the sight of the Nuremberg Rallies.

 

[peter grimes]

I don't honestly know whether say1988's reasons are correct, but they certainly make sense. Imagine Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, Douglas Fieth, and John Yoo being tried at Abu Ghraib

 

[say1988]

I don't have anything to back them up, but what I have always been told.
And I doubt the second is official, but the idea of dealing the death-blow [literally for parts of it] to the Nazi Part in one of two cities most closely associated with it (along with Munich) is a clear propaganda victory.

 

[nonconformist]

why was Nuremberg the place where the trails against the nazis took place? .. the city was almost rubbish ... why particularly there?

Just to elaborate on Say1988's point:

-Nuremberg was the site of the massed Nazi rallies and was the location of Triumph des Willens
-The "Nuremberg Laws" were the laws which stripped Jews of German citizenship

so Nuremberg was chosen as the site of the ultimate dismantling of the Third Reich.

 

[LightSpectra]

Did Italy have any interest in capturing Corsica during the Franco-Prussian War? I assume that the island still mostly spoke Italian, and therefore it would've been of interest to the nationalists.

 

[Dachs]

The Italians were actually leaning towards France at the beginning of the conflict, having concluded a gentleman's agreement with Napoleon III in September(ish) 1869. In exchange, the French were to withdraw their garrison at Rome. But the war simply didn't happen that way, and the Italians, due to French defeats, were forced to rapidly switch sides, as it were, and attack the Patrimony. No plans to attack Corsica or Savoy and Nice were managed before the truce of January 1871.

 

[LightSpectra]

Seems as if it would've made more sense to continue their alliance with the Prussians, since the primary holders of Italian territory were Austria and France. What was the reason for withdrawing from that?

 

[Dachs]

Rome was more important, and Napoleon III did good personal diplomacy with Vittorio Emanuele.

 

[Olav]

For those familiar to Europa Universalis 2 (or rather For the Glory), military techs consist of 60 different levels. Problem is, they have been given very generic names, so I will try to mod that. Could you confirm (and maybe add some techs too ) if the names below fit for the corresponding dates and techs? Note that this is land based techs.

Spoiler :

CRT means Combat Results Table - it computes how much damage armies inflict in battle. So it is connected to important techs. It doesn't have to be connected to scientific innovations; formations, tactics etc is also relevant.

0 (1419) [B]Medieval [/B]
1 (1429)
2 (1450) Allows level 2 fort
3 (1465)
4 (1475)
5 (1485)
6 (1495)
7 (1497) [B]Field Artillery[/B]. Allows artillery
8 (1498) [B]Artillery Support[/B] 
9 (1502) [B]Early Arquebus[/B]. New CRT 
10 (1508) [B]Early Pistols[/B] 
11 (1518) Level 3 fort
12 (1530) [B]Arquebus[/B] 
13 (1540) [B]Matchlock [/B]
14 (1545) [B]Early Muskets[/B]. New CRT
15 (1550) [B]Muskets [/B]
16 (1565) [B]Musketeers[/B] 
17 (1585) [B]Refined Salpeter[/B] 
18 (1600) [B]Pistols[/B]. New CRT and weapons manufactory.
19 (1610)
20 (1620)
21 (1625) Level 4 fort
22 (1636)
23 (1644)
24 (1655)
25 (1660)
26 (1675) New CRT and level 5 fort
27 (1690)
28 (1700)
29 (1709)
30 (1714)
31 (1719) General exploration (you don't need conquistadors to explore)
32 (1723)
33 (1725)
34 (1727)
35 (1730) New CRT
36 (1732)
37 (1735)
38 (1737)
39 (1743)
40 (1747)
41 (1750) Allows Conscription Centers and fort level 6
42 (1755)
43 (1760)
44 (1765)
45 (1770)
46 (1775)
47 (1780)
48 (1785)
49 (1790)
50 (1791)
51 (1792) Faster sieges and new CRT
52 (1795)
53 (1798)
54 (1801)
55 (1805)
56 (1809)
57 (1812)
58 (1813)
59 (1815)
60 (infinity)

EU1 had specific names for techs, maybe some more of the names here can be used? Note that the techs for EU1 and EU2 doesn't correspond with eachother.

Spoiler :

0 Medieval 
1 Early Guns 
2 Metal cannon Balls 
3 Field Artillery 
4 Artillery Support 
5 Early Arquebus 
6 Early Pistols 
7 Metal Bullets 
8 Arquebus 
9 Arquebusiers 
10 Matchlock 
11 Early Muskets 
12 Muskets 
13 Musketeers 
14 Refined Salpeter 
15 Pistols 
16 Reiters 
17 Light Artillery
18 Caracole
19 Culverine
20 Mobile Artillery 
21 Howitzers 
22 Explosive Balls 
23 Mixed Formations 
24 Siege Land Mines 
25 Carbine 
26 Explosive Shells 
27 Hand Grenades 
28 Grenadiers 
29 Early Bayonet 
30 Regimental organisation 
31 Army Commissionary 
32 Gallop Charges 
33 Flintock 
34 Grapheshot 
35 Hussars 
36 Shock Tactics 
37 Bayonet 
38 Gun Carriage 
39 Salvo Fire 
40 Supply Trains 
41 Siege Trains 
42 Light Infantry 
43 Brown Bess Musket 
44 Metal Baguettes 
45 Cartridge 
46 Attack Columns 
47 Platoon Fire 
48 Dragoons 
49 Brigades 
50 Divisions 
51 Gribeauval Guns 
52 Square Formations

 

[Dachs]

I'm unsure about why you tied "conscription" to the year 1750ish, and why 1497 is the "field artillery" year. The Bureau brothers among others were certainly using battlefield cannon before that date, and conscription's adoption was largely based on regional specifics that scatter adoption of conscription all over the place on any timeline.

Might move the Level 5 fort a few years earlier. And perhaps there should be some way of incorporating the shift away from shock pike formations near the end of the 17th century as the bayonet was incorporated, another of denoting the increasing mobility of artillery in the first part of the 17th century, and an ability to recruit small numbers of rifled musket-bearing units in the second half of the 18th century. I don't know how the EU2 engine works, so that makes life more difficult.

That's all I can think of for now...

 

[Olav]

I've only added the bolded parts (suggestions for names for the techs). The other text is what the techs allow you to build/do. Sorry, should've mentioned it. And yeah, Paradox came up with a strange tech tree, like artillery is first available at around 1490-1500. It is possible to change the tech tree, but this mod is intended for an unmodded one. Thanks for your suggestions though, I'll see if I could come up with some more names.

 

[ParkCungHee]

why was Nuremberg the place where the trails against the nazis took place? .. the city was almost rubbish ... why particularly there?

The fact that the city was rubbish was considered a plus at the time, actually.

 

[bombshoo]

What is the etymology of the word Alawite/Alaouite/Alawi. I have noticed three separate instances of it being used. The Morrocan Alaouite Dynasty, the Alawites sect of Syria/Lebanon and the former state of Alawi in Yemen. Is there any connection between these?

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

They all stem from 'Alawiyya, who are the "followers of Ali,' Mohammad's cousin and son-in-law, and the Fourth Caliph. Thus, they are Shi'a; more specifically, Twelver Shi'a, of which the majority of Shi'a are.

After doing a little research, the Moroccan dynasty traces its lineage through Fatima, Mohammad's daughter, who was also the previously mentioned 'Ali's wife.

I suspect the Yemeni provence is simply named after 'Ali, because he is a popular and highly-regarded figure even for Sunni, as he is one of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs and a member of Mohammad's family.

 

[bombshoo]

They all stem from 'Alawiyya, who are the "followers of Ali,' Mohammad's cousin and son-in-law, and the Fourth Caliph. Thus, they are Shi'a; more specifically, Twelver Shi'a, of which the majority of Shi'a are.

After doing a little research, the Moroccan dynasty traces its lineage through Fatima, Mohammad's daughter, who was also the previously mentioned 'Ali's wife.

I suspect the Yemeni provence is simply named after 'Ali, because he is a popular and highly-regarded figure even for Sunni, as he is one of the four Rightly-Guided Caliphs and a member of Mohammad's family.

Cool. Thanks a lot. I only became confused on the issue when I noticed an alternate spelling for the Alawite sect was "Alaouite", the same spelling I usually see in reference to the Moroccan dynasty. I tried reading up on it myself, but my pre-Ottoman Middle Eastern history is so bad I had a hard time understanding. I really aught to read up on early Islam (probably the Ummuyad Caliphate in general). Does anyone know any good comprehensive books on Islam from maybe 600ish to 750ish AD?