What was the cause of the English Peasant Revolt?

Answered on Quora

There are several causes. However most of these center around feudal control of the labor market and excessive taxation. The English peasant revolt of 1381 for example can be traced back to the Statute of Laborers (1351) that attempted to limit wages to two pence a day. The Statute was passed after the Black Death to prevent peasants profiting from the labor shortage that resulted after the plague.

The law had the net effect of preventing the peasants from moving to higher wage jobs thereby limiting their opportunities. Add to this an unfair Poll Tax (that fell heavily on the peasants) and the fact that many Laborers were forced to work on Church land without pay and you have the recipe for revolt.

One can only restrict the Freedom of the Individual both socially and economically for so long before a system eventually snaps.

Thought of the day

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”
― Thomas Gray, An Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard

Why did Churchill favour a North Africa campaign in 1942? Why not attack the Germans in Western Europe?

Answered on Quora.

Churchill’s reasons for pursuing a North African strategy as opposed to a direct attack on Western Europe were driven by several major factors

1. The opposition of the British military brass to a land war in Western Europe - don’t forget that the horrors of the Somme was not far removed;
2. He needed to protect Egypt and the Suez Canal from falling into Axis hands if it indeed fell this could endanger British interests in India and the Far East;
3. The British Army was not up to the strength in 1942 for fighting head-on with the Wehrmacht in Western Europe in 1942 not after the debacle at Dunkirk and before that the failure in Norway;
4. North Africa offered Britain a theater for military success which Churchill very much needed to sustain the morale of the populace (German forces were also depleted in North Africa to sustain the war in the East so that he was choosing his battles well);
5. Failure to secure North Africa would have effectively turned the Mediterranean Sea into an Axis controlled lake (Italy had a considerable navy force here as well);
6. There was a concern as well that if the Germans were successful in North Africa they would have swept onward to the Middle East Oil Fields that would have provided them with fuel to sustain the war effort indefinitely. This may have turned the tide in their favour on the Eastern Front as well.
7. Securing North Africa would provide bases to harass German/Italian shipping in the Mediterranean

What were the political implications of the French Revolution on the politics of Europe?

Answered on Quora.

here were a number of implications all of which are worthy of further consideration. Here are some of the key ones :

1. The growth of nationalism as a political force - Revolutions based on the Nationalist argument would grip Europe in 1830 and 1848 (impetus eventually for German and Italian unification);
2. Spread of Liberalism throughout the continent (the initial phase of the Revolution was liberal it turned regressive later)- Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (1789)was a positive driver;
3. The formalization of Left and Right as political constructs (these have their origin in the French Revolution);
4. The Napoleonic Era that followed plunged Europe into a period of continuous war that lasted from the late 18th century until his defeat at Waterloo in 1815 - Napoleon also created an early version of the Modern police state ;
5. The beginning of the demise of formalized aristocracy in the European power structure;
6. The outgrowth of Bourgeoisie politics and the influence of the educated middle class;
7. Promotion of an anti-clerical thinking across the continent;
8. Further cementing of Balance of Power alliances that would continue until WWI;
9. Excesses of the Reign of Terror revealed the dangers of an unchecked far leftism;
10. Women’s rights were given a platform during the French Revolution that would gain traction continent wise;
11. It showed the folly of placing ideology ahead of pragmatism (not all would learn this lesson unfortunately);
12. It provided a go ahead to remove ossified political/administrative structures that in the long term would help seed the grounds for meritocracy across the continent (by no means an immediate process).

Key Events in the History of the West Until 1600

The following is a list of 30 events (not conclusive) that changed the course of Western History. These are great to build 'What If' stories around.

1. The End of the Ice Age (not just the West)
2. Development of Abrahamic Montheism
3. The birth of Western Philosophy in Ancient Greece (Miletus with Thales)
4. Rome defeats Carthage to gain control of the Western Mediterranean.
5. The Life of Jesus Christ.
6. Paul develops Christianity as a seperate entity from Judaism.
7. Constantine legalizes Christianity in the Roman Emperor.
8. The fall of Rome and the Barbarian Invasions.
9. The Arabic Exapansion of the 7th-9th centuries.
10. Charles Martel saves Europe from Islam.
11. Charlemagne strengthens Western european power.
12. The Viking invasions impact on the continent. Height of the Dark Ages.
13. Spread of Feudalism throughout Europe.
14. Split between Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
15. Marco Polo makes contact with China - Silk Road re-ignited.
16. The Crusades encourage mixing of ideas between Europe and the East.
17. The Mongols fail to advance into Western Europe.
18. The Monastic Orders (especially in Ireland) protect Western Culture during Dark and Middle Ages.
19. Decline of Church Power after the Crusades. Church no longer seen as all-powerful. Growth of the secular ruler.
20. Black Plague decimates European population (1/3rd dead). Leads to improvement of Worker rights (more demand for Labour). End of Feudalism. Further weakening of the Church.
21. Venetians and Turks dominate Mediterranean sea trade routes.
22. Invention of the Printing Press accelerates a cultural, scientific revolution in Europe.
23. Birth of the Early Art Renaissance in Italy. Power of Florence grows.
23. Constantinople falls to the Turks. End of Byzantine Empire. 1453.
24. Hundred Years War (1337-1453) between England and France Ends.
25. Italian City States reach peak of Power, Italian Wars will however ravage Italy.
26. Growth of Spain, France and Austria as continental powers.
27. Beginning of the Age of Exploration. Early domination by Portuguese and Spanish. Later English, French and Dutch.
28. Discovery of the New Worlds (Americas) - Colonization to follow.
29. The Protestant Reformation further splits the Cheristian World.
30. March of Physics - Copernicus (The Heliocentric Universe), Kepler and Galileo.

Jews and Armenians

It strikes me as to how similar the Jews and Armenians are as a people

1. Both are religious minorities in the Middle East. The Armenians are christians.
2. Both have been the subject of a 20th century genocide. Over 1.5 million Armenians were killed by the Turks in World War I. 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis in World War II.
3. Both reclaimed their nation states in the 20th century.
4. Both are in conflict with a predominantly Islamic local population group - the Palestinians and the Azerbaijans.
5. Both have larger population groups living in the diaspora than in the homeland.
6. Both are a merchant based society.
7. Both have been heavily influenced by both the Ottoman Empire and Russia.
8. Both have produced more than their fair share of quality chess players.
9. Both played a vital economic role in pre-Mullah Iran.
10. Both have mountains as symbols of their people: Mount Zion for the Jews and Mount Ararat for the Armenians.

A Quantum Mechanics thought experiment

An object follows a Path P through Space (and time). It then collides with another particle resulting in momentum and energy transfer.

Modern Physics only concerns itself with this actual collision as it demonstrates the shifting of energies.(and therefore states). From its philosophical point of view the history of this path is inconsequential. What only matters is the conditions before and after the collision. I am somewhat bothered by this. Why is the history ‘meaningless’? Is it really so or do we choose to omit it in order to simplify the problem? I would argue the latter and go one step further by reasoning that it is the history that may contribute to the ‘uncertainty’ that so defines interactions at the quantum level. 

I do not believe that ‘history’ is lost. Physics abhors the loss of ‘information’ (look at the laws of conservation of mass, energy and momentum).Somehow it must be conserved (maybe not in its original form but in some other form). I propose that historical information is transformed maybe into quantum foam but more likely into one of the higher dimensions that string theory supports. What happens to it in these dimensions is anyone’s guess. But here is an idea. What if this information was churned (by some black box process) into an entity that returns to form the ‘Dark Energy’ needed the Inflationary Expansion of our own universe?