Your country's greatest achievment

[Ed Anger]

[Syt]

Turning Germany from a militaristic dictatorship into a democratic nation after WW2.

[Caliga]

Turning Germany from a militaristic dictatorship into a democratic nation after WW2.

The United States (along with Britain and France) did this also, at the barrel of a gun.

[Caliga]

BTW: Runestones in Minnesota and Wisconsin are 19th century hoaxes.

I'm familiar with the Minnesota one (Kensington) but not one in Wisconsin.  The Kensington Runestone's authenticity has never been fully proven or disproven but like you I lean toward hoax because the context behind its alleged creation is absurd given the content of runic message ("OMG we're about to all be killed by skraelings... let's stop and carve a runestone!")

[PDH]

maybe he was dictating

[Valmy]

The United States (along with Britain and France) did this also, at the barrel of a gun.

Well we have held the barrells of many guns to many people to try to get them to be Democratic.  It is always nice when somebody decides to cooperate.

[Ed Anger]

The United States (along with Britain and France) did this also, at the barrel of a gun.

Well we have held the barrells of many guns to many people to try to get them to be Democratic.  It is always nice when somebody decides to cooperate.

I don't trust a country full of Isebrands.

[Viking]

BTW: Runestones in Minnesota and Wisconsin are 19th century hoaxes.

I'm familiar with the Minnesota one (Kensington) but not one in Wisconsin.  The Kensington Runestone's authenticity has never been fully proven or disproven but like you I lean toward hoax because the context behind its alleged creation is absurd given the content of runic message ("OMG we're about to all be killed by skraelings... let's stop and carve a runestone!")

The language and runes used on the stone are not consistent with norse in the period. But most importantly Runestones were not used to say "we came here and did this" they were used for religious reasons and as gravestones.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Yeah, I knew about all that stuff, I was just curious what your position was.... I assumed due to your nationality you must have one.

So you don't think the Norse explored any further into North America?  I mean, it's a given that they knew about Baffin Island, Labrador (from where they cut timber), and Newfoundland... so why wouldn't they have explored further south and possibly up the St. Lawrence?

They explored up to the Great Lakes and even reached modern Minnesota, before being stopped by the Packers at the Wisconsin border (wearing their traditional cheese heads), thus starting a rivalry that lasts to this day.

[Valmy]

I don't trust a country full of Isebrands.

The shitty part about making countries Democracies is they rarely vote the way we want them to.  Bloody foreigners.

[Caliga]

The language and runes used on the stone are not consistent with norse in the period. But most importantly Runestones were not used to say "we came here and did this" they were used for religious reasons and as gravestones.

Are you sure about that?  Isn't there a runestone in northern Greenland (on or near Disko Island) that simply says something like "Magnus Jonsson and Sigr Olesson were here"?

[KRonn]

Yeah, I knew about all that stuff, I was just curious what your position was.... I assumed due to your nationality you must have one.

So you don't think the Norse explored any further into North America?  I mean, it's a given that they knew about Baffin Island, Labrador (from where they cut timber), and Newfoundland... so why wouldn't they have explored further south and possibly up the St. Lawrence?

Baffin Island is almost certainly Helluland (rock or tile land), Labrador is almost certainly Markland (Lumber land) and Newfoundland is almost certainly Vinland (wine or pleasant land).

As for further exploration, you have to appreciate the scale here. The settlement of Vinland was a private operation by one Viking Chieftain and his family, followers and slaves. He had only two or three small ships and no support from outside. The Greenland settlement had at most a thousand inhabitants. The society out there is just too small and remote to be able to make use of timber to build ships and to export anything other than goods such as Walrus Ivory.


BTW: Runestones in Minnesota and Wisconsin are 19th century hoaxes.

I've read/heard that the Norse in Greenland had a fairly thriving colony, were able to grow food and raise livestock. The climate there was warmer at the time which enabled the colonists to do well enough (a warmer period in the Earth's climate?). But as the climate turned colder the colony was eventually abandoned.

[Caliga]

I've read/heard that the Norse in Greenland had a fairly thriving colony, were able to grow food and raise livestock. The climate there was warmer at the time which enabled the colonists to do well enough (a warmer period in the Earth's climate?). But as the climate turned colder the colony was eventually abandoned.

Yes.  There is however debate about what exactly happened to the Greenlanders.

[DGuller]

I don't trust a country full of Isebrands.

The shitty part about making countries Democracies is they rarely vote the way we want them to.  Bloody foreigners.

Who says you have to impose democracy just once?

[Duque de Bragança]

Easy one

Launching the Age of Exploration.