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Defenestrations of Prague
- tifik 4y agoThese are well known in general Czech population (I mean the fact they occured, not necessarily all the details), and it is not uncommmon to use the verb "to defenestrate" as a joke when talking about mounting some form of protest. Source: Born and raised in Bohemia.
- wongarsu 4y agoThey are also part of history classes in Germany. Especially the 1618 Defenestration, which started the Thirty Years War (arguably the most influential war in European history, even though that's a title with lots of contenders).
- usrusr 4y agoInfluential? That war surely feels like a motivation for secular ideas in Germany, but the actual outcome in Augsburg was that rulers were free to pick the confession for their realm, hardly more than a confirmation of what had been happening before. A less bloody path to that lowest form of peaceful coexistence between Lutherans and Catholics could not have been very different. Secular ideas did not really become a reality before Napoleon shook things up. Other than that, what did the war change, outside of a population reset? I'd rather rate it surprisingly free of consequence considering the amount of destruction.
- wongarsu 4y agoThe modern idea of a state, with involatile borders and exclusive sovereignty on its land, people and agents abroad, is popularly traced back to the Peace of Westphalia [1]. At least as much as such an idea can be traced to any singular event. It also caused the end of theocracy in Europe. And of course the massive population declines (over 50% in some regions) lead to all sorts of social changes. Without all of this, the Age of Enlightenment, which was just starting in the final years of the Thirty Year's War, might have played out differently across Europe. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westphalian_system
- bitL 4y agoTheocracy ended with the acceptance that most people will end up eternally damned as there can't be two competing religions holding the complete truth and European population was quickly fractured into "us vs heretics" depending on the side one was on, whereas before everybody was part of the same church. That weakened religion and allowed rationalist thought to emerge.
- AlbertCory 4y agoCorrect, sir, you win full marks for the Westphalian system! One can argue about how things would have happened anyway, or were happening already, but the Treaty was where it all got formalized and agreed to.
- usrusr 4y agoThanks, no idea how I confused the peace resolutions of Augsburg and Westphalia. Massive misconception considering that Augsburg was the century before, setting up the status quo that led to the war. And I did not even go blindly by memory, but apparently I found a path of selectively reading up that made it possible to somehow miss what should have been obvious.
- albert_e 4y agoShouldn't there be an article on the Defenestrations of Russia as well?
- mschuster91 4y agoThere actually is one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_businesspeople_(2022%E2%80%932023) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspicious_deaths_of_Russian_b...
- AnimalMuppet 4y agoYes, but those are kind of the opposite. The Defenestrations of Prague were the less powerful defenestrating the more powerful; the Defenestrations of Russia are (we presume) the more powerful removing the less powerful.
- someweirdperson 4y agoIs this the background of the "in soviet russia..." jokes?
- meepmorp 4y agoThe "in soviet russia..." jokes actually entered American consciousness through a beer ad in mid-90s which featured Yakov Smirnoff telling such a joke. The basic premise is older, though. Edit: Wiki article on the type joke. I got part of it? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Soviet_Russia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Soviet_Russia
- DoreenMichele 4y agoIf your mind works like mine, no, this is not about removing windows from buildings. Cue Archie Bunker arguing with his daughter about guns. "Would you feel better if they were thrown out of windows, little girl."
- JasonFruit 4y agoI have often considered that the word should be exfenestration. The frequency with which I've considered this probably says a lot about me.
- nunuvit 4y ago"de-" carries the additional sense of "down", so thrown down from a high window rather than thrown out through a low window.
- AlbertCory 4y agoI know! You can start a Wikipedia edit war about this.
- frereubu 4y agoThis reminds me of one of my favourite self-aware history geek tweets: https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1650216668272947201 https://twitter.com/Samfr/status/1650216668272947201
- yboris 4y agoCould someone explain the tweet?
- oh_sigh 4y agoThe joke is a nerd is rattling on about history and people are bored by it and left the conversation. It's a classic nerd post, where someone tries to show how cool they are to other nerds by showing that uncool they are to "normies"
- frereubu 4y agoHaving been following Sam Freedman for a while I'm pretty sure it wasn't about showing how cool he is - it's self-deprecating rather than self-aggrandizing.
- oh_sigh 4y agoExcept if you're following him on Twitter you're probably thinking "omg he loves history so much just like me, how cool is he?", not "actually, yes, this person is boring and so uninteresting that people walk away from him while he's talking. Maybe I should unfollow him"
- frereubu 4y agoYou're making some pretty big assumptions about a stranger on the internet there.
- kergonath 4y agoYou are looking for details that support your premise, you are reasoning in circles. It definitely is not a good way to show how cool you are, even though there are many contrarians around here.
- draw_down 4y ago[dead]
- anonymousiam 4y agoClassic defenestration scene (from Braveheart) here: https://youtu.be/4S7QARslq74 https://youtu.be/4S7QARslq74
- pyuser583 4y ago“Fenestra” is the Latin word for “window.” It’s very similar in form and usage to “porta,” meaning “door.” If the word “deportation” means being pushed out the door, then “defenestration” should, logically, mean being pushed out the window. This is a word which, logically, should exist. And it does. But in practice it is used by Latin students who are looking for an excuse to use it.
- cptnapalm 4y agoNot a day has gone by where I have not been sensitive to opportunities to use the word "defenestrate".
- defaultcompany 4y agoWe always joked that if you throw someone out a window without bothering to open it first then it is a transfenestration.
- pyuser583 4y agoWouldn’t that mean throwing someone out of one window and into another? Or is that confenestration?
- BrandoElFollito 4y agoThis is the normal word used in French to say "pushed through window" (in a slightly more literal language, but not that much. You would hear it on the news on tv for instance)
- bitL 4y ago"Baron von Hohenfall" was the funniest part of that article.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- link0ff 4y agoIn terms of RMS defenestration means throwing Windows out of the computer: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-versus-community.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/copyright-versus-community.en...
- cellu 4y agoQuite timely, I’m visiting Prague right now and this morning I saw the famous window at the old royal palace! Pretty high, though apparently those defenestred in 1618 survived the 70 metres fall
- askin4it 4y agoNever underestimate the usefulness of a dung heap...